POL 4891 is also offered in Spring 2025
POL 4891 is also offered in Spring 2024
POL 4891 is also offered in Fall 2021
Spring 2024 | POL 4891 Section 001: The Politics of Nuclear Weapons (65373)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Tue,
Thu 02:30PM - 03:45PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 10
- Enrollment Status:
Open (84 of 85 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Nuclear weapons have been a feature of international politics since the development of nuclear weapons by the United States during World War II. But how exactly do nuclear weapons affect international politics? This course tackles this question. In doing so, we examine the history of the nuclear era, the theories we can use to try to understand the ways in which nuclear weapons affect international politics, and key current policy challenges associated with nuclear weapons. For example, we'll ask: how do nuclear weapons work and how are nuclear materials created? Are nuclear weapons a force for peace or for instability and war? How likely is a nuclear war and how close did we come to nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis or other crises? How dangerous is nuclear proliferation and why does the United States go to such lengths to stop other countries acquiring nuclear weapons? Why does the United States have so many nuclear weapons and what drove the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union? Why have indigenous populations often borne the brunt of nuclear testing and how have issues of race and gender played into the history of nuclear weapons? What role do nuclear weapons play in India-Pakistan relations and what role will they play in future U.S.-China relations? How likely is nuclear terrorism? Is nuclear disarmament possible? Is it desirable?
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?msbell+POL4891+Spring2024
- Class Description:
How do nuclear weapons affect international politics? How likely is nuclear war or nuclear terrorism? How dangerous is nuclear proliferation? Is nuclear disarmament possible? Is it desirable? This course examines these questions. In doing so, students will be introduced to the technological underpinnings of nuclear weapons and their effects; key theories used to understand nuclear weapons and their effects; the history of the nuclear age and the complicated ways in which nuclear weapons have affected it; and a range of contemporary issues relating to nuclear weapons, including the possibility of nuclear terrorism; the role nuclear energy will (and should) play in the future, the feasibility of nuclear disarmament; the role of nuclear weapons in future US-China relations; the role of nuclear weapons in South Asia; the Iran nuclear deal and potential future proliferation; and the ways in which current and future technological developments may impact nuclear issues. Students will also participate in a substantial simulation exercise to wrestle with the complexity and difficulty of solving these issues.
- Who Should Take This Class?:
- There are no formal prerequisites for the course, but students who have taken a previous course on international politics (for example, POL 1025: Global Politics, POL 1026: U.S. Foreign Policy, POL 3835: International Relations, POL 3810: International Law, or POL 4885: International Conflict and Security) will likely get the most out of the course. If you don't have any background of this sort, it would be advisable to speak with the TA or instructor before committing to take the class.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65373/1243
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 20 October 2023
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2024 Political Science Classes