Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Understand and differentiate between core Strategic concepts;
2. Understand and assess the applicability of Strategic concepts to historical cases;
3. Appreciate the relationship between these concepts and strategy in practice, especially in Asia-Pacific conflict situations;
4. Critically analyse the applicability of predominantly western-derived Strategic concepts to the different cultural, geographic and temporal settings of contemporary Asia-Pacific conflict;
5. Conduct rigorous scholarly research on Strategic Concepts and the intellectuals who developed these;
6. Communicate findings at a high level, both verbally and in writing, to academic, policy and public audiences

Other Information

Indicative Assessment

1. Short assignment (1,500) (20) [LO 1,3,5,6]
2. Research essay (3,000 words) (50) [LO 1,2,4,5,6]
3. Take-home exam (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,6]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

This course comprises some 130 hours of activity over 12 weeks, both interactive/seminar based and independent research. The course comprises a maximum of 6k words of assessment or the equivalent. Please note this is a general guide, averaged over the semester and the final hours ultimately depend on the individual's ability in reading and writing.

 

Inherent Requirements

Not applicable

Requisite and Incompatibility

Prescribed Texts

N/A

 

Preliminary Reading

Robert Ayson, ‘Asia’s Diplomacy of Violence: China-US Coercion and Regional Order’, Survival, vol.59, no.2, April-May 2017, pp.85-124.

 Robert Ayson and Desmond Ball, ‘Can a Sino-Japanese War Be Controlled?’, Survival, vol.56, no.6, December 2014-January 2015, pp.135-66.

 Coral Bell, The Conventions of Crisis: A Study in Diplomatic Management (London: Oxford University Press, 1971).

 Victor Cha, Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016).

 Thomas J. Christensen, ‘China, the U.S.-Japan Alliance and the Security Dilemma in East Asia’, International Security, vol.23, no.4, Spring 1999, pp.49-80.

 Lawrence Freedman, Strategy: a history (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).

 Lawrence Freedman, ed., Strategic Coercion: concepts and cases (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).

 Lawrence Freedman, Deterrence (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2004).

 Evelyn Goh, ed., Rising China’s Influence in Developing Asia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).

 Michael J. Green, et.al., Countering Coercion in Maritime Asia: The Theory and Practice of Gray Zone Deterrence (Lanham, Boulder, New York and London: Rowman & Littlefield for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2017).

 Van Jackson, Rival Reputations: Coercion and Credibility in US-North Korea Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).

 Robert Jervis and Mira Rapp-Hooper, ‘Perception and Misperception on the Korean Peninsula’, Foreign Affairs, vol.97, no.3, May/June 2018, pp.103-117.

 Robert Jervis, Perception and misperception in international politics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976).

 Alastair Iain Johnston, Cultural Realism: strategic culture and grand strategy in Chinese history (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995).

Thomas C. Schelling, Arms and influence (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966).

 Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict (Cambridge, MA: Harvard 1960).

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links