COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST - POLI 345:INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

POLI 345: INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

FIRST SEMESTER 2016/17 ACADEMIC YEAR

LECTURER: S.K.M. AHIAWORDOR

E-mail Address: ahiawordor2000@yahoo.com

OFFICE: Room #6, Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon.

LECTURE VENUE AND MEETING TIME: E9 on Wednesdays 7:30 – 9:20 am.

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this course is to isolate and focus on International Organisations as actors in the arena of international politics. States are the primary actors when it comes to global issues. Among others they are unique because they are the embodiment of sovereignty – an attribute that is jealously guarded and proudly flaunted as and when the occasions demands. Yet states sometimes commit to principles in the context of international organisation (I.Os) that ip so facto corrode their sovereignty and constraint their room to manoeuvre in the pursuit of their interest in international affairs. What accounts for this seemingly contradictory behaviour? What lessons do the actual experiences of I.Os teach us? These two questions will generally orient the direction of issues that underpins this course. It is worthy to note that even though the international system is made up of both governmental and non-governmental I.Os, at the end of this programme students should be able to state and explain anchor points that illuminate:

• The nature of the international arena and its politics/organisation.
• The evolution of international organisations
• The types of international organisations
• The role of international organisations
• The evolution, strength and weakness of the League of Nations
• The evolution, roles and some current state of the United nations Organization (UNO)
• The evolution, roles and some current issue areas with respect to the African Union (AU)
• The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): its evolution, achievements and challenges.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

In order to assist an understanding of the nature of the discussion inherent in the issues as outlined above, one will be expected to attend lectures and tutorial sections at all times. It shall be taken for that you have read and understood all the essential texts to be spelt out hereafter. Hence you are to demonstrate this when the need arises. In other words, active engagement will be the code of interaction at both lectures and tutorial sections. For the purpose of this course, the readings suggested will suffice. This is not to say other related texts have to be ignored. For the purpose of assessment, students will be examined in two phases. An interim assessment that will be taken in the middle of the semester will constitute 30% of final grade. At the end of the semester, students will take a final examination that will constitute 70% of their final grade.

1. Understanding International Organisations as a Process and International Organisations as Institutions.
   
   
   Levy, M.A., Young, O.R., and Zuran, M., “The Study of International Regimes”, in European Journal of International Relations, 1995 Sage, London, Thousand Oaks, C.A. Vol. 1 (3), pp.267-330.
   
   
   Haggard, S. and Simmons, B.A., “Theories of International Regimes, in International Organisations, Vol.41, No.3, Summer, 1987, pp.492-517.

1. The Development of International Organisations: A Historical Overview
   
   
   Bennet LeRoy, A., International Organisations: Principles and Issues, (3^rd ed.), [Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1984], Chapter 1, By Way of Introduction, pp. 1-15.
   
   
   Goodrich, L.M., “Approaches to the Study of International Organisations”, in Avi Shilan (ed), International Organisations in World Politics, Year Book, 1957, [Croom Helm: London, 1976], pp. 1-21.
   
   
   Columbis, T.A. and Wolfe, J.H., Introduction to International Relations, [Prentice Hall Inc.: New Jersey, 1978], Chapter 15, great Experiments in Global Organisations, pp.252-264.

1. Nature and Role of International Organisations
   
   
   Slomanson, W.R., Fundamental Perspective on International Law, [2^nd ed.], [West Publishing Company: New York, 1995, See Chapter Three – Legal Personality of Organisations and Classification of Organisation, pp.99-111.
   
   
   Weiss, G.T., Forsythe, D.P. and Coate, R.A., The United nations and Changing World Politics, [Westview: Boulder Colorado, 2004], pp.xxxix-iiv.
   
   
   Pentland, C., “International Organisations and their Role”, in Richard Little and Michael Smith, (eds), Perspectives in World Politics, [2^nd ed.], [Routledge: London and New York, 1992], pp.242-249.
   
   
   Coplin, W., Introduction to International Politics: A Theoretical Overview, [3^rd ed], [Prentice Hall: New Jersey, 1980], Chapter 11 – International Governmental Organisations and why they are useful, pp.267-286.
   
   
   Jacobson, H.K., “The Nature of International Organisations”, in Bruce Russet, Harvey Starr and Richard J. Stoll (eds), Choices in World Politics: Sovereignty and Interdependence, [W.H. Freeman and Company: New York, 1989], pp.27-41.

1. The League of Nations – Formation, Strengths, Failures and Collapse
   
   
   Cheever, D. and Haviland, F., Organizing for Peace: An International Organisations in World Politics, [Houghton Miffin Company: Massachusetts, 1959].
   
   
   Bennett LeRoy, A., International Organisations: Principles and Issues, Chapter 2 – A Great Experiment – The League of Nations, pp.16-34.

1. The United Nations Organisation – Objectives, Principles, Achievements, Challenges and Current Issue Areas
   
   
   Bennett LeRoy, A., International Organisations: Principles and Issues, Chapter 3 – The Genesis of the United Nations.
   
   
   Karns, P.M. and Mingst, K.A., International Organisations: The Politics and Processes of Global Governance, [Lynne Rienner Publishers: Boulder and London, 2004], See Chapter 4 – The United Nations: The Centre Piece of Global Governance, pp.98-142.
   
   
   Rumki, Basu., The United Nations: Structure and Functions of An International Organisation, [Sterling Publishers, New Dehli, 2004]
   
   
   Slomanson, W.R., Fundamental Perspectives on International Law, Appendix A – Chapter of the United Nations, pp.607-622.
   
   
   Weiss, G.T., Forsythe, D.P. and Coate, R.A., The United Nations and Changing World Politics.., Part One – The Theory of UN Collective Security, pp.3-28.
   
   
   Ghali, B.B, An Agenda for Peace, Preventive Diplomacy, Peace-making and Peace-keeping, Report of the UN Secretary General, 17 June 1992.
   
   
   Ekeus, R., “New Challenges for the United Nations”, in Chester A. Croker, Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict, [United States Institute of Peace: Washington D.C.,2001], pp.517-528.
   
   
   Leurdjik, D.A., “The UN and NATO: The Logic of Primacy”, in Michael Pugh and Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu [eds], The United Nations and Regional Security: Europe and Beyond, [Lynne Reinner Publishers: Boulder and London, 2003], pp.57-74.

1. The Organisation of African Unity/African Union – Evolution, Objectives, Principles, Achievements, Challenges/Failures
   
   
   African Union: The Common African Position on the Proposed Reform of the United Nations: The Ezelwuni Consensus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 2005.
   
   
   Walraven, K.V., “Dreams of Power: The Role of Organisation African Unity in the Politics of Africa”, African Studies Centre Research Series, Leiden [Ashgate: Aldershot, England, 1999].
   
   
   Nweke, A. “The Organisation of African Unity and Intra-African Functionalism”, in Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Vol.489, International Affairs in Africa, January 1987, pp.133-147.
   
   
   Packer, A.C. and Rukare, D., “The New African Union and Its Constitutive Act”, in The American Journal of International Law, Vol.96, No.2, April 2001, pp.365-379.

1. The Economic Community of West African States: Formation, Objectives, Principles, Achievements and Challenges
   
   
   The Treaty of ECOWAS together with its various amendments.
   Further readings will be provided during lectures.