Fall 2001
Beth DeSombre
edesombr@wellesley.edu
M, Th 1:30 - 2:40
PNE 132
x2168
Office Hours: M 3-4; W 2-4
And whenever you find me there! (Feel free to drop by whenever)
For centuries states have attempted to cooperate to solve collectiveproblems. Sometimes they have succeeded, other times they have failed.Environmental problems provide a set of cases in which widespread cooperationis both important and quite difficult. Under what conditions have statesbeen able to cooperate to solve international environmental problems? Mostinternational efforts to address environmental problems involve internationallaw -- how does such law function? What are the international legal mechanismsthat have been used or could be tried to address these problems? What typesof issues can international environmental law address and what types canit not?
This course will address aspects of international environmental politicsas a whole, but will pay particular attention to the international legalstructures used to deal with these environmental problems. It will examinetheoretical concepts and specific illustrative issue areas, but will nottake up all international environmental issues. It will introduce studentsto the concepts and details of international law, though it will examinemore about what law actually does than what it says. This course, then,is really about the intersection of international relations, internationallaw, and environmental politics, and about learning how and when they canintersect in a beneficial way.
The following books will be available for purchase in the bookstore:
Lakshman D. Guruswamy and Brent R. Hendricks, International EnvironmentalLaw in a Nutshell [referred to on syllabus as "Nutshell"]
Lawrence E. Susskind, Environmental Diplomacy: Negotiating More EffectiveGlobal Agreements
Oran R. Young, Governance in World Affairs
Elizabeth R. DeSombre and Samuel Barkin, "The Turbot War: Canada, Spain,and Conflict Over the North Atlantic Fishery," Pew Case Studies in InternationalAffairs: Case 226.
Most of the remaining readings will be available in a coursepack fromthe political science department.
Course Requirements:
Class participation -- 10%
Quizzes (Top 3 grades of 5 count) -- 10%
Treaty Project -- 60%
Final Exam -- 20%
Attendance and Assignments: You are expected to come to all classsessions. Class activities will be designed around specific numbers ofparticipants so it is essential that you attend or indicate absences assoon as possible beforehand so that arrangements can be made. You willbe held responsible for any work you have missed and quizzes will not bemade up. Assignments should be submitted on time and late work will bepenalized as follows: late papers will be immediately marked down 1/3 ofa grade (i.e. an A- would become a B+), and one-third of a grade for eachadditional day late, including weekend days.
Class Participation (10%)
Students are expected to come to all classes prepared to discuss thereading and the issues for that day of class, and to contribute informationfrom the treaties studied for the treaty project. You should make sureyou have done the reading by the time of class. Specific preparatory assignmentsmay be assigned in class. We will all struggle together with the conceptsand the cases -- many of these issues do not have clear answers, and thereare no stupid questions if you have done the reading. Students are thereforeexpected to participate actively inside and outside of class.
Quizzes (10%)
There will be five in-class quizzes given on the dates indicated onthe syllabus. Of these, the top three grades will count. The quizzes willaddress issues discussed in lecture, class discussion, or reading. Theyshould not be difficult for those who attend class regularly, participatein class discussions, and keep up with the reading. They will be representativeof the types of questions that will appear on the final exam. There willbe no makeup quizzes.
Treaty Project (60% total):
Each student will be assigned (with her own input) an internationalenvironmental treaty to examine during the course of the semester. Theoverall goal is to understand the way international regulations work (ordo not work) to address the environmental issues your treaty addresses.An important additional role of this assignment is to learn how to do andinterpret primary research relating to international environmental politics.A library workshop will be held to acquaint you with library and on-lineresources that will help you research this project. Note that assignmentsare due on non-class days.
Treaty Assignments (15% each)
Three written assignments discussing aspects of the treaty and its effectivenesswill be due at dates indicated on the syllabus. These will answer specificquestions about your treaty and its history. The information in these assignmentswill provide the basis of the Treaty Analysis, due at the end of the course.
Treaty Analysis (15%)
The final goal of the project is to do an analysis of the overall effectivenessof the treaty you have focused on. The analysis will consist of a discussionof the factors in the treaty structure itself that are likely to lead toan effective solution to the environmental problem at issue as well asthose that are likely to be less useful. A discussion of the implementationhistory of the treaty should be included, and a conclusion should be reachedabout what, realistically, could be done to improve the effectiveness ofthe treaty in question. This paper should not exceed 12 pages, and shouldread as a unified whole, rather than as the agglomeration of the threeprevious assignments. It is due in class.
Final Exam (20%)
A final exam will be given during exam period. It will emphasize bothfacts and theories used during the course, and will require legal analysisand knowledge of some of the details of environmental issues discussed.
Course Schedule
Th September 6: Introduction and Overview
Treaty Preference Sheets due Monday, September 10th, 10 a.m.,but you are encouraged to hand them in as soon as possible (and doing soincreases your odds of getting one of your top choices).
M September 10: Environmental Politics
To be handed out in class ahead of time:
[If you have not yet read it]:
Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science 162(3859),pp. 1243-1248.
David Feeny, Fikret Berkes, Bonnie J. McCay, and James M. Acheson, "TheTragedy of the Commons: Twenty-two Years Later," Human Ecology 18(1)(1990), pp. 1-19.
Th September 13: Research Workshop
Attempt to find and bring with you to class a copy of yourtreaty.
M September 17: International Relations and InternationalLaw
Kenneth Waltz, "Anarchic Orders and Balance of Power (partial)," Theoryof International Politics, pp. 102-116
Henkin, Louis (1979), "Is it Law or Politics?" How Nations Behave,2nd ed. (pp. 88-98)
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Signed at Vienna 23May 1969 (entry into force: 27 January 1980). U.N.T.S. 331.
Th September 20: International Environmental Law -- Sourcesand Instruments
Nutshell Chapter 2
Treaty Assignment #1 due, Friday September 21st, noon
M September 24: International Environmental Law -- Problems and Prospects
IN-CLASS QUIZ
Susskind pp. 11-42
Mohammed Bedjaoui, "Poverty of the International Order," in RichardFalk, Friedrich Kratochwil, and Saul H. Mendlovitz, eds., InternationalLaw: A Contemporary Perspective (Boulder and London: Westview Press,1985), pp. 152-163.
Th September 27: NO CLASS MEETING YOM KIPPUR
M October 1: Negotiation I
Susskind, pp. 43-61
Young, Ch. 2, "Regime Tasks and Types"
Th October 4: I Negotiation II
IN-CLASS QUIZ
Susskind pp. 82-98
Young, Ch. 3, "The Problem of Problem Structure"
M October 8: FALL BREAK
Th October 11: In-class negotiation
[NOTE: Get a start on Monday’s reading]
M October 15: Law of Ozone Depletion and Climate Change
Nutshell chapters 6 and 7
James K. Sebenius, "Crafting a Winning Coalition: Negotiating a Regimeto Control Global Warming," in multiple eds., Greenhouse Warming: Negotiatinga Global Regime (World Resources Institutes, January 1991), pp. 69-98.
*Eileen Claussen, "Climate Change: Present and Future," Ecology LawQuarterly 27(4) (February 2001), p. 1373ff. Available on Expanded AcademicIndex
Treaty Assignment #2 Due Tuesday October 16th, noon
Th October 18: The Role of Science and Uncertainty
Susskind, pp. 62-81
Daniel J. Bodansky, "Scientific Uncertainty and the Precautionary Principle,"Environment (September 1991), pp. 4-5, 43.
Steinar Andresen, "Science and Politics in the International Managementof Whales," Marine Policy, vol. 13 (April 1989), pp. 99-117.
M October 22: Implementation and Enforcement
Susskind, pp. 91-121
Nutshell chapter 3
Th October 25: Compliance
Ronald B. Mitchell, "Membership, Compliance, and Non-compliance in theInternational Convention for the Regulation of Whaling," Unpublished Paper,presented at the International Environmental Institutions Research Seminar,Harvard University, October 1992, 24pp.
Young, Ch. 4, "Is Enforcement the Achilles' Heel of International Regimes?"
M October 29: Effectiveness
IN-CLASS QUIZ
Young, Chapter 5, "The Effectiveness of International Regimes."
Oran Young and Marc Levy (with the assistance of Gail Osherenko), "TheEffectiveness of International Environmental Regimes," [partial] in OranYoung, ed., The Effectiveness of International Environmental Regimes:Causal Connections and Behavioral Mechanisms (Cambridge: MIT Press,1999), pp. 1-6, 10-28.
Th November 1: Law of Endangered Species and Biodiversity
Nutshell chapter 5
Michael J. Glennon, "Has International Law Failed the Elephant?" AmericanJournal of International Law, vol. 84 (1990), pp. 1-28, 37-43.
M November 5: Transboundary Issues: Water
Nutshell Chapter 15
Aaron Schwaback, "The Sandoz Spill: The Failure of International Lawto Protect the Rhine from Pollution," Ecology Law Quarterly vol.16 (1989). pp. 443-471.
Th November 8: Transboundary Issues: Air and Land
Nutshell Chapter 14, plus pp. 218-225; pp. 351-354.
Treaty Assignment #3 Due Friday November 9th, noon
M November 12: Unoccupied Commons I -- Ocean Resources
Nutshell Chapter 13
Lawrence Juda, International Law and Ocean Use Management (London:Routledge, 1996), pp. 209-212; 213-235.
Th November 15: Unoccupied Commons II -- Ocean Pollution
IN-CLASS QUIZ
Nutshell chapters 10 and 11
M November 19: Unoccupied Commons III -- Antarctica and Outer Space
Nutshell chapter 8
Th November 22: THANKSGIVING -- no class
M November 26: When Laws Collide I: The Turbot War
Elizabeth R. DeSombre and Samuel Barkin, "The Turbot War: Canada, Spain,and Conflict Over the North Atlantic Fishery," Pew Case Study 226.
Additional Readings may be handed out in class
Th November 29: When Laws Collide II: Trade and Environment
IN-CLASS QUIZ
Jagdish Bhagwati, "The Case for Free Trade," Scientific American,November 1993, pp. 42-49.
Herman E. Daly, "The Perils of Free Trade," Scientific American,November 1993, pp. 50-57.
M December 3: When Laws Collide III: Human Rights and EnvironmentalProtection
Guruswamy, Palmer, Weston, and Carlson, International EnvironmentalLaw and World Order(St. Paul: West Group, 1999), pp. 996-1038. [Tobe handed out in class]
Th December 6: Where Do We Go From Here?
Susskind, pp. 122-149
Nutshell chapter 18
M December 10: Conclusion and Review
Susskind, pp. 152-175
Final Treaty Analysis Due Monday December 10th, in class..
Final Exam during Exam Period.