ENVI 232/PS220 MANAGING GLOBAL COMMONS
Williams College
Spring Semester 2003
Tuesday/Thursday 9:55-11:10
INSTRUCTOR
Class of 1946 Visiting Professor of Global Environment and Economy (Spring Semester 2003)
Office: Kellogg House, Room L-3
Phone: 597-4062
Email: msoroos@williams.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Aristotle once observed "that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it." More recently, biologist Garrett Hardin coined the phrase "the tragedy of the commons" in warning that jointly owned and freely available resources tend to be overused to their destruction. This course focuses on issues related to the use and management of global commons, in particular the oceans and seabed, the atmosphere, outer space, and Antarctica. We will examine the extent to which these global commons are subject to environmental "tragedies" and review the international laws and institutions that have been created to manage use of these domains, which lie outside the exclusive jurisdiction of nation-states. We will also briefly look at the extent to which world population growth may overburden the planetary ecosystems. Among the specific problems to be addressed are marine pollution, decline of ocean fisheries, transboundary air pollution, depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, global climate change, resource exploitation in Antarctica, and the uses of outer space. The format will include lectures, discussions, and role playing exercises.
BOOKS TO PURCHASE
Michael Berrill, The Plundered Seas: Can the World's Fish be Saved. Sierra Club Books, 1997
J. R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth Century, W.W. Norton, 2000
Course Pack of Supplemental Readings for ENVI 232
TERM PAPER
All students are required to submit a term paper in the target range of 12-15 double-spaced pages. Students will select their own topics subject to the following conditions: (a) it is relevant to the course in that it involves an international or global commons and (b) it lends itself to political, policy, and/or legal analysis. Click here for a more detailed explanation of the paper assignment. The paper is due at class time on Tuesday, May 13.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
February 6 - Course Introduction
McNeill, preface, chapter 1
February 11 - Evolution of the Environment as a Global Issue
McNeill, chapter 2
February 13 - The Tragedy of the Commons (classroom role-playing exercise)
Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science, 162(1968):1243-1248 (on-line)
Optional website:
Tragedy of the Commons Resources
February 18 - Commons and Related Concepts
Soroos, "The Evolution of Global Commons," in Ho-Won Jeong, ed., Global Environmental Policies: Institutions and Procedures, Palgrave, 2001, pp. 39-65 (course pack)
February 20 - Strategies for Managing Commons
Herschel Elliott and Richard Lamm, "A Moral Code for a Finite World," Chronicle of Higher Education, November 15, 2002, pp. B7-B9 (course pack).
Optional websites:
International Association for the Study of Common Property
February 25 - Types of International Law
Mark W. Janus, An Introduction to International Law (Third Edition), 1999, pp. 9-66 (course pack)
February 27 - Enforcement of International Law
Lisa Mastny and Hilary French, "Crimes of (a) Global Nature," Worldwatch, Sept.-Oct 2002, 12-23
United Nations, Treaty Reference Guide (available on-line)
Optional websites:
Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI) - (browse ENTRI Table of Contents, on-line)
Hieros Gamos, World Environmental Law
Fletcher School International Relations Resources
ECOLEX-A Gateway to Environmental Law
American Society of International Law--Guide to Electronic Resources
March 4 - The Law of the Sea - Historical Perspective
Susan Buck, "The Oceans," chapter 4 in The Global Commons: An Introduction, Island Press, 1998 (course pack)
McNeill, chapters 5, (chapter 6 optional)
March 6 - The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea
Biliana Cicin-Sain and Robert W. Knecht, "The United States and the World: Regaining Leadership in International Ocean and Coastal Affairs," ch. 6 in The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy, Island Press, 2000 (course pack)
Berrill, chapter 3
Optional websites:
Oceans and the Law of the Sea (United Nations)
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
March 11 - The Decline of Ocean Fisheries
Term paper topic is due
McNeill, chapter 8
Berrill, chapters 1-2
Optional Websites:
Endangered Seas Campaign (World Wildlife Fund)
March 13 - The International Law of Fishing
Berrill, chapter 4-9, 13
Optional websites:
Internet Guide to International Fishery Law
March 18 - The Turbot War of 1995 (Role Playing Exercise)
Berrill, chapters 10-12, 14-15
Soroos, "The Turbot War: Resolution of an International Fishery Dispute," in Nils Petter Gleditsch, ed., Conflict and the Environment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, pp. 235-252. (course pack)
Optional websites:
North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO)
March 20 - Midterm Examination
April 8 - The Atmosphere as a Global Commons
McNeill, chapter 3
Marvin S. Soroos, "Preserving the Atmosphere as a Global Commons," Environment, Vol. 40, No. 2, March 1998, 8-13, 32-35 (course pack)
Optional website:
Encyclopedia of the Atmosphere
April 10 - Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
McNeill, chapter 4
The Swedish NGO Secretariat on Acid Rain, The Acidification Problem (on line)
Optional websites:
Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
April 15 - Preservation of the Ozone Layer
Term paper outline is due
EPA, "On the Trail of Missing Ozone" (cartoon)
UNEP, Backgrounder: Basic Facts and Data on the Science and Politics of Ozone Protection, 2001
Hilary F. French, "Learning from the Ozone Experience," chapter 9 in Lester Brown et al, The State of the World--1997. Norton. 1997. (course pack)
Optional websites:
US EPA Ozone Depletion Website (highly recommended)
Ozone Science Crossword Puzzle
April 17 - Climate Change: Scientific Issues
Kevin Trenberth "Stronger Evidence of Human Influences on Climate: The 2001 IPCC Assessment," Environment, May 2001, pp. 8-19 (available on line)
UNEP's Climate Change Overview (good introduction to climate change issue, interesting graphics)
EPA Global Warming Site (check for a good summary of impacts of global warming)
Optional websites:
US National Academy of Sciences, Summary of 2001 Report to the President. The full report
available on-line Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, 2001
World Meteorological Organization
Union of Concerned Scientists, Global Warming Policy
The Heat is Online (Ross Gelbspan)
Global Warming Information Center (National Center for Policy Research)
Global Warming Information Page (National Consumer Coalition)
April 22 - The International Climate Change Regime
Soroos, "Negotiating Our Climate," in Sharon L. Spray and Karen L. McGlothlin (eds), Global Climate Change, Roman & Littlefield, 2002, pp. 120-44.
UNEP, Understanding Climate Change: A Beginner's Guide to the UN Framework Convention and Its Kyoto Protocol (browse on line)
Optional websites:
World Resources Institute, Building on the Kyoto Protocol: Options for Protecting the Climate,
2002, especially chapter 1 (on line book)
April 24 - Beyond Kyoto (class debate and role playing)
McNeill, chapter 10
Tom Athanasiou and Paul Baer, "Climate Change After Marrakesh: Should Environmentalists Still Support the Kyoto Protocol?" FPIF Discussion Paper #5, December 2001 (available on-line)
PEW Summary of COP8 (available on-line)
US (Bush Administration) Policy on Climate Change (available on-line)
April 29 - World Demographic Trends
McNeill, chapters 7, 9
Max Singer, "The Population Surprise," Atlantic Monthly, August 1999. (available on-line)
Required websites:
Population Reference Bureau, World Population Data Sheet 2002
Population Reference Bureau, World Population: More than Just Numbers
Optional websites:
NIE, Marking a World Population of 6 Billion
United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN)
United States Census Bureau-International Population Center
International Planned Parenthood Federation
May 1 - The World Population Conferences of 1974, 1984, 1994
Lincoln C. Chen, et al, "Women, Politics and Global Management: The Cairo Conference," Environment, Vol. 37, No. 1, Jan/Feb 1995, pp. 5-9, 31-33 (course pack)
Optional websites:
ICPD+5 (International Planned Parenthood Federation)
May 6 - Lifeboat Ethics and the Issue of Population Migration
Garrett Hardin, "Living on a Lifeboat," BioScience, Vol. 24, October 1974, pp. 561-568 (course pack)
Matthew Connelly and Paul Kennedy, "Must It Be the Rest Against the West," Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 274, No. 6, December 1994, pp.61-84 (available on line)
Optional websites:
Negative Population Growth (NPG)
May 8 - Antarctica as a Global Commons
John Vogler, "Antarctica," ch. 4 in The Global Commons: A Regime Analysis, John Wiley, 1995 (course pack)
Optional websites:
May 13 - Outer Space and the Moon as Global Commons
Term paper is due
John Vogler, "Outer Space," ch. 5 in The Global Commons: A Regime Analysis, John Wiley, 1995 (course pack)
Optional websites:
UN Office of Outer Space Affairs
May 15 - Conclusions
McNeill, chapter 11