1. CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS What is culture? Can we use it to explain political behavior generally? Are societies where culture plays a stronger, more explicit role in political life less “modern”? Are ethnicity and democracy contradictions? Why do Americans think so? Some key terms: “ethnicity,” “race,” “nations,” & “civilizations” What’s the difference between “liberal nationalism” & “ethnonationalism”? Why is it worth separating the two concepts? Where does our identity come from? Primordial (kinship) vs. socially constructed (imagined) vs. hybrid identities Are religious fundamentalism and nationalism the same thing? Which is more important (evidence from Afghanistan and Iraq)

2. HOW EXACTLY DOES NATIONALISM SHAPE INTL. POLITICS? Cultural lenses & perceptions of other peoples How does one’s own national culture shape state choices? An upside to nationalism?: Democracy, anti-imperialism, “popular sovereignty” & “self determination”

3. DO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES LEAD TO CONFLICT? DOES NATIONALISM? The duality of humanity: Are we natural born killers (individ vs. group behavior) How do states take advantage of ethnic identity? Why are “Irredentism” and “Secession” movements so compelling? Migration, refugees, “disapora” “Federalism” to deal with ethnic conflict?

4. WHY DOES SAMUEL HUNTINGTON THINK ENTIRE CIVILIZATIONS WILL CLASH? Huntington's ideas have been hammered… so why are we still talking about them? Cultural conflict is innate to the human condition… it remains when other sources of conflict are gone Cultural conflict is reinforcing: you can’t change sides Expanding kinship: Globalization, modern warfare, immigration, the media Weakening of states: back to tribalism as identity The weakening of the west Economic regionalism overlaps the civilizations

5. DOES ISLAM THREATEN THE GLOBE? A few basics Second largest religion, a global religion, and a less-reformed religion (the Shias and the Sunnis) Is it inherently violent? The basic tenets of Islam and the Qur’an: – monotheism, prophethood, – “Peace” – “submission,” & – “jihad” Is Islam inherently anti-Christian & and anti-Jew? Is there no separation between state and society in Islam? (shari’ ah)

6. WHAT IS ISLAMISM? Nationalism, post-colonialism, and the writings of Sayyid Qutb (A John Locke?) Ijtihad (interpretation) and the new meaning of jihad (call to struggle against anti-Islamic rulers) Why do some Islamo-nationalist (not fascist!!!) movements attack civilians? Is Islamism an anti-western civilizational movement? Or is it really a localized set of nationalist struggles? Is (Was) Al Qaeda a “fantasy” created by the west? Who follows Islamism: Conservatives, disillusioned, dispossessed