Doz' Dr Thomas Nowotny Gusshausstr 10, 1040 Wien thomas'nowotnytmo'at

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Doz. Dr Thomas NowotnyGusshausstr 10, 1040
Wienthomas.nowotny_at_tmo.at

• Thomas Nowotny is adjunct professor ( Dozent)
  for political science - international relations
  at the University of Vienna . In the time
  between 2003 and 2008 he served as the
  Washington representative of Austria
  Wirtschaftsservice an Austria Bank for the
  promotion of enterprise. He served the same
  institution in Vienna in the time from 200 to
  2003. 1996 to 2009 senior political consultant
  at the European Bank for Reconstruction and
  Development 1993 -1997 Counselor at the Paris
  OECD Center for Economies in Transition 1983
  2003 head of the policy planning (
  Grundsatzabteilung) and Council of Europe
  department at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign
  Affairs. Prior to that Consul General in New
  York and from 1970 to 1975 private secretary of
  the Austrian Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.
  Author of several books ( the last major one
  strawberries in winter on global trends and
  global governance ) and of numerous articles in
  US other international and Austrian magazines.
  Thomas Nowotny is married to the Austrian
  ambassador Dr Eva Nowotny

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Global trends and Global governancemasters
seminar for students approaching the writing of
their masters thesis

• Venue Höhrsaal 2. NIG
• Time Tuesday from 4 45 pm to 615 pm (
  punctual )
• I leave open the possibility of holding a last
  seminar on January 26th
• Attendance required ( please notify me in
  advance via EM - t.nowotny_at_univie,ac.at or
  Thomas.nowotny_at_tmo.at - of any serious
  impediment that would stand in the way of your
  attending the seminar )
• Each participant will be required to write a
  short ( one to two page) summary of the
  preceding seminars. Papers on the last events
  will be collected on November 3rd, November
  24th, and on January 19th
• Writing the seminar paper ( details later )
• If interested in writing a masters thesis under
  my supervision, please contact me
• I am available for face to face talks right
  after each event

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List of participants EM addresses

• I might need to contact you
• So please write your name on the list now
  circulating and add your EM address.

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schedule
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The summary papers

• Participants will be required to write short
• ( one to two page ) summary papers on the
  content of preceding seminars on
• November 3rd
• November 24th and on
• January 19th

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Grading will be within the usual parametes but

• based on
• seminar paper
• oral presentation of the seminar paper
• the short summary papers already mentioned
• The general participation in the seminar
• I will try not to be overly strict but a failure
  will be graded a failure nonetheless
• I will notify in advance the author of a paper in
  intend to grade as failed, so as to give her/him
  the chance to improve it

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Why in English

• Language of world wide communication even
  France had to yield. World wide media are
  English
• Language of scientific communication also in the
  field of social sciences
• Pol Scie Literature is near exclusively in
  English, the technical terms used also are
• Looks good on cv
• Better chances for internships etc
• Discussions at the seminar will be in English if
  need be, the seminar paper may also be written in
  German

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The seminar paper - technicalities

• Subject to be chosen after consulting with me
  time for presentation in accordance with the
  overall schedule. Subjects have to fit into the
  general frame of the schedule
• First papers to be given on October 27th, extra
  credit for such an early presentation.
• I would prefer all papers to have been handed in
  by the end of the seminar on January 19th (
  possibly January 26th h. But that deadline might
  be extended till the beginning of the summer -
  semester 2010
• Length about 20 pages, bibliography tables and
  graphs are very useful
• Papers should be in English German is acceptable
  though
• the main content and conclusions of the papers
  should be presented to the seminar and be
  discussed there. If possible, that should be done
  with support of Power Point
• Oral presentations may be made even if the
  underlying paper is still ( in an advanced )
  stage of work

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Seminar papers how to

• Quotations Harvard style ( e.g Brand, 2007, p
  7 )
• Semi serious the typology of quotations
• The bibliography can never be too long
• Use all resources of the INTERNET But the basic
  architecture has to be based on actual reading of
  at least the abstracts of what already has
  been written on the subject
• Scour the latest issues of relevant journals
  handbook of political science international
  relations, etc. Abstracts can be found via
  social science research network . Looking at the
  literature quoted in WIKIPEDIA is also a good
  start
• Start writing early you can always revise. But
  nonetheless do that based on a hand written
  outline of the paper
• Serious warnings against plagiarism ( a danger to
  your career can be detected by special software
  ) be prudent in cutting and copying. If you do
  it quotation marks and sources )
• - use simple language. short sentences, verbs
  instead of nouns, complicated technical terms of
  pol scie only with explanation
• You can and even should interview experts on
  the subject but quote them in the paper

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The didactic purpose of seminar and of seminar
papers

• They are so to say the general rehearsals for
  the masters thesis
• Self confidence in expression and presentation
• Learning to navigate in the flood of information,
  the Babel of opinion and the wilderness of
  theories and ideologies
• Establishing credibility for what you say
• Dual purpose think about publishing pieces
  book reviews are a simple version of such
  exercise.
• Start building a cache of citations, datasets and
  other notes ( special IT programs for that )
• Give some thoughts ( you will certainly have done
  so repeatedly ) to you future footing in
  professional life. Chose subjects accordingly (
  seminar paper and later master thesis )
• Internships studies abroad

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You are what you eat - not just hamburgers but
the New York Times

• Pol- Scie makes sense only if you are truly
  interested in the subject
• The raw material you use is politically relevant
  information
• You have to consume steadily but according to a
  diet plan
• One serious Austrian paper ( is there one?) daily
• One of the major International Dailies ( coffee
  house, AK library ) International Herald Tribune,
  Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Financial Times, le Monde,
  the Guardian, vary between them
• -one weekly I recommend the London Economist (
  biased but necessary )
• Dont rely on the Internet as a substitute ( it
  is a supplement ) the danger of reading just
  what you want instead of reading what generally
  is considered important.
• Magazines Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, New
  York Review of Books, Security, Rélations
  Internationales, etc
• Look into ideologically biased but nonetheless
  serious monthlies especially if you do not agree
  with their basic philosophy

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The dilemma of Political Science as a science

• -To what extent does it differ from history?
• Predictions are not possible. Why this
  impossibility? No control groups
• Trying to establish laws ( eg Kennedy the
  rise and fall of great powers Fukuyama the
  end of history or even Karl Marx polarization
  )
• The use and limitations of panel studies the
  problem of n the problem of the variables the
  problems of data sets ( POLITY IV ), panel
  studies actually no more than blown up
  correlations useful nonetheless in falsifying.
  Understand the technique of panel studies
  software is available.
• Political systems chaotic. Do Mandelbrot
  patterns emerge? Probably yes

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The danger of theory theory before facts

• They do not just reflect reality, they shape
  reality. The latter seems to be their prime
  purpose. Temptations of convenience temptations
  of interest, temptations of power.
• - a whole zoo of specimens
• Gobineau, Liebenfels, Hitler
• NAIRU - the non accelerating inflationary rate
  of unemployment
• Geopolitics in service of power politics
  realistic theory of intern. relations
• Herman Kahn and his 42 steps on the ladder of
  escalation, escalation dominance
• Dependenzia theory,
• Denis Meadows, Attac.
• theory / discourse on foreign policy and
  international status so as to establish identity
• The dangers and consequences of theory before
  facts nowhere greater than in international /
  global affairs

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How to combine theory and facts

• We would drown in a flood of un organized facts
• Approach them in an iterative manner
• Have some ideas on what is relevant to the
  questiuon under invetigation ( eg growing
  inequality).
• order them according to this concept
• see whether data and concept fit together
• Dont argue in terms of cause and effect stay
  with the Mandelbrot concept
• One example democratic peace
• Other examples presidential vs. parliamentarian
  systems

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Where to search and look

• Theories as mentioned
• event data Polity, IV, war and conflict data
  Singer, University of Michigan, political
  documentation ( Keesing )
• Internationally comparable statistics ( our prime
  source for this seminar ) IBRD
  especially the World Development Report IMF
  World Economic Outlook FAO The State of Food
  and Agriculture IEA World Energy Outlook IISS
  Military Balance OECD a prime source especially
  on its member countries
  SIPRI Yearbook UNDP World Development Report
  UN UN Statistical Yearbook International
  Section of the Austrian statistical Yearbook
  Transparency International Freedom House UNIDO
  Industrial Development Report WHO World Health
  Report, WTO WTO Annual Report, Worldwatch
  Institute State of the World UN - Habitat
  Global Report on Human Settlements UNCTAD
  Trade and Development Report, World Investment
  Report UNEP Global Environmental Outlook BIS
  The BIS consolidated International Banking
  Statistics International Food Policy Research
  Institute IIASA working papers ATTAC
  Heidelberger Institut für Konfliktforschung etc
  etc.
• This list is incomplete of course
• I provide a printed version at the first session
  of the seminar

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An important article from the Saturday edition of
the New York Times

• a) what are the salient points made?
• b) where do you agree and disagree , and based
  on which data?
• c) where on which items should we look closer
  and search for help in clarifying the issue

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One specimen how to look at itwhat may you
gather from the table below?
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Make a try of questioning commonly held
viewsThe sky is falling a secular trend
falling prices of industrial raw materials