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

Syllabus

 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    

Annotation

The course will introduce students to the most important developments in the Northern American territory since the end of the Cold War. Emphasis is placed on major problems in domestic politics in multidisciplinary perspective.