IRAQ: ONE YEAR LATER
SyllabusRCIDIV 350 Section 2 Credits: 1 Grading: CR/NC
Dates: 3/9 – 4/20 Time: Tuesdays 7-9 PM
Location 126 East Quad
Instructors: Helen Fox, Max Heirich, Tom O’Donnell and faculty
COURSE WEBSITE: http://www.umich.edu/~twod/iraq
Burning Questions: hfox@umich.edu
Required Reading (Available at Shaman Drum).
- Sifry, M. & Cerf, C. (2003) Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. New York: Touchstone.
- Hiro, D. ((2004) Secrets and Lies. New York: Nation Books
Requirements for CREDIT: (Materials are due 5PM April 22 in the RC faculty lounge)
1. Your notes from five out of the seven sessions, including the Q&A periods. There’s no need to rewrite them.
2. One 7-10 page paper, typed and double-spaced: “What I Now Think About US Involvement in Iraq – And Why.” The paper should use ideas and quotations from your notes and readings as well as your own opinion.
· Please use clear, direct, personal language (“I think…”)
· Give reasons for your opinions
· Citations should be simple but accurate, e.g. “According to O’Donnell (Session 4),” “Smyth claims …”(Iraq War Reader, p.566).
· No bibliography is required.
Session 1 March 9 Where are we now and how did we get here?
The story of the events over the past year and a half that led the U.S. into the war, and the current state of evidence regarding the administration’s claims for why the war was necessary.
READING: Hiro: Secrets and Lies. (We recommend that you read as much of the book as you can before the course begins. It provides excellent background, and has a distinct point of view on why and how the events unfolded).
FACULTY/SPEAKERS:
Helen Fox (RC),
Charlie Bright (RC, History).
Respondent: Justin Shubow (Graduate Student, Philosophy),Format: Intro to the course (Fox) 20 minutes; Bright (45 minutes); Shubow (15 minutes) Q&A from students: 30 minutes
Session 2 March 16 What have been the war’s effects on Iraq and the surrounding “neighborhood”?
What do the various Iraqi constituencies think and feel about the war? What have they gained and/or lost? What are their plans and hopes for the future? How are other countries in the region affected?
READINGS: In Sifry & Cerf: Project for the New American Century: Open Letter to President Bush: “Lead the World To Victory” (222-224). Noam Chomsky: Drain The Swamp And There Will Be No More Mosquitoes. (301-303). Pat Buchanan: The War Party’s Imperial Plans. (307-308). U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan: I Stand Before You Today A Multilateralist. (309-312). Fouad Ajami: Two Faces, One Terror. (387-391). Edward Said: An Unacceptable Helplessness. (445-449). Frank Smyth: Saddam’s Real Opponents. (565-567). Tim Judah: In Iraqi Kurdistan (568-579). Kanan Makiya: Our Hopes Betrayed: The U.S. Blueprint For Post-Saddam Government (588-590).
FACULTY/SPEAKERS:
Tom Abowd (Wayne State, Anthropology);
Najeeb Jan (Graduate Student, History).
Format: Panel. Each presenter has 30-35 minutes. Q&A from students: 35 minutes
Session 3 March 23 What has been the impact of the war on the U.S.?
What are the economic and political effects of the war on the U.S. in general and on various U.S. constituencies?
READINGS: In Sifry & Cerf: Daniel Pipes: The Enemy Within. (231-232). Anthony Lewis: First They Came For The Muslims…(233-237). Representative Charles B. Rangel : Bring Back the Draft. (434-435). Derrick Z. Jackson: Promises Abroad, While at Home Promises Go Forgotten. (495-496). Louis Lapham: Regime Change (625-632).
FACULTY/SPEAKERS:
Tom Weisskopf (RC, Economics),
Mary Bejian (Washtenaw ACLU),
Honorable JoAnne Watson (Member, Detroit City Council, UM graduate)
Ishmael Ahmed (Director, ACCESS, Dearborn).
Format: Panel: Each presenter has 20 minutes. Q&A from students: 30 minutes.
Session 4 March 30 How do we evaluate other claims about the underlying motivation for the war? Part 1: The larger geopolitics of oil.
READINGS: In Sifry & Cerf: Michael Renner: Post-Saddam Iraq: Linchpin of a New Oil Order (580-587).
FACULTY/SPEAKERS:
Tom O’Donnell (Physicist, RC faculty,
Respondent: Frank Thompson (RC, Economics).
Format: O’Donnell (60 minutes). Thompson (15 minutes) Q&A from students: 35 minutes.
Session 5 April 6 How do we evaluate other claims about the underlying motivation for the war? Part 2: Empire
Ways of seeing the idea of pre-emptive war, the new-conservative position papers on the new strategy for international relations; and the increasing global dominance of the U.S.
READINGS: In Sifry & Cerf: George W. Bush: State of the Union Speech: The Axis of Evil (250-252). Richard Falk: The New Bush Doctrine. (272-277). Arundhati Roy: Wars Are Never Fought For Altruistic Reasons (339-343). Arianna Huffington: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Proof! (344-346). Jay Bookman: The President’s Real Goal in Iraq (347-352). Andrew Sullivan: The Imperialism Canard (353-356).Charles Krauthammer: The Unipolar Moment Revisited: America, the Benevolent Empire (593-607). Lawrence F. Kaplan and William Kristol: America’s Mission, After Baghdad. (608-613). Pervez Hoodbhoy: America’s Dreams of Empire (614-617).
FACULTY/SPEAKERS:
Marilyn Young (Professor of History, New York University),
Respondent: Steve Darwall (Director, Honors Program; Philosophy). Format: Young (60 minutes); Darwall (15 minutes); Q&A from students (35 minutes).
Session 6 April 13 Exit? And Then What?
What might happen in the region as a result of the war? How might various scenarios affect U.S. and world security? Proposed exit strategies, alternative policy options, wildcards.
READINGS: In Sifry & Cerf: James Fallows: The Fifty-first State? (535-556). Dilip Hiro: The Post-Saddam Problem (560-564). George W. Bush, Speech at the American Enterprise Institute: “Iraq Is Fully Capable of Living in Freedom.” (557-559). Lawrence Kaplan and William Kristol: America’s Mission, After Baghdad ((608-613). Jonathan Schell: Pre-emptive Defeat, or How Not To Fight Proliferation. (506-526).
FACULTY/SPEAKERS:
Lawrence Pintak (Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism),
Craig Regester (RC alum; RC Staff),
Respondent: Michael Kennedy (Director, International Institute).
Format: Pitak (30 minutes); Regester (30 minutes) Kennedy (15 minutes). Q&A from students: 35 minutes.
Session 7 April 20 Open Topic depending on current events and student needs and interests.