POL 102 B: International Relations, Fall 2025

Things to worry about now

For Tuesday, October 7, please read Chapter 13.

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For those of you who are not right about to graduate, and are confident in your ability to leave and re-enter the United States - you should do a semester-long study abroad program at some point Links to an external site.. We will discuss this more in class, but in the meantime please meet with me if you would like to start thinking about your options.
If you are interested in any of the topics we are studying in class this semester, you may want to consider adding political science as a major. Students majoring in political science and international relations earn higher salaries, on average, than students majoring in biology, business, criminal justice, psychology, and many others, and are tied with computer science and mathematics. See this fun interactive chart Links to an external site. to learn how political science and international relations (listed separately) blow away most other majors. Here is more information about Marymount's major in political science and international relations. Links to an external site.

Summary

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:05 pm to 3:10 pm (I am taking 5 minutes off the scheduled times - 2 to 3:15 - to accommodate the shuttle schedule)
Ballston 4004
Professor Chad Rector crector@marymount.edu

In fall 2025 I have regular drop-in hours on Tuesdays and Thursday from 10 am to 10:50 am and from 12:20 to 1:20 pm in my office on main campus (Rowley G124 - This video shows how to get to my office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIk7vUmWYLM ) each day that we have class in-person. I will also be available to talk after class, in and around the classroom, for as long as anyone has any questions. During periods of peak demand, I will have additional office hours on other days, which I will post at the top of this page as they come.

Syllabus Download Syllabus

Course evaluations from prior semesters Links to an external site.

This course is an overview of how political scientists think about international relations. The course is divided into three parts, each with a central question:

Why do wars happen?
When do countries work together to solve problems?
How does the United States affect people in the rest of the world?

As we address these topics, we will use the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Covid pandemic, climate change, hunger, human rights, trade, migration, and other topics as running examples.

The course is taught as a combination of large class sessions and small team meetings. I will assign teams with input from the students in the course, and will occasionally rearrange them. Links to an external site.

Grades

Each assignment is worth a fixed number of points, listed below; these add up to 100. Each assignment will be returned with a numerical score. Course grades will be based on the total number of points out of the 100 possible. 90 and above is an A, 80-89 is a B, 70-79 is a C, 60-69 is a D, and 59 and below is an F.

There are 8 assignments for the course:

Two short papers. 15 points each (30 points total). Each paper is about three pages long. Assignments will be posted with each part of the course. These papers will be completed by students individually.
Two topic briefings. 5 points each (10 points total). An individual, oral explanation of an ongoing issue, as assigned.
Three team projects. 10 points each (30 points total). Each team will complete a short research project and present their findings to the class as a whole. Assignments will be posted with each part of the course.
Two exams. 15 points each (30 points total). These will be written, in-class exams. Each exam has two sections:
- - 5 short-answer identification questions worth 2 points each (choose 5 out of 8). 10 points total.
  - 1 essay question worth 5 points.

There are some opportunities for extra credit:

Study group meetings. Students can earn extra credit by forming a study group that meets with me prior to an exam.

Class participation. I will give up to 3 points to students who are regularly prepared to discuss the readings and apply them to contemporary issues, and make sustained contributions to the class. There will occasionally be other opportunities for extra credit in class.
DC event. 5% for a first event and 3% for a second. Attend an informative, professional lecture, seminar, or hearing in the DC area on the subject of public affairs and write a summary of your experience. These must be submitted before the last regular class meeting of the semester.

Other policies:

Students with more than 7 recorded absences will fail the course absent an unusually good reason.
Students who miss an exam will have a chance to take a makeup, with a 3-point penalty unless they have a good reason for having missed the original exam day.
Students turning in papers or giving presentations containing plagiarism (including ones that are partly written by an LLM (such as GPT or Bard) will fail the course and be formally charged through the University’s Academic Integrity process.
Please try to complete assignments on time. Under ordinary circumstances, papers will be marked down a half point for each day late for the first ten days after the deadline; any paper late more than ten days may be turned in for up to half credit at any time before the week of the final exam.
This course requires students to be attentive to lectures and class discussion. Please take notes on paper. Do not have a laptop or tablet out during class. If you have an urgent need to check your phone for an important message, please keep your phone on the table (rather than "hiding" on your lap) so you can check it quickly and then set it back down.

Readings

The textbook for the course is World Politics: Interests, Interactions, Institutions, by Frieden, Lake, and Schultz. It is available electronically from the publisher Links to an external site., although used paperback copies are sometimes cheaper Links to an external site.. It is okay to get an older edition.

Reading assignments should be completed before the class session under which they are listed. Most readings are assigned from the textbook. Other readings are linked below.

Course Schedule

Introduction

Tuesday, August 26
Introduction and overview (slides Links to an external site.)

Part 1: Conflict

Thursday, August 28
Violence and Political Objectives (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: The first two chapters of Carl von Clausewitz On War Links to an external site., and FLS Chapters 1 and 2

Tuesday, September 2
The Russia-Ukraine War (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: The Education of Donald J. Trump, Branislav Slantchev Links to an external site..

Thursday, September 4
Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Iran (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: Israel and the Palestinians, BBC Links to an external site..

Tuesday, September 9
False optimism (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS Chapters 3 and 4

Thursday, September 11
Misperception and pre-emption (slides Links to an external site.)

Monday, September 15
Paper # 1 due

Tuesday, September 16
Preventive war (slides Links to an external site.)

Thursday, September 18
Nuclear weapons (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS Chapter 4

Tuesday, September 23
Insurrections and terrorism (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS, Chapter 6

Thursday, September 25
Team project workshop

Tuesday, September 30
Team project #1 presentations
Also: Fall registration (slide Links to an external site.)

Thursday, October 2
Exam #1

Part 2: Cooperation

Tuesday, October 7
Climate change and H5N1 (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS Chapter 13

Thursday, October 9
Trade (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS Chapter 7

Tuesday, October 14
Trade agreements (slides Links to an external site.)

Thursday, October 16
Nuclear proliferation (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS, Chapter 11

Tuesday, October 21
Team project workshop

Thursday, October 23
Team project #2 presentations

Tuesday, October 28
Why are some countries rich and other countries poor? (slides Links to an external site.)

Thursday, October 30
Human rights (slides Links to an external site.)
Reading: FLS, Chapter 12

Monday, November 3
Paper #2 due

Tuesday, November 4 (no class - Election Day)

Thursday, November 6
Exam #2

Part 3: American Foreign Policy

Tuesday, November 11 (no class - Veterans Day - watch video at your own pace)
Balancing (slides Links to an external site. | video Links to an external site.)

Thursday, November 13
American foreign policy (slides Links to an external site.)

Tuesday, November 18
Democracy, Autocracy, and foreign policy

Thursday, November 20
U.S. Alliances (slides Links to an external site., slides Links to an external site.)

Tuesday, November 25 (online asynchronous class / no in-person class - watch video at your own pace)
Democracy and interdependence (slides Links to an external site. | video Links to an external site.)

Tuesday, December 2
Team project workshop

Thursday, December 4
Team project #3 presentations

Exam day - (if necessary)
Team presentations