Decision-Making in Foreign Policy

Study Course Description

Course Description Statuss:Approved

Course Description Version:5.00

Study Course Accepted:05.02.2024 11:48:15

Study Course Information
Course Code:		PZK_029		LQF level:		Level 6
Credit Points:		3.00		ECTS:		4.50
Branch of Science:		Politics		Target Audience:		Political Science
Study Course Supervisor
Course Supervisor:		Andris Sprūds
Study Course Implementer
Structural Unit:		Faculty of Social Sciences
The Head of Structural Unit:
Contacts:		Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szfrsu[pnkts]lv
Study Course Planning
Full-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		8	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		16
Classes (count)		6	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		12
Total Contact Hours								28
Study course description
Preliminary Knowledge:
Enhanced understanding of foreign policy processes.
Objective:
The course "Foreign Policy Decision-Making" systematically introduces conceptual theoretical approaches to foreign policy decision-making. The course focuses on different theoretical angles and assumptions within explicit analytical models. The theoretical aspects are also being applied to the analysis of empiricial case studies.
Topic Layout (Full-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Introduction. Foreign policy decision-making: factors. Allison's decision-making models			Lectures		1.00	other
2	Rational decision-making model			Lectures		1.00	other
3	Cuba missile crisis and RAM			Classes		1.00	other
4	Organizational decision-making model			Lectures		1.00	other
5	Political decision-making model			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
6	Cuba missile crisis: organizational and political decision-making models			Classes		1.00	other
7	"World War Three: Inside The War Room': assessment			Classes		1.00	auditorium
8	Psychology, perceptions and risks in decision-making process			Lectures		1.00	other
9	Individuals and diplomats in decision-making process			Lectures		1.00	other
10	Simulation: decision-making gaming			Classes		1.00	other
11	Vietnam intervention: individuals, perceptions and risks			Classes		1.00	other
12	Decision-making in post-communist states. Foreign policy decision-making in Russia and Latvia: assessment			Lectures		1.00	other
13	Dramatic actor model. Decision-making in transition countries			Lectures		1.00	other
14	Foreign policy decision-making in Latvia: mechanisms and capacities in crisis situations			Classes		1.00	other
Assessment
Unaided Work:
Requirements inlcude seminar preparation, and elaboration of opinion pieces and individual project.
Assessment Criteria:
Quality, linkage between theory and case studies, critical thinking and own opinion.
Final Examination (Full-Time):		Exam (Written)
Final Examination (Part-Time):
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:		Students acquire knowledge of foreign-policy decion-making models.
Skills:		Students facilitate their opinion formulation and expression as well as digital skills.
Competencies:		Students acquire competences of interdisciplinary research, assessement and empirical application.
Bibliography
No.	Reference
Required Reading
1	Graham Allison, Philip Zelikow. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (New York, 1999)
2	Yaacov Vertzberger. Risk Taking and Decisionmaking. Foreign Military Intervention Decisions (Stanford, 1998)
3	Eric K. Stern, Dan Hansen. Crisis Management in a Transitional Society: The Latvian Experience (Stockholm, 2000)
4	Kimberly Marten. “Putin’s Choices: Explaining Russian Foreign Policy and Intervention in Ukraine” (The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2015)
5	RAND Corporation Report, Reinforcing Deterrence on NATO’s Eastern Flank: Wargaming the Defense of the Baltics, 2016