Spring 2018  |  PA 5814 Section 001: Bilateral and Multilateral Diplomacy (54936)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option No Audit
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/16/2018 - 05/04/2018
Mon, Wed 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 30
Enrollment Status:
Open (10 of 25 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Theory, practice and profession of bilateral & multilateral diplomacy. History of diplomacy; norms, practices and international legal bases; impact of technology, cultural changes on diplomacy. Readings, discussions and simulations teach how major powers/smaller states, working alone or in blocs, use diplomacy to achieve national and regional goals.
Class Notes:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?mtcurtin+PA5814+Spring2018
Class Description:

This course will examine the theory, practice and profession of twenty-first century diplomacy in bilateral and multilateral environments. While the successful negotiation in 2015 of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement drew more attention to how nations large and small use diplomacy in bilateral and multilateral environments to advance their foreign policy and broader national interests, political shifts ranging from the 2016 U.S. elections to Brexit to Russian actions have raised questions about how nations and non-state actors engage one another to achieve their goals in a complext world. In addition, while international organizations, including the United Nations, and regional organizations, such as the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the African Union, have become not just venues for multilateral diplomacy, but also diplomatic players in their own right, seeking to negotiate resolutions to regional problems, their functioning is being challenged by resurgent nationalism.


During the course of the semester, students will be introduced to the history of diplomacy around the world; to its norms and practices, including its international legal bases, and how modern technology and changing cultural norms have impacted the way that diplomats operate. Through readings, classroom discussions and simulations, students will come to understand the ways in which major powers, and medium and small states use bilateral and multilateral diplomacy to achieve their own goals and work with friends and allies to achieve regional and global objectives. Students will also examine the way in which nations come together in formal and informal blocs to advance regional goals, including within the context of the United Nations. We will also look at how non-state actors, including non-governmental organizations operate in the diplomatic sphere to achieve their objectives, as in the case of NGO activism that led to the signing of the Ottawa Landmine Convention, and at how governments and non-governmental organizations seek to resolve conflicts through Track II processes.

Grading:

Students will be graded on an A-F basis. Grading will be as follows:

  • 30%--Overall Class participation--Students are expected to attend all classes unless excused, to complete all the readings, and to be prepared to participate in the classroom discussion. Students will be separately graded on classroom simulation exercises. Students will be assigned once during the semester to present one of the readings in a ten minute briefing. There will be a sign up sheet for this.

  • 10%--Short (400-600) word diplomatic report from an embassy to a home government foreign ministry (or State Department) on an issue, summarizing events, the implication of those events for the home country, and recommendations on next moves or how to react.

  • 15%--Group Negotiating Exercise: Students will identify the specific issues to be negotiated, decide on tactics, and then negotiate a solution with the help of the mediator. In the final session, the group will present a briefing (with visual slides) showing the results of the negotiation.

  • 15%--UN Security Council Simulation: Students will be assigned a role to play in a mock UN Security Council or other multilateral meeting that addresses and seeks agreement on a critical issue.

  • 30%--A final 2,500-3,000 word research paper on an assigned topic.
  • Class Format:
    Combined lecture and discussions, with students expected to attend and actively participate in discussions and debates based on assigned reading and familiarity with relevant international events; two negotiation exercises in which students will role play; occasional virtual or in person class visits by professionals in the field.
    Workload:
    Readings 50-100 pages per session, plus assignments detailed above.
    Textbooks:
    https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54936/1183
    Past Syllabi:
    http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/mtcurtin_PA5814_Spring2017.pdf (Spring 2017)
    Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
    6 November 2017

    ClassInfo Links - Spring 2018 Public Affairs Classes Taught by Mary Curtin

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