2008-2009 Catalog - United States Air Force Academy

Pol Sci 302. Politics of National Security. Explores concepts formulated by great thinkers in response to security
challenges, from the wars of Ancient Greece through the Cold War to September 11th, to shape our assessment of the way in
which the U.S. employs its power. Applies all the subfields and methods of political science to the study of national security.
Prepares students for advanced electives in international relations, American and comparative politics, and complements
professionally oriented courses on contemporary security problems in the context of American grand strategy.
Pol Sci 390. International Relations Theory. Introduces the basic concepts of international relations. Major theoretical
approaches to the analysis of international politics (realism, liberalism, and globalism) are used to explore the nature of the
international system and various aspects of state behavior in their historical and contemporary settings. Among the subjects
examined within this framework: the formulation of foreign policy, mechanisms of conflict and cooperation, the origins of war,
issues of international interdependence, international political economy, and questions of international ethics.
Pol Sci 392. American Political System and Theory. Explores the origin and development of American political ideas and
institutions. Examines the notion of American exceptionalism and the design and operation of the American system. Topics
include: American constitutional design and its consequences; the expression of preferences; the analysis of institutional
behavior; and the policy process.
Pol Sci 394. Comparative Government and Politics. Introduces major theoretical approaches to the comparative study of
politics. Applies these approaches to topics like government institutions, political participation, and social change as they relate
to various state and nonstate actors.
Pol Sci 421. International Security: Political Violence and Terrorism. Applies theories of international security to the
roots and forms of political violence in a globalized era. Examines the sub-national and transnational sources of conflict as well
as the impact of globalization on the character of collective violence. Investigates the emergence, motivations and strategies
of violent nonstate actors with emphasis on ethno-political groups, militant religious movements, transnational criminal
organizations, warlords and insurgencies. Focuses on the use of terrorism to achieve political objectives.
Pol Sci 423. War Crimes, Genocide, and Human Rights. Explores historical, legal, and political perspectives on the law
of armed conflict and the development of human rights law. The Nuremberg Tribunals, the Holocaust, the Cambodian and
Rwandan genocides, the My Lai incident, and experiences of prisoners of war are used as case studies within this framework.
Resistance movements are also examined. Course is team taught by members of the Political Science, Law, and History
departments, and can be used as a social science elective or an elective in any of these three departments.
Pol Sci 444. International Political Economy. Explores the theory and practice of how economic motives affect political
decisions and how most political decisions have economic repercussions, both domestically and internationally. Specific
topics include the development of the international monetary system, international trade policy, the effects of multinational
corporations, foreign direct investment, development of the Global South, and contemporary issues such as the recent Asian
financial crisis.
Pol Sci 445. International Organizations and Global Issues. Examines the role and interrelationships of international
organizations, nation states, and nonstate actors in the global system. North-South and East-West relations are discussed in
terms of pertinent global issues: crisis management, conflict resolution, human rights, refugee problems, international finance,
world trade, and economic aid programs.
Pol Sci 451. American Political Thought. Surveys basic themes in American political thought beginning with the
seventeenth century European origins of American political thought and extending to modern attempts to strike a balance
between individual rights and social needs. Focuses on the difficulties of translating principles into practice.
Pol Sci 460. Comparative Security Policy and Civil-Military Relations. Studies the security policies and policy-making
processes of various world regions as well as the national and regional implications of both traditional and nontraditional
security issues. Examines the relationship between civilian authorities and the military establishment and the implications for
governance. Specific cases help develop individual skills in analyzing national security priorities in the post-Cold War world.
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