Major Problems in North America Since the End of the Cold War

Sylabus

Major Problems in North America Since the End of the Cold War  

General:  

Instructor:                     Mgr. Jiří Pondělíček  

Office Hours:                Wednesdays 12.30 pm - 2.30 pm (Room J3078)  

Email:                            [e-mail]  

Type:                             Lecture/Seminar  

Conclusion:                   Exam  

Requirements:

·         Regular Attendance (i.e. one absence without an apology), 15%

·         Weekly Readings, 15%

·         Presentation (one text from the list below), 20%

·         Final Paper (1500 to 2100 words paper on the topic of your choice), 50%

Course Plan:

October 3                 Introduction, Course Plan, Requirements

                                 The End of the Cold War and the Unipolar World

·         Who won the Cold War?

·         What does the victory mean?

·         The world policeman, really a change?

October 10               The End of History, did the Liberal Democracy Become the Norm?

·         Challenges to liberal democracy in NA and globally

·         BRICS

·         Rise of China

October 17               Unilateralism

·   Operation Desert Storm

·   Coalition Building

·   NATO invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. led invasion of Iraq

October 24               NAFTA (U.S.)

·         Is NAFTA a success story?

·         Is it destroying jobs in the U.S.?

·         Who benefits?

October 31               NAFTA (Canada and Mexico)

·         FTA (ELA)

·         Free trade impact on rural Mexico

·         An uneven deal?

November 7             Race Relations (U.S.)

·         Historical perspective: Los Angeles riots, Million Man March

·         Police brutality and #BlackLivesMatter

·         Race and criminal justice: how to overcome mass incarceration?

·         How to empower the disempowered?

·         President Obama and the black community

November 14           Race Relations (Canada, Mexico)

·         Aboriginal Peoples

·         Assembly of First Peoples (Canada)

·         Zapatista Movement (Mexico)

November 21           Energy Policy

·         Unconventional Oil and Gas

·         Canadian Tar Sands

·         US Shale Gas Revolution

·         Environmental Issues (Keystone XL)

·         https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/us/north-dakota-oil-pipeline-battle-whos-fighting-and-why.html?_r=1  

November 28           Deindustrialization, Globalization

·         Rust Belt

·         Ontario

·         Working class jobs    

December 5              Income Inequality

·         U.S.

·         Canada

·         Mexico

December 12            Populism 

·         Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders - party hijackers

·         White working class identity

·         Jacksonian tradition

December 19            U.S. - Canada - Mexico relations

·         Current issues and opportunities

·         Migration

·         Security    

Anotace

Kurs seznámí studenty s nejdůležitějšími událostmi v oblasti Severní Ameriky od konce studené války. Důraz bude kladen především na hlavní vnitropolitické otázky a problémy v multidisciplinární perspektivě.