International Relations on Film
Political Science 229: Special Topics in International Relations
Dr. Jeffrey Lantis
Kauke 216, Phone #2408
Office Hour:s TTh 11:00-11:50, or by appointment
Course Description
This course will explore classic and contemporary global issues through the
medium of film. Feature films, movie clips, and documentaries help us to connect
to history and concepts in concrete ways. Films can simultaneously elicit learning
at different levels of understanding, and they place key theories in international
relations within a meaningful context. The films for this course will focus
on key actors, issues, and processes that define contemporary international
relations. This course requires students to reexamine their own assumptions
about such important issues as the responsibilities of global citizenship, the
dynamics of international conflict and cooperation, and the role of ethics and
values in foreign policy decision making. Movies are matched with analytical
readings that will help center discussion on the political issues that emerge
from the films. The goal of this course is to provide students with improved
research, writing, and analytical skills, as well as a firm grasp of substantive
issues in contemporary world politics.
Requirements
Students are expected to attend all sessions and to actively participate in discussion in class; absences will count against your final grade. The instructor will use readings and movies as a foundation for class discussion. Assignments include short review and analysis papers, film journals, an historical case study, a class presentation, and a final examination. Course assignments will be weighted in the following manner:
Course Participation 20%
Class Presentation 15%
Review and Analysis Papers 20%
Film Journals 15%
Past Imperfect Paper 10%
Final Examination 20%
Required Texts
1. Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction
to Theory
and History, Fourth Edition, 2003
2. Richard K. Betts, ed., Conflict in the Cold War, Second Edition, 2002
3. Helen E. Purkitt, ed., World Politics--Annual Editions, 2002/2003
Participation
Students are expected to attend class, prepare course material in advance,
and participate actively in class discussions. All readings must be completed
by the class session for which they are assigned. They will provide necessary
background for discussions--and students will be held responsible for the material
in class and on assignments. In addition, students should be prepared to take
notes during film showings and are expected to make conceptual linkages between
film content, theoretical frameworks, and class readings.
Review and Analysis Papers
Students will complete two papers that review the movies shown during class
and analyze them in relation to readings assigned with the film. These papers
should include a brief synopsis of a movie viewed in class as well as a discussion
of the political themes that emerge from the film and the articles assigned.
The papers should be 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages in length and are due on
the class day that follows the showing of the video being discussed in class.
Each paper is worth 10% of the final grade, and more information on these assignments
will be presented in class.
Film Journals
Students are required to keep a film journal in which to record notes and reflections
on the films they are viewing in class. For designated clips and full-length
films, journaling questions will be assigned beforehand. These may include:
What are key themes/messages of the film? What scenes or sections related well
to the theme? How does the film illustrate principles in the readings; how does
the film tie theory and illustrations together? After each showing, students
will be given a period to reflect on these questions, and journal notes will
be used as the basis of class discussions. Please note that I will collect journals
periodically in order to review the quality of your participation in this collaborative
learning enterprise.
Past Imperfect Paper Assignment
Are most movies historically accurate? What does it mean for a film to be “based on a true story”? At their best, films may serve as valuable history lessons. Feature films can fill important gaps in the historical record and call attention to important but subtle turning points in world politics. But learning about international relations from film has its hazards; and this is nowhere clearer than in the treatment of historical figures and events. In fact, no film purporting to deal with history presents it exactly as it happened. There are almost always different version of events and different interpretations of character and motive (which is why there can be so many books by historians dealing with the same subject). All films reflect the knowledge, perspective, and the vision of those involved in their making. The ultimate question raised by this practice is whether the liberties taken with history and historical figures by a filmmaker are so egregious as to undermine the educational value of the film?
In this assignment, you are to select a film from the list below and critically
analyze the film’s treatment of events in relation to the historical record.
Organize the essay by discussing whether the film is generally accurate or inaccurate,
and then provide important comparison/contrast illustrations. Use regular source
references to materials detailing the historical record and clips from the film
to make these comparisons. Finally, assess to what degree you believe the “truth”
was altered for dramatic purposes and whether you believe that the film still
provides valuable lessons. The papers should be 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages
in length and should include careful source citation (footnotes and bibliography).
You may select from the following films for this assignment:
Henry V
1492: Conquest of Paradise*
Gallipoli
Pearl Harbor*
A Bridge Too Far*
Apocalypse Now
Cry Freedom!
* Denotes films that are not currently in the College library holdings. These
may be rented for viewing at the Wayne County Public Library or a local video
store.
Class Presentation
Students will give individual presentations to the class that discuss and analyze
themes in global politics using film. This 10-minute presentation should summarize
the arguments in specific readings and treat them analytically, providing illustrations
and cases to support major themes. Students must show a film, documentary, or
video clip that illustrates the subject in their presentations. Students must
prepare a 3-4 page paper to guide their presentations and then turn in a copy
to the instructor at the time of the presentation. The paper should include
careful source citations, referencing major arguments or quotations from the
film and readings. For more ideas on this project, the Appendix lists a wide
variety of films related to international relations that we will be unable to
cover fully in classroom instruction periods.
Course Expectations
1. Read the assigned materials before class each week; they will serve as the basis for class discussions.
2. Late papers will lose half a grade level for each day that they are overdue.
3. Students are expected to read, understand, and comply with College standards for academic integrity and the policy on plagiarism. These issues are fully articulated in the Code of Academic Integrity, as published in the Scot’s Key, and form an essential part of the contract between the student and the College. This is regarded as extremely important for all courses at the College. Violations of the Code in course work may lead to grade penalties including failure of the course.
Course Outline
Week 1: Introduction to International Relations: America and the World
Selected Readings from the Debate: “Should the United States Seek Global Hegemony?” Robert Kagan from “The Benevolent Empire,” Foreign Policy, Summer 1998, and Charles
William Maynes, from “The Perils of (and for) an Imperial America,” Foreign Policy, Summer 1998, in John T. Rourke, ed., Taking Sides: American Foreign Policy, 2000, pp.20-38 (handout)
Transcript of Speech by General George S. Patton, from Patton, Twentieth Century Fox, 1969, 1:00-8:00 (handout)
* Films and Film Clips: Patton (1970); Wag the Dog (1997); Three Kings (1999)
Week 2: Realism and Idealism (A Struggle for Human Nature)
Thucydides, “The Melian Dialogue,” in Richard K. Betts, ed., Conflict After the Cold War, 2002, pp.37-41
Niccolo Machiavelli, “Doing Evil In Order to Do Good,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.42-46
Thomas Hobbes, “The State of Nature and the State of War,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.47-50
Immanuel Kant, “Perpetual Peace,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.103-109
Stanley Kober, “Idealpolitik,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.297-307
Swanee Hunt and Cristina Posa, “Women Waging Peace,” in Helen E. Purkitt, ed., Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.16-21
Woodrow Wilson, “The Fourteen Points,” in Classic Readings of International Relations (handout)
* Films: Road Warrior (1982); Gandhi (1982)
* First Review and Analysis Paper: Realism and Idealism in Film
Week 3: Theories of the Causes (and Consequences) of Warfare
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History, 2003, pp.xi-184
Kenneth N. Waltz, “The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.68-74
William James, “The Moral Equivalent of War,” in Conflict After
the Cold War,
pp.145-151
Sigmund Freud, “Why War?” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.152-159
Ernest Gellner, “Nations and Nationalism,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.324-334
Margaret Mead, “Warfare is Only an Invention--Not a Biological Necessity,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.165-169
Viktor Meier, “The EU Coddles the Serbs,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.121-125
The Economist, “Chaos in the Caucasus,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.133-137
* Films and Film Clips: Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike! (1942); Henry V (1989); No Man’s Land (2001); Canadian Bacon (1995); The Bosnia Tragedy: While America Watched (1994)
* Past Imperfect Paper Due
Week 4: The Dilemmas of Foreign Policy Decision Making
Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay, “Nasty, Brutish, and Long: America’s War on Terrorism,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.74-79
James Carney and John F. Dickerson, “Inside the War Room,” and “How Bush Rates,” Time Magazine, December 31, 2001, pp.112-123 (handout)
Graham T. Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” in Paul R. Viotti and Mark V. Kauppi, eds., International Relations Theory, 1999, pp.280-297 (handout)
* Films and Film Clips: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963); Thirteen Days (2001); Atomic Café (1982)
Week 5: International Terrorism and the Post-9/11 World
Peter Ford, “Why Do They Hate Us?” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.161-170
The Economist, “The Unblessed Peacemaker,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.171-173
Scott Macleod, “Inside Saudi Arabia,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.174-177
Thomas J. Badey, “Defining International Terrorism: A Pragmatic Approach,” in Thomas J. Badey, ed., Annual Editions— Violence and Terrorism 2003/2004, pp.2-10 (handout)
Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” in Robert J.
Art and Robert Jervis, eds., International Politics: Enduring Concepts and
Contemporary Issues, 2003,
pp.411-425 (handout)
The Economist, “The Terror Next Time?” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.60-63
Jeffrey T. Richelson, “Defusing Nuclear Terror,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2002, pp.39-43 (handout)
* Films and Film Clips: The Peacemaker (1998); Frontline: Campaign Against Terror (2002) Sum of All Fears (2001); Outbreak (1996)
* Second Review and Analysis Paper: The Causes of International Terrorism
* Class Presentations on International Relations on Film
Week 6: Globalization and Global Inequalities
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction
to Theory
and History, 2003, pp.185-258
Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, “Power and Interdependence,” in Conflict After the Cold War, pp.121-127
Joseph Kahn, “The World’s Economies Slide Together into Recession,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.33-34
Ricardo Hausmann, “Prisoners of Geography,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.41-47
William Thom, “Africa’s Security Issues Through 2010,” in Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.181-187
Benjamin R. Barber, “Jihad vs. McWorld,” in Richard K. Betts, ed., Conflict After the Cold War, pp.558-567
Foreign Policy, “Measuring Globalization,” in Helen E. Purkitt, ed., Annual Editions—World Politics, 2002/2003, pp.24-32
* Films and Film Clips: A Dry White Season (1989); City of Joy (1992); The Big One (1997)
* Class Presentations on International Relations on Film
* Final Examination, Thursday, June 26, in-class
Appendix: Films for Class Presentation Assignment
The following feature films are a sample of titles that might be used in your
class presentation on film and international relations. There are several conditions
for this assignment that might further guide your choice. First, you cannot
select film clips that I have used in class to illustrate key concepts; other
clips from the same film are perfectly acceptable though. Second, you cannot
select a film for this project that you have used in the Past Imperfect assignment.
Third, you are required to brief the instructor in advance on your plans for
the class presentation and the nature of the clip to be shown. Finally, I encourage
critical and creative linkages that you may draw between our course work and
interesting films. Good luck!
Air Force One
Apocalypse Now
Atomic Café
Black Hawk Down
Blade Runner
Canadian Bacon*
City of Joy*
Clear and Present Danger*
Crimson Tide*
The Day After
Day the Earth Stood Still*
Gallipoli
Hearts and Minds
Killing Fields
The Lorax
The Manchurian Candidate
Missing
The Mouse that Roared*
Outbreak
Pearl Harbor*
Red Dawn
Romero
The Siege*
Salaam Bombay
Seven Days in May*
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country*
Three Days of the Condor*
Triumph of the Will
Why We Fight Series
* Denotes films that are not currently in the College library holdings. These may be rented for viewing at the Wayne County Public Library or a local video store.