INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY

Course Goal: 

To provide an overview of the field of Commercial Diplomacy and of the Master’s degree program in Commercial Diplomacy.  The objective is to familiarize students with the different fields of knowledge and skills associated with the effective professional practice of commercial diplomacy and to help students integrate the various elements of the commercial diplomacy degree program at MIIS. Students are not expected to develop an in-depth knowledge of any area.  They are expected to become familiar with the key fields of knowledge, institutions, skills and issues related to the practice of commercial diplomacy, and to acquire a working knowledge of the terminology used in the field. Students should see this as an opportunity to acquire some basic information about the field so they will be able to participate more effectively in the subsequent courses, and develop an basic understanding of how they can benefit from the various course offerings in advancing their career objectives.

Teaching Methodology:       

Classroom hours will be devoted to lectures and class discussions. Students are expected to complete the assigned readings and writing assignments, and to participate actively in class discussions.  Effective writing and oral communication skills are essential for successful professional performance, and are therefore a key aspect of the instructional program. 

Writing Assignments:

Writing assignments are due on the Monday before the class during which the paper is to be discussed, and will serve as inputs into classroom discussion of the topic. Students are encouraged to rewrite their papers after the classroom discussion of the topics covered by the papers.  Papers will not be individually graded, but will be evaluated as part of the final grade, and failure to turn in papers in time will have an adverse impact on student evaluation.

Most of your classroom writing assignments will revolve around a commercial issue and an organizational orientation you will be asked to choose after the first class.  You may choose one of two topics for which background materials will be made available, or any other topic that may interest you.  These commercial issues will provide a substantive, real world focus to the various topics that will be covered in a somewhat more academic vein in individual class sessions.

Consistent with the professional orientation of the program, students are expected to adopt an operational writing style, keeping in mind that most professional communication is designed to persuade and inform a target audience in as view words as necessary to accomplish the task at hand.

Reading Materials:

Since Commercial Diplomacy as an academic discipline is a relatively new field, there are no textbooks.  Reading assignments are taken from a variety of books, professional journals, and official sources, and lectures will cover many areas not covered in assigned readings.  In addition to the assigned readings, the syllabus will identify additional books and articles that students may wish to peruse to acquire more in-depth information.

Books You Should Acquire:

You should purchase the following books, which the bookstore has ordered.

The Global Economy in Transition, P.W. Daniels & W.F. Lever, eds. Longman, [Daniels]

The World Trading System, John H. Jackson, @nd ed., MIT Press, 1998 [Jackson]

American Trade Politics, I.M. Destler, Institute for International Economics, 1995. [Destler]

Globaphobia, Gary Burtless et al, Brookings, 1998. [Burtless]

Pop Internationalism, Paul Krugman, MIT Press, 1997. [Krugman]

Preparing Your Business for the Global Economy, Business Week, 1997. [Business Week]

Trade Strategies for a New Era. Geza Feketekuty et al. CFR, 1998. [Feketekuty]

Other Books You Might Want to Purchase

The following books are not essential for this course, but you will find it advantageous to own them for many of the other CD courses and for your future professional practice:

The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. WTO. 1994.

Overview and Compilation of U.S. Trade Statutes. !997. Committee on Ways and Means, U.S, House of Representatives. Government Printing Office. 1997

Historical Texts on Trade Policy You Might Find Interesting

Steve Dryden. Trade Warriors. USTR and the American Crusade for Free Trade. Oxford. 1995

Sylvia Ostry. The Post-Cold War Trading System: Who’s on First. 20^th Century Fund. 1996

Douglas A. Irwin. Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade. Princeton University Press. 1996