1.  According to Max Weber one major feature distinguished the power of the Nation State from other social institutions. What is it? How does Weber’s definition helps up understand the role of warfare and revolutions in military technology in shaping first the European and later the world state system? How does this help us understand “state failure” in the “fourth world? What factors contribute to social breakdown and state failure in East Africa according to Christian  Parenti ? What are some recent examples of this process of “catastrophic convergence” at work in Horn of Africa, Central Asia or the Middle East? 2.  The new world power equation seems to be multi-polar rather than bi-polar or  uni -polar. What does that imply about changes in the international state system? What countries or regional organizations would included among the major Regional powers ? What new countries would you add to the UN Security council or to the G8? How does this power map differ from that of the post WW II world? Which of these powers seem to promote consensus and stability? Which ones are revisionist powers? Where does the US fit in this new power equation? 3.  For the realists the nation state is the main and most powerful organizational actor in the current international system. For liberals and  constructivists  other kinds of organizations are eroding state power at different levels of international organization. What kinds of organizations are the critics talking about? Give an example of one Regional Intergovernmental Organization that seems to contradict the realist argument that the security dilemma of the nation state is the main problem in International Relations.  4.  What special insights does the feminist alternatives to the liberal or realist paradigm bring to our understanding of global politics? How do the Feminists deal with the issue of violence and the impact of war? Has the status of women been altered by the rise of democratic movements in the Middle East and Central Asia? Does more democracy always translate into greater women’s rights? Or greater influence by fundamentalist movements and a loss for women professionals? Who has a better record? The Arab dictatorships or the quasi democratic countries like Turkey? How has the confrontation between the Kurdish YPJ fighters and the  Jihadi  of the Islamic State over the status of women captives in Iraq and Syria brought this issue to international attention. 5.  How do Dependency theorists explain developmental gap between the advanced and underdeveloped countries? Is the spread of global capitalism the cure or the cause of global poverty? What would the  neo -liberal advocates of  globalization  argue today? What evidence can they show? What kind of states do we find in Dependent societies? Which kind of state does  neo -liberal globalism tend to encourage – a broad welfare state ( Corporatism) or a narrower security state (bureaucratic authoritarianism) with strong police powers .

1. 1. According to Max Weber one major feature distinguished the
power of the Nation State from other social institutions. What is
it? How does Weber’s definition helps up understand the role of
warfare and revolutions in military technology in shaping first
the European and later the world state system? How does this
help us understand “state failure” in the “fourth world? What
factors contribute to social breakdown and state failure in East
Africa according to Christian
Parenti
? What are some recent examples of this process of
“catastrophic convergence” at work in Horn of Africa, Central
Asia or the Middle East?
2. The new world power equation seems to be multi-polar
rather than bi-polar or
uni
-polar. What does that imply about changes in the international
state system? What countries or regional organizations would
included among the major Regional powers ? What new
countries would you add to the UN Security council or to the
G8? How does this power map differ from that of the post WW
II world? Which of these powers seem to promote consensus
and stability? Which ones are revisionist powers? Where does
the US fit in this new power equation?
3. For the realists the nation state is the main and most
powerful organizational actor in the current international
system. For liberals and
constructivists
other kinds of organizations are eroding state power at
different levels of international organization. What kinds of
organizations are the critics talking about? Give an example of
one Regional Intergovernmental Organization that seems to
contradict the realist argument that the security dilemma of the
nation state is the main problem in International Relations.

2. 4. What special insights does the feminist alternatives to the
liberal or realist paradigm bring to our understanding of global
politics? How do the Feminists deal with the issue of violence
and the impact of war? Has the status of women been altered by
the rise of democratic movements in the Middle East and
Central Asia? Does more democracy always translate into
greater women’s rights? Or greater influence by fundamentalist
movements and a loss for women professionals? Who has a
better record? The Arab dictatorships or the quasi democratic
countries like Turkey? How has the confrontation between the
Kurdish YPJ fighters and the
Jihadi
of the Islamic State over the status of women captives in Iraq
and Syria brought this issue to international attention.
5. How do Dependency theorists explain developmental gap
between the advanced and underdeveloped countries? Is the
spread of global capitalism the cure or the cause of global
poverty? What would the
neo
-liberal advocates of
globalization
argue today? What evidence can they show? What kind of
states do we find in Dependent societies? Which kind of state
does
neo
-liberal globalism tend to encourage – a broad welfare state (
Corporatism) or a narrower security state (bureaucratic
authoritarianism) with strong police powers and reduced public
sector? Is the turn towards Bureaucratic Authoritarian solutions
and austerity restricted to the “Global South” or former
communist states like Russia or China? Or can we find evidence
that these policies now prevail in the mature industrial societies
of the European Union and North America?

3. 6. What policy differences distinguished the
Neo
-conservatives from the
Neo
-Realists of American Foreign policy in after the fall of the
Soviet Union in 1991? What did
Neo
-Conservatives mean by a “
uni
-polar world? What did “
neo
-realists” like Joseph Nye mean by “soft power” as opposed to “
hard power?” How did the “
Neo
-cons” shape American security policy during the Bush
administration? At what cost to American power and influence
by their wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? How successful has
President
Obama
been in restoring American international standing as a law-
abiding member of the International Community since 2008?
How have they changed and expanded the War on Terror begun
after 09/11? In how many countries are US Special Forces and
Drone aircraft now at war? Why does Jeremy
Scahill
argue that this war can never end?
Bonus Question:
Many observers argue that income inequality has grown
dramatically in the US over the past thirty years. Who has
gained? Who has lost? Why has the upper 5% of American
households made out so well? How much of the national income
and wealth now goes to the top 1%? How does Richard Wolff
explain the decline in Working class wages? Why do Hacker

4. and Pierson want us to look at the top 0.1 of households (top
99.9%) to understand the full extent of income in equality in
America? What if anything, can government do to undo what it
already has done to make class inequality deeper? Do you
believe that people should have a fair chance in a social
competition or a fair share of basic public goods? Should we do
anything to alter market outcomes in income distribution, or
leave well enough alone? What would a Conservative like Ron
Paul argue? Or a Liberal like Robert Reich? And what about
you?