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	Current as of January 10, 2008 Qualitative Skills in International Relations IRP 705
	As you prepare for a professional career in International Relations, you should become become familiar with the diverse sources and methods used to collect and analyze the information upon which policy decisions can be made. Throughout your career, you will need to develop, evaluate, and present such information. In order to do so, you will have to learn how to observe systematically, understand the limits and possibilities of your observations and analyze the results. The course will examine the main methods used to enable systematic observation and the analysis of results. This course is also designed to help you find a job, such as the positions described here: "The US Department of State has an urgent need for two to three evaluators for an important rapid assessment of a high profile public diplomacy product. We have a need for specialists in qualitative data collection and review, focus group administration and interviewing." This is a core course in the International Relations Program. There are two sections in 2008, one taught by Professor Matthew Bonham and the other by Professor John Mathiason, but they will be very closely coordinated.
Prof. John Mathiason's background	One section of this course (Wednesdays from 6:45-9:30 p.m.) is led by John Mathiason (jrmathia@maxwell.syr.edu), Adjunct Professor of International Relations. He is also Managing Director of Associates for International Management Services, a consulting company providing advice and training to international organizations and not-for-profit institutions, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, the United Nations Secretariat, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the AARP, Disabled People's International, the SSM Foundation of the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Family, Youth and Children of the Government of Panama, the Equal Opportunity Commission of Hong Kong, the United Nations Development Programme in Ecuador and the Club of Madrid. He was a staff member of the United Nations Secretariat for thirty years, the last ten as Deputy Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women, responsible for managing support to negotiations leading up to the Fourth World Conference on Women. He has taught and written extensively on international governance issues, including governing the Internet (as part of the Internet Governance Project), effective management of international arms control verification regimes and on results-based management in international organizations. He is co-author of Elimination of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Prospects for Effective International Verification, published by Palgrave in March 2005 and has completed a new study entitled Invisible Governance: International Secretariats in Global Politics published by Kumarian Press in January 2007. He recently completed a new study Internet Governance: The New Frontier for International Institutions, to be published by Routledge in 2008. He has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Synopsis of the Course International relations involves examining a complex world, drawing conclusions about meaning and then applying them to the formulation of policies, the management of international organizations, advocacy by non-governmental organizations. Daily life of an IR practitioner involves observation and participation in negotiations, conflict resolution and delivery of international public services. All of these require observational and analytic skills. The course is designed so that students can acquire both an understanding of the skills and the skills themselves. It starts with an exploration of different forms of observation, ranging from introspection through indirect observation. It then explores the main tools used for systematic observation, including interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, cultural anthropology methods, simulation and games and case studies. While readings are provided that indicate the main academic discussions of the skills, the course is built around exercises, some in class, some through field work. The exercises seek to model the types of situations in which international relations practitioners use the skills that are presented.

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John R. Mathiason.
Copyright 2007, John R. Mathiason. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 10, 2008