Results for IPS

Topics in international trade and international trade policy: trade, growth and poverty, the World Trade Organization (WTO), regionalism versus multilateralism, the political economy of trade policy, trade and labor, trade and the environment, and trade policies for developing economies. Prerequisite: ECON 51, ECON 166.

This course introduces skills and bodies of knowledge useful for careers in law, public policy, and achieving social change at scale. These include framing problems; designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies; system design; cost-benefit analysis; decision making under uncertainty; heuristics and biases that affect empirical judgments and decision making; methods for influencing people's behavior ranging from incentives and penalties to "nudges;" and human-centered design. The course will be taught through problems, cases, and a field project to solve real-world problems on or near the Stanford campus, with the goal of integrating strategic thinking and behavioral insights with human-centered design and systems design. The course may be of interest to students in Law and Policy Lab practicums who wish to broaden their policy analysis skills. Enrollment: Limited to 32 students, with priority given to students in Law School, the MPP program, and the IPS program in that order. Students other than law students must seek the consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class participation, midterm assignment, and final assignment. Cross-listed with International Policy Studies (IPS 207A) & the Law School (LAW 333).

This course will examine the arc of an atrocity. It begins with an introduction to the interdisciplinary scholarship on the causes and enablers of mass violence¿genocide, war crimes, terrorism, and state repression. It then considers political and legal responses ranging from humanitarian intervention (within and without the Responsibility to Protect framework), sanctions, commissions of inquiry, and accountability mechanisms, including criminal trials before international and domestic tribunals. The course will also explore the range of transitional justice mechanisms available to policymakers as societies emerge from periods of violence and repression, including truth commissions, lustrations, and amnesties. Coming full circle, the course will evaluate current efforts aimed at atrocity prevention, rather than response, including President Obama¿s atrocities prevention initiative. Readings address the philosophical underpinnings of justice, questions of institutional design, and the way in which different societies have balanced competing policy imperatives.

Applied policy exercises in various fields. Multidisciplinary student teams apply skills to a contemporary problem in a major international policy exercise with a public sector client such as a government agency. Problem analysis, interaction with the client and experts, and presentations. Emphasis is on effective written and oral communication to lay audiences of recommendations based on policy analysis. May be repeated for credit for a total of 10 units.

For IPS M.A. students only (by petition). Regular meetings with thesis advisers required.

This graduate seminar will examine international mediation efforts to achieve negotiated settlements for civil wars over the last two decades. Contending approaches to explain the success or failure of international mediation efforts will be examined in a number of cases from Africa (Sudan, Sierra Leone, Burundi), the Balkans (Bosnia, Macedonia), and Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia/Aceh).

Focus on understanding the diversity of political, social, and economic outcomes in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Exploration of questions, including: Is Russia still a global power? Where does it have influence internationally, how much, and why? Developmentally, what is the relevant comparison set of countries? Is Russia's economic growth over the last decade truly similar to Brazil, China, and India or is it more comparable to Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Kenya? How has Russia's domestic political trajectory from liberalizing country to increasingly autocratic affected its foreign policy toward Ukraine, Georgia, and other formerly Soviet states? Finally, is Russia's reemergence as an important global actor more apparent than real?

This is a case-based course on how to achieve public policy reform with the aim of promoting private sector development in developing countries. It will deal with issues like privatization, reducing informality, infrastructure development, trade promotion, and combatting corruption

This class surveys the most pressing international security issues facing the world today and includes an award-winning two-day international crisis simulation led by Stanford faculty and former policymakers. Guest lecturers have included former Secretary of Defense William Perry, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Gen. Karl Eikenberry, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Major topics covered: cyber security, nuclear proliferation, insurgency and intervention, terrorism, the Arab Spring, and the future of U.S. leadership in the world. No prior background in international relations is necessary.

The essential technical and scientific elements of the nuclear fuel cycle, focusing on the sources, types, and characteristics of the nuclear waste generated, as well as various strategies for the disposition of spent nuclear fuel - including reprocessing, transmutation, and direct geologic disposal. Policy and organizational issues, such as: options for the characteristics and structure of a new federal nuclear waste management organization, options for a consent-based process for locating nuclear facilities, and the regulatory framework for a geologic repository. A technical background in the nuclear fuel cycle, while desirable, is not required

The global energy landscape is undergoing seismic shifts with game-changing economic, political and environmental ramifications. Technological breakthroughs are expanding the realms of production, reshuffling the competition among different sources of energy and altering the relative balance of power between energy exporters and importers. The US shale oil and gas bonanza is replacing worries about foreign oil dependence with an exuberance about the domestic resurgence of energy-intensive sectors. China¿s roaring appetite for energy imports propels its national oil companies to global prominence. Middle Eastern nations that used to reap power from oil wealth are bracing for a struggle for political relevance. Many African energy exporters are adopting promising strategies to break with a history dominated by the ¿resource curse¿.nThis course provides students with the knowledge, skill set and professional network to analyze how the present and past upheavals in oil and gas markets affect energy exporters and importers, their policymaking, and their relative power. Students will gain a truly global perspective thanks to a series of exciting international guest speakers and the opportunity to have an impact by working on a burning issue for a real world client.

(Same as LAW 782) Many US human rights non-government organizations, including the US philanthropic sector, work on international human rights. The US government also engages with the private sector in "partnerships" that twins US foreign aid human rights action with corporate expertise. This weekly series will feature speakers who lead these human rights NGOs, philanthropic enterprises, and corporate partnerships, and also policy experts and scholars, to explore the pro's and con's of this scenario.

Enrollment limited to graduate students; undergraduates in their junior or senior year may enroll with consent of instructor only. Introduces research methods for conducting studies involving health in low-income context. Focuses on developing a concept note to support a funding proposal. addressing research question of student's interest. Skills developed include developing a compelling research question; synthesizing a focused literature review; selecting and adapting appropriate study design, target population, sampling methods, data collection and analysis; addressing human subject issues; developing productive cross-collaboration.

IPS students only. May be repeated for credit.

Introduction to the use of statistical models, as relevant for decision making and data interpretation in policy contexts. Emphasis on regression analysis, as the most frequently used tool in quantitative policy analysis. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become intelligent consumers of regression analysis. Applied experience in both consuming and producing regression analyses, as well as knowledge of the underlying statistical theory.