POL 422: Nuclear Politics

Syllabus updated 2014-09-02. Total pages 2752

Prof. Alex Montgomery

ahm@reed.edu

(503) 517-7395

Class

Office
W 6:10-9:00

TuTh 2:00-3:30 or by appointment
Vollum 228

Vollum 241
https://moodle.reed.edu/course/view.php?id=2377

http://alexmontgomery.com

Course Description and Goals

Full course for one semester. This course investigates the origins and effects of the spread of nuclear weapons and power at international and domestic levels. It begins with a discussion of the morality of nuclear technology, the motives different states have for obtaining them, and the problems with intelligence on states’ progress. It continues with asking what nuclear strategies have been and should be used, then moves to sociological critiques of conventional understandings of nuclear weapons as well as debates over the safety of such weapons. The latter half of the class concentrates on case studies of a variety of programs, including proliferation networks and terrorism. Conference.

Requirements

Class Participation

Students are required to actively participate in the class; they will have the opportunity to do so both during and outside of classroom hours. Beginning the third week of class, each student will be assigned to three days during the semester in which they will author a short reaction memo (300-400 words) expressing an opinion about that day’s readings. These are NOT summaries; rather, they should attempt to agree or disagree with or compare and contrast the readings. Both should be posted in the forums on the course website by 8 PM the day before the readings are to be discussed. Students are required to read the memos and be prepared to respond to them the next day in class. Students are encouraged to respond to the postings online as part of their participation. If you miss a day of class for any reason whatsoever, you may make it up by posting a summary of each of the readings to Moodle. In order to make up missed days from the first half of the semester, these must be posted before the first day of classes after the break; from the second half, by the end of reading period.

Readings

Readings for the course are drawn from four books and E-Readings, which can be downloaded directly from the links on the syllabus. Students may also download every E-Reading in the syllabus from the Moodle link Endnote or Zotero, both of which are supported by the library. Students are expected to bring a copy of the readings to class every day for reference. Readings marked “Further” on the syllabus are other relevant articles or books; they are not required for class. Students who have a particular interest in the topics in question are encouraged to read these pieces and to incorporate them into their assignments. Four books are available at the bookstore; two of them are available as e-books at the library.

Required Books

Course Website

Discussion and collaboration is available to you through the website; supplemental and core readings will be made available there; and assignments will be turned in electronically using the site.

Assignments

There are two assignments for this course. The first is a short (1250-2500) word piece due Friday, October 31 at 5 PM, for which you will have three options: write a dossier on one of the POL 240 simulation states; write an essay on why a state did or did not go nuclear; or turn in an initial proposal and outline for your final paper. The second is a lengthy (3750-5000 word, or 2500-3750 if you picked one of the first two options) essay analyzing anything related to nuclear politics; it is due on Wednesday, December 10 at 5 PM.

Citation and Plagiarism

A major goal of this course is to encourage good reading, research, and citation habits. Good research requires good documentation of sources and the ability to put one’s own analysis and thoughts into a paper rather than relying on others. When in doubt as to whether you should cite something, always do it. Citations are required for ideas as well as facts, and are imperative even if you are not directly quoting authors. Make sure that you provide as specific a citation as possible; if an author discusses an idea in one section or one page, cite the specific section or page instead of the full article or book. I usually recommend that students use in-text author-date citation with full Chicago Manual of Style citations; see their Citation Quick Guide: <http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools˙citationguide.html>.

However, style is less important than the cites being present. If you use an idea or a fact without attribution, you are plagiarizing someone else’s work. Plagiarism and cheating are violations of academic integrity and thus violations of Reed’s Honor Principle. As specified by Reed’s academic conduct policy, such violations will result in disciplinary actions, including suspension or permanent dismissal from the College. Plagiarism is submitting a piece of work which in part or in whole is not entirely the student’s own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source. For examples of plagiarism and how to avoid it, see <http://www.csub.edu/ssric-trd/howto/plagiarism.htm>. If nothing else, you should avoid “sinister buttocks” syndrome. For more information on Reed’s policies see: <http://www.reed.edu/academic/gbook/comm˙pol/acad˙conduct.html>.

Plagiarism often comes as the result of a student being up against a deadline without being able to meet it. If you are having trouble meeting a deadline for whatever reason, please contact me. Because every assignment is a paper that will be handed out well in advance, I have no problem giving extensions. It is always better to ask for more time than to plagiarize. When you ask for an extension, you should a)explain what events are causing you to miss the deadline and b)request an amount of time proportional to the interfering events. You may ask for an extension up to, but not exceeding, the amount of time remaining for the assignment, except for cases of emergencies.

Accommodations

If you’d like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disability Support Services. If you have a letter from Student Services, please let me know so we can discuss those accommodations.

3-Sep: 01.2. The Bomb, Dread, + Eternity: The Atomic Cafe (film) (43 Pages)

Further

8-Sep: 02.1. Technology: How do you make a nuclear weapon? What can they do? (144 Pages)

Further

8-Sep: 02.2. Hiroshima: Why did we use the bomb? Should we have? (81 Pages)

Further

17-Sep: 03.1. Nuclear Power: What are the Benefits? (56 Pages)

17-Sep: 03.2. Nuclear Power: What are the Risks? (177 Pages)

Further

24-Sep: 04.1. Motives: Why do states seek the bomb? (135 Pages)

Further

24-Sep: 04.2. Motives: How do we know? (97 Pages)

Further

29-Sep: 05.1. Intel: Can we really know who is seeking the bomb? (100 Pages)

Further

29-Sep: 05.2. Strategy: What should we do with it? (134 Pages)

Further

8-Oct: 06.1. Impact: What has the spread of nuclear weapons led to? (83 Pages)

Further

8-Oct: 06.2. Impact: Are we sure about that? (131 Pages)

Further

15-Oct: 07.1. Sociology of Science: What social configurations aid or prevent weapons? (191 Pages)

Further

15-Oct: 07.2. Sociology of Science: How did China succeed and Iraq fail? (78 Pages)

Spring Break: No Class

29-Oct: 09.1. Sensitive Nuclear Cooperation: Does it work? (67 Pages)

Further

29-Oct: 09.2. Civilian Nuclear Cooperation: Does it cause nuclear programs? (188 Pages)

Further

5-Nov: 10.1. Control: What attempts have been made to keep them from it? (112 Pages)

Further

5-Nov: 10.2. Control: What are we doing to stop others? Is that really a good idea? (120 Pages)

12-Nov: 11.1. Safety: How safe are we or others in making the bomb? (241 Pages)

Further

19-Nov: 12.1. Terrorists: Should we worry about them? (193 Pages)

Further

24-Nov: 13.1. Weapons of Mass Destruction (247 Pages)

Further

3-Dec: 14.1. Conclusions: The Future of Nuclear Weapons (124 Pages)

3-Dec: 14.2. Conclusions: The Future of Nuclear Power (10 Pages)

10-Dec: 15.1. Presentations