DWA 295 Topics in Diplomacy and World Affairs

What is the ethical goal of international policy? Who do we take seriously? Who do we count? What matters most? This course is designed to help students, as future global citizens, explore ethical approaches to current global challenges. We will use case studies to confront challenges in areas such as: torture, rebellion, peace-building, corporate responsibility, war, technology, and climate change. Each student will develop special expertise in a specific policy area and will draft a report on pressing global issues in this policy area.

The Arab Uprisings

This course situates the phenomenon of the Arab Uprisings within the broader context of authoritarian breakdown and democratic transitions. To accomplish this goal, we begin by first surveying the literature on democratization with a critical eye to the conceptual and empirical foundations of various theories. From there, we turn to the underlying dynamics in the MENA region, focusing in on those factors most often cited as facilitators of authoritarian rule. Finally, we elaborate the cascade of popular protest and regime change often referred to as the "Arab Spring" - its origins, fits, starts, and falls - setting the events to date against theoretical expectations.