AUTUMN 2025

Jonathan Warren

JSIS 498 – Advanced Readings in International Studies: (SSc, W)

T 2:30 – 5:20 p.m. | SAV 140

Topic: Social Democracy – Public Writing Seminar (Opinion pieces, Blog, newspaper pieces, etc.)

Course Description: Moving from social democracy to neoliberalism in the late 20th century has proven a serious mistake for societies that chose this path. In this seminar, we will discuss what social democracy is, how it overlaps and differs from socialism, some of its intellectual roots (Keynes, Polanyi, Piketty, etc.), its major successes and failures, and ideas for how countries like the US can return to this political-economic project. 

Instructor: Jonathan Warren
Questions? Email redstick@uw.edu

WINTER 2026

Reşat Kasaba

JSIS 498 – Advanced Readings in International Studies (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: War in Iraq

Course Description: March 19, 2026 will mark the twenty-third anniversary of the start of the US War in Iraq.  Even though the US combat troops left Iraq in 2011, there are still about 2,500 US military personnel in the country. Iraq is trying to rebuild its infrastructure and the institutions that were destroyed during the war.  The nation is deeply divided, the country is on the brink of anarchy, its government is corrupt, regional powers and local insurgencies are trying to use Iraq to advance their own interests. The US failed to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the plans for building a democratic Iraq were abandoned eventually.  There is a general agreement among scholars and politicians that the Iraq War constitutes one of the worst blunders of U.S. foreign policy in history. 

Since the early days of the war, politicians, journalists, and scholars have been debating how the U.S. decided to attack Iraq and why the policymakers failed to predict the disastrous consequences that followed.  In this course we will follow some of these discussions by reading selections from several books.   We will learn how the decision to go to war was made by the executive branch of the US government, how it was carried out by the military and various other organs of the government and private contractors, and what role the media and the U.S. Congress played in this process.  We will review the writings of some of the opponents of the war and discuss why their views were ignored.  We will also read about the war’s disastrous effects on Iraq, Iraqi people, as well as the US soldiers who fought there.  

Instructor: Reşat Kasaba
Questions? Email kasaba@uw.edu

TASK FORCE WEBSITE

TASK FORCE CAPSTONES – ONLY in Winter Quarter

Jessica Beyer

JSIS 495 – Task Force (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: Autonomous Weapons Systems, Drones, and the Future of Conflict 

Course Description: One of the unexpected turns of events in the war in Ukraine has been the widespread adoption of drones as a tool of war. On the battlefield, armed forces innovate and test these systems in real time, increasingly shifting towards autonomous and unmanned systems on land and in the sea. Private companies and drone manufacturers have begun partnering with Ukrainian forces to test new drone innovations like using artificial intelligence to increase autonomous operations, object recognition, and collect and analyze data. However, the use of autonomous weapons is controversial. There are human rights concerns, such as how existing understandings and agreements about appropriate conduct in war map onto the use of autonomous weapon systems. Broader ethical and philosophical questions have also become pressing, like what the appropriate uses of (lethal) autonomous weapon systems should be. This Task Force will engage with this emerging policy area and make recommendations for paths forward in light of the findings.  

Instructor: Jessica Beyer
Questions? Email jlbeyer@uw.edu

Michelle Koutnik

JSIS 495 – Task Force (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: Indigenous and International Relations in a Warming Arctic 

Course Description:  In both Canada and the United States, China’s aspirations as a polar power are impacting the balance in Arctic international relations. In a warming Arctic, melting ice is opening new shipping routes, creating new opportunities for natural resource extraction, and accelerating other processes of globalization. China considers itself a near-Arctic nation and now serves as an Observer on the Arctic Council, which is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation in the Arctic. At the same time, Arctic Indigenous Peoples, in particular Inuit, have become increasingly effective at influencing domestic and international policies concerning the Arctic. In this Task Force, students will address ways that policies may impact China’s role in the region and what impact, if any, China’s role in Arctic policy might have on Arctic Indigenous Peoples, Canada, the United States and beyond. 

While Arctic policy is developed to solve social and international problems, in seeking to understand policy we must ask whose voices are dominant and whose are not well represented or even absent in the development of a particular policy, or in decision-making processes. International relations and policies that impact the homelands and lives of Arctic Indigenous Peoples are inherently linked to questions of justice and the rights of Inuit and Inuit communities. This is particularly important as international interests, such as China’s, increase their focus on the Arctic. 

Instructor: Michelle Koutnik 
Questions? Email mkoutnik@uw.edu

Faculty James

JSIS 495 – Task Force (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: Averting War: Taiwan and US-China Relations 

Course Description: In 2021, The Economist dedicated an issue to Taiwan titled “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth.” After China’s 2022 missile launches off Taiwan’s shores and an emerging “Cold War” between the U.S. and China, Taiwan has become a potential site for global armed conflict. This Task Force aims to produce policy recommendations to address the rising tensions between the U.S., China, and Taiwan and the possibility of war breaking out in the Taiwan Strait. The Task Force will delve into the domestic political, economic, and social factors driving conflict from three parties-–Taiwan, China, and the U.S.–-as well as international relations and military conflicts. 

Instructor: James Lin
Questions? Email jyslin@uw.edu

Tabitha Mallory

JSIS 495 – Task Force (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: Geoeconomics of the Deep: Governing Power, Resources, and Biodiversity on the High Seas 

Course Description: This capstone explores the governance of the high seas as a global commons—the vast ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction that cover nearly half the Earth’s surface and belong to all of humanity. Students will examine the geostrategic, environmental, and technological challenges of protecting vulnerable marine biodiversity while satisfying growing global demand for ocean resources such as seabed minerals, marine genetic resources, and fish. The course will consider how existing and emerging legal frameworks, such as the International Seabed Authority and the UN treaty on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), intersect with state interests, corporate actors, and global sustainability goals. Particular attention will be paid to the Asia-Pacific region, including China’s leading position in exploratory seabed mining contracts, Japan’s edge in subsea technology, and the concerns of smaller stakeholders such as Pacific Island Nations, many of whom are on the frontlines of both resource exploitation and climate change. Students will engage with the topic through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on insights from the fields of international law, environmental science, and political economy as they conduct their policy analysis of one of the most consequential frontiers of ocean governance. 

Instructor: Tabitha Mallory
Questions? Email tabitha@uw.edu

Saadia M. Pekkanen

JSIS 495 – Task Force (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: China’s Space Diplomacy Around the World

Course Description: China’s vision for an alternative world order is reflected in high-profile diplomatic initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. China also has a diplomatic strategy for the space domain, which stretches across technologies, regions, and actors around the world. But its longstanding activities related to space diplomacy are not well known or widely appreciated. This task force investigates the causes and consequences of China’s space diplomacy, with a focus on its implications for global leadership and governance in outer space affairs. 

Instructor: Saadia Pekkanen
Questions? Email smp1@uw.edu

Scott Radnitz

JSIS 495 – Task Force (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: US soft power after Trump 

Course Description: Soft power is a component of every state’s foreign policy. Understood as a force of attraction rather than coercion, it allows states to achieve their goals cheaply and in ways that benefit multiple parties. Since 2025, Trump has sought to destroy American soft power and largely succeeded. With institutions such as USAID and Voice of America hollowed out or eliminated, there will be a need for bold thinking after Trump leaves the scene, to reimagine soft power in the coming era. This Task Force will think through what forms American soft power should take after Trump.  

Instructor: Scott Radnitz 
Questions? Email srad@uw.edu

SPRING 2026

Daniel Bessner

JSIS 498 – Advanced Readings in International Studies (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: The Cold War 

Course Description: This course asks a central question: How did the United States fight the Cold War? We will explore this issue by analyzing how numerous factors—political, economic, social, racial, intellectual, technological, and others—shaped the ways in which the United States decided to prosecute its decades-long Cold War with the Soviet Union and international communism writ large. Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to how ideology and visions of the United States’ global role impacted decision-makers’ choices during the Cold War. The course will also serve as an introduction to the historiography of the Cold War. We will further study how both domestic and international contexts influenced the making of Cold War foreign policy, as well as how U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War affected the lives of ordinary Americans and people living in foreign nations. Students will leave the course with a better understanding of the major factors, events, people, and movements that shaped the Cold War. 

Instructor: Daniel Bessner
Questions? Email dbessner@uw.edu

Cabeiri Robinson

JSIS 498 – Advanced Readings in International Studies (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: Decolonizing Humanitarianism  

Course Description: The US is dismantling national aid agencies and is in the process of withdrawing from multilateral institutions. The world of international humanitarianism is in financial and organizational disarray. This readings seminar enables students to think creatively about how aid could be reinvigorated, drawing inspiration from existing practices of aid and solidarity in the global South. Students in this course will gain a grounded understanding of key debates and concepts in different humanitarian traditions and their how their practices became either valued or devalued as normative international humanitarianism globalized. Students will read several texts closely which focus on regional traditions, including the emergence of a Euro-Christian tradition as the basis of an “Empire of Humanity,” the fraught political economy of professionalized humanitarian labor, and the political culture of another global practice—that of “Islamic humanitarianism.” 

Instructor: Cabeiri Robinson 
Questions? Email cdr33@uw.edu

Sunila Kale

JSIS 498 – Advanced Readings in International Studies (SSc, W)

Time & Location TBD

Topic: The Global South

Course Description: What and where is the Global South? Understood as a geopolitical location, formation, and analytic, “the Global South” turns many conventional narratives of history and development upside down. In this capstone international studies seminar, we will read and think about the making of the modern world from the perspectives of the Global South, focusing on key debates about the nation, state, politics, secularism, and development. In the second half of the course, students will write their own 2,000 word entry for an online repository of Global South Keywords, focusing on a significant concept, moment, thinker, or issue from the Global South. Our goal will be to submit these for online publication at the end of the quarter.  

Instructor: Sunila Kale
Questions? Email kale@uw.edu