POL312 Lecture Notes

Fall/Winter 2014/15

These notes are provided to students as a courtesy and may differ from the lecture delivered in class. Notes will be posted as they become available during the year.

Lecture 11: The Harper Years

Fall/Winter 2013/14

These notes are provided to students as a courtesy and may differ from the lecture delivered in class. Notes will be posted as they become available during the year.

Lecture 11: The Harper Years

Fall/Winter 2009/10

[Bibliographies] [Office Hours] [Syllabus and Reading List] [Deadlines and Tests]
[Statement on First-Term Test] [Statement on Final Test]

These notes are provided to students as a courtesy and may differ from the lecture delivered in class. Notes will be posted as they become available during the year.

Lecture 1: Welcome and Introduction

Lecture 10: The Mulroney-Campbell Years

Lecture 11: The Chrétien-Martin Years

Lecture 12: The Harper Years

Lecture 14: Social Determinants

Lecture 15: External Determinants

Lecture 19: Europe

Lecture 24: Canada as a G8 and G20 Principal Power

Case Study Bibliographies

(See also the Canadian Foreign Policy in a Changing World website)

1993 The Balkans and Kosovo (January 2010)

1993 Landmines (January 2010)

1997 Climate Change (January 2010)

2001 Afghanistan (January 2010)

2001 African Development (January 2010)

2003 Responsibility to Protect (January 2010)

2003 Iraq (January 2010)

2006 Arctic Sovereignty (January 2010)

2006 Security and Prosperity Partnership (January 2010)

[back to top]

Professor John Kirton: Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or by appointment
Munk Centre for International Studies, North House, Room 209
Teaching Assistant: James McKee

Syllabus and reading list

Mid Term Quiz: in the first part of the class on October 27, 2009 (10% of final grade)

First Term Test: December 1, 2009, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. without a break in Room UC273 in University College (25% of final grade)

The test is two hours, with no break in the middle, and no aids allowed.
You may write your answers in legible English or French.
You will answer two essay questions, each of equal value. The first question, in Part A, is a single mandatory question that all students must answer. In Part B, students will answer one question of their choice, from a list of several questions available.
The test covers all material in the course since the start in September, reflecting the fact that this is a cumulative integrated intellectual experience
The test, as with the course, centres on developing and applying to the evidence major theories and concepts of Canadian foreign policy. While all the theories and concepts are important, the most important are the three theoretical perspectives on Canadian foreign policy and the meta-theory of hegemonic transition.

In writing the test you should:

answer the questions actually asked, rather than those you studied for and hoped would be there;
answer all parts of the question; and
identify your central answer or argument clearly at the start, so both the you and the reader know what it is as you write.

In studying for the test, start with the lectures, then the textbook, then the required readings for each week. The text of three lectures (the Mulroney-Campbell Years, the Chrétien-Martin and the Harper Years) are available above. The published materials cover essentially Prime Minister Harper's first four months in office, whereas the lecture notes cover the almost four years that his government has been in office. You should read the lecture notes before the test.

Research Essay: 2,500 words, handed in on paper and electronically on Turnitin (see syllabus for details), or with alternative arrangement, due February 23, 2010 (40% of final grade; late penalty is 1% of the assignment for each calendar day without cause)

Final Test: on the entire course, on March 30, 2010, 10:00 a.m. [not 10:10] to 12:00 p.m. in Sandford Fleming SF3201 (25% of final grade)

As I have explained several times in the lectures, as a matter of fairness to all students, I can only make statements on this test that are equally available to all students, rather than provide private information about the test (as opposed to the substance of Canadian foreign policy) to any individual in the course.

It is a two-hour test with no break. You must arrive on time to start at 10:00 am.

You must answer in legible English or French. No aids are allowed. You will answer two essay questions, each of equal value. The first question, in Part A, is a single mandatory question that all students must answer. In Part B, students will answer one question of their choice, from a list of several questions available.

The test covers all material in the course since the start in September, reflecting the fact that this is a cumulative, integrated and comparative (across the lectures) intellectual experience, and that I have already had an opportunity to test you on the material uniquely covered in the first half of the course.

The test, as with the course, focuses on developing and applying to the evidence major theories and concepts of Canadian foreign policy. The major theories and concepts include:

the three theoretical perspectives on Canadian foreign policy,
the meta-theory of hegemonic transition,
the adjusting America model,
the geopolitical gravity model,
the theory of imperial succession, and
the imperial adjustment theory of Canada’s peacekeeping path.

It is unlikely that a question will relate only to a single lecture and the corresponding required readings for that week.

[back to top]

—	This Information System is provided by the University of Toronto Libraries and the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto.
	Please send comments to: g7@utoronto.ca This page was last updated August 15, 2024.