Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "PL 321"
COURSE NAME: "War, Peace, and Conflict Resolution"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2021

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Michael Driessen
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 11:30-12:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: PL 209; Recommended PL 223
OFFICE HOURS: MW 3-4pm and by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to the study of War, Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies. The course will draw on classical and contemporary global political theory and introduce students to the methods, cases, data, and major theoretical debates that structure the study of war and peace in global politics.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course is divided into five major sections designed to accompany students to the major phases of armed conflicts. During each section, the student will be introduced to the major scholars, practitioners, ideas and theoretical works which have attempted to respond to them. The first section begins with an introduction to the various approaches to war and peace in the political science tradition and defines various ways of both understanding and measuring political conflict and peace. The second section considers why wars begin and whether global politics offers any suggestions to preventing armed conflicts. The third section explores why wars last, and what factors, including religious, ethnic, institutional and economic vulnerabilities, impact the length and intensity of wars. The fourth section asks what practitioners and political scientists can teach us about ending wars, including through the use of force, negotiation, education, consciousness-raising, international institutions, non-governmental and religious groups, exhaustion and peace-enforcing. The final section explores strategies to recreate peace, including truth and reconciliation processes, war tribunals and post-conflict reconstruction.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

My pedagogical hope is that students will finish this course able to understand the major causes and consequences of war, as well as what states, international institutions, communities and students, themselves, might do more of, or do more effectively, to prevent and resolve conflicts in the future. The course also aims to introduce students to the rich methodological and statistical opus produced by peace scholars over the last fifty years and their various strategies to objectively measure and analyze the roots of global conflicts.

Note: The JCU Library has kindly prepared the following webpage for our course: Link

If you are not familiar with it already, the Library’s Political Science Research Guide is also very helpful: Link

TEXTBOOK:

NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Midterm		25%
Final Exam		30%
Assignments(3)	2-3 page Reading Reflections are required following sections I, II, and IV	20%
Participation	Attendance and Presence of Mind are mandatory for this class. The goal here is to advance towards the art of asking good questions. Quality, not quantity of participation is what counts, although some quantity is better than no quality. Students will be allowed 2 unexcused absences. Each unexcused absence thereafter will result in the lowering of the attendance grade by 1/3rd a letter grade. More than 12 unexcused absences will result in a failure to pass the course.	10%

Conflict Mapping Case Study	Each Student will be assigned to write a 7 pg Conflict Mapping Report following Ramsbotham et al. pg. 89-90 and present it to the class	15%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY!

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Course Outline:

Part I: What is War? What is Peace?

1) International Relations Theories

2) Positive Peace & Negative Peace

3) Numbers

Part II: Why Do Wars Begin?

1) Failed States: SOMALIA

2) Greed and Grievance 1: CHECHNYA and ABKHAZIA

3) Greed and Grievance 2: TIMOR LESTE and PHILLIPINES

Part III: Why do Wars Last?

1) Ethnic Wars: NIGERIA and CYPRUS

2) Religious Wars: IRAQ

3) Environmental and Criminal Conflicts: MEXICO and COLOMBIA

4) Peacekeeping in Wartime: BOSNIA

Part IV: How do Wars End?

1) Humanitarian Military Interventions: KOSOVO and RWANDA

2) UN PeaceEnforcing: CONGO

3) Sanctions: IRAN

4) Negotiations and Diplomacy: OSLO ACCORDS

5) Soft Power and Other Forms of Negotiation: MOZAMBIQUE and EL SALVADOR

6) Non-Violence and Just Peace: MYANMAR

7) Exhaustion: DARFUR

Part V: How do you recreate Peace?

1) Post Conflict Reconstruction: NORTHERN IRELAND

2) Democracy Building: CHILE

3) War Tribunals: SIERRA LEONE

4) Reconciliation and Truth Commissions: SOUTH AFRICA

5) Comprehensive Peacebuilding: AFGHANISTAN and CAMBODIA

6) Conclusions and getting back to Gandhi: ARGENTINA

Course Calendar
	Class 1	Course Introduction
	Class 2	Origins and Contemporary Issues of Conflict Resolution Read Crocker, Hampson and Aall, “The Center Cannot Hold: Conflict Management in an Era of Diffusion,” Chapter 1 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift
Part I: What is War? What is Peace?
	Class 3	Defining Peace I: War (and its absence) according to Realism, Liberalism and the Constructivists Read John Mearsheimer, (1994) “The False Promise of International Institutions” International Security 19(3) Recommended: Gordon and Johnson, “US Power in a G-0 World,” Chapter 3 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift
	Class 4	Defining Peace II: Positive Peace vs. Negative Peace Read Paulo Freire (1970) The Pedagogy of the Oppressed chapter 1 Martin Luther King Jr. (1963) Letter from a Birmingham Jail
	Class 5	Defining Peace III: Numbers & Typologies Read Therése Pettersson, Stina Högbladh and Magnus Öberg (2019) “Organized Violence, 1989-2018 and Peace Agreements,” Journal of Peace research 56(4) 589-603 Recommended: Welch, “The Shifting Landscape of Conflict Management” Chapter 2 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Goldstein, Fortna, Mearsheimer and Levy (2013) “Has Violence Declined in World Politics?” A Debate. Perspectives on Politics Ramsbotham ch. 3: “The Statistics of Deadly Quarrels and the Measurement of Peace”
Part II: Why Do Wars Begin?
	Class 6	On institutions, imbalances and failed states *Reading Reflection 1 due* Read Halvard Buhaug. 2006. “Relative Capability and Rebel Objective in Civil War,” Journal of Peace Research Recommended: Michael Mazarr, “The Rise and Fall of the Failed State Paradigm,” Foreign Affairs (2014) Jack Synder et al., “A Not So Great Awakening: Early Elections, Weak Institutions and the Risk of Violence,” Chapter 11 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Case Study: SOMALIA
	Class 7	Greed v. Need v. Creed (1) Read Collier and Hoeffler, “Greed and Grievance in Civil War,” (2004) Oxford University Papers Lars-Erik Cederman and Manuel Vogt (2017). “Dynamics and Logics of Civil War,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 61(9) Case Study: CHECHNYA and ABKHAZIA Recommended: Brown and Stewart, “Economic and Political Causes of Conflict: An Overview and Some Policy Consequences,” Chapter 12 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift
	Class 8	Greed v. Need v. Creed (2) Read Cederman, Weidman and Gleditsch, “Horizontal Inequalities and Ethnonationalist Civil War,” The American Political Science Review (2011) read pp.s 478-483 and the conclusions Recommended: James Fearon and David Laitin, “Ethnicity, Insurgency and Civil War” American Political Science Review (97) 1. 2003 Ramsbotham, ch. 5, “Preventing Violent Conflict” Case Study: TIMOR LESTE and PHILLIPINES
Part III: Why do Wars Last?
	Class 9	Ethnic Wars *Reading Reflection 2 due* Read Fearon (2004) “Why do some Civil Wars last so much longer than others?” Journal of Peace Research pp.s 275-284, 285-291 Wimmer, Cederman and Min (2009), “Ethnic Politics and Armed Conflict,” American Sociological Review pp.s 316-328 Recommended: William Easterly, “Can Institutions Solve Ethnic Conflicts” (2001) Economic Development and Cultural Change Case Study: NIGERIA and CYPRUS
	Class 10	Religious Wars Read Isak Svensson and Desirée Nilsson (2017) “Disputes over the Divine: Introducing the Religion and Armed Conflict (RELAC) Data, 1975-2015,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 62(5) Peter Henne (2019) “Terrorism and Religion: An Overview,” Oxford Research Encylopedia, Politics Recommended: Monica Toft and Yuri Zhukov, “Islamists and Nationalist: Rebel Motivation and Counterinsurgency in Russia’s North Caucasus,” (2015) American Political Science Review: R. Scott Appleby (2012) "Religious Violence,” Practical Matters 5 Case Study: IRAQ
	Class 11	Environmental and Criminal Conflicts Read Theisen, Gleditsch and Buhaug. 2013. “Is Climate Change a Driver of Armed Conflict?” Climatic Change 117(3):613-625 Stathis N. Kalyvas. 2015. “How Civil Wars Help Explain Organized Crime- and How They Do Not,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 59(8) Recommended: Ore Koren, (2018) “Food Resources and Strategic Conflict,” Journal of Peace Research Gleditsch “Climate Change, Environmental Stress, and Conflict,” & “Crime-War Battlefields,” Chapters 9 and 13 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Case Study: MEXICO and COLOMBIA
	Class 12	On the dilemmas of International Peacekeeping Read Hultman, Kathman and Shannon, “Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness in the Midst of Fighting,” American Political Science Review (2014) pp.s 737-745 & 748-751 Barnett and Fang, “The U.N. Reviewed its Peacekeeping. It Ignored the 3 Things that Most Needed Change,” The Monkey Cage,( 2015) Recommended: J. Page Fortna, “Does Peacekeeping Keep Peace?” International Intervention and the Duration of Peace after Civil War,” International Studies Quarterly (2004) Todd Sandler (2017) “International Peacekeeping Operations: Burden Sharing and Effectiveness,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 61(9) Case Study: BOSNIA
	Class 13	Midterm Exam
Part IV: How do Wars End? Are There Strategies to Manage Conflict?
	Class 14	Victory, Force, and Humanitarian Military Interventions Read O’Hanlon and Singer, “The Humanitarian Transformation: Expanding Global Intervention Capacity,” Brookings Institute (2004) Luttwak, “Give War a Chance,”(1999) Foreign Affairs Recommended: Roy Licklider, “The Consequences of Negotiated Settlements in Civil Wars,” American Political Science Review (1995) Alan Kuperman, “Rwanda in Retrospect,” (2000) Foreign Affairs Joshua Goldstein, “Humanitarian Intervention Comes of Age,” Foreign Affairs Case Study: KOSOVO and RWANDA
	Class 15	International Institutions and PeaceEnforcing Read Bruce Jones. 2016. “The Case for Re-Tooling the UN?s Conflict Management Capacity,” United Nations Challenge Paper Shawn Robert Woodford (2016) “Manpower and Counterinsurgency,” Small Wars Journal Recommended: Jones, “The UN Security Council and Crisis Management: Still Central after all these years,” Chapter 18 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Ramsbotham ch. 7 “Ending Violent Conflict”& Michael Ignatieff, “With Syria Diplomacy Needs Force,” New York Times, Feb. 25^th, 2014 James Quinlivan, “Force Requirements in Stability Operations,” Parameters (1995) Case Study: CONGO
		*SPRING BREAK MARCH 9-13*

	Class 16	Deterrence and Sanctions Read Richard Betts. 2013. “The Lost Logic of Deterrence,” Foreign Policy Michael O’Hanlon. 2010. “Is a World Without Nuclear Weapons Really Possible?” Brookings Institute. Case Study: IRAN Betts, “Deterrence Gone Astray: Choices in Coercion for Conflict Management,” & O’Hanlon, “Dealing with Proliferation: The Nuclear Abolition Vision versus Practical Tools for Today’s Extremist States,” Chapters 25 & 26 in in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift
	Class 17	Diplomacy & Negotiation Read Daniel Druckman and James A. Wall (2017) “A Treasure Trove of Insights: Sixty Years of JCR Research on Negotiation and Mediation,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 61(9) Recommended Aall, “Building Interests, Relationships, and Capacity: Three Roads to Conflict Management,” Chapter 24 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift & Crocker, “The Diplomacy of Engagement in Transitional Polities,” Chapter 23 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Hampson and Zartman, “The Tools of Negotiation,” Chapter 22 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift William Zartman, “The Timing of Peace Initiatives: Hurting Stalemates and Ripe Moments,” The Global Review of Ethnopolitics (2001) Case Study: OSLO ACCORDS (ISRAEL-PALESTINE)
		No Class: Driessen at International Studies Association Conference
	Class 18	Soft Power and other forms of Mediation Read Richard Jackson, “Internal War, International Mediation, and Non-Official Diplomacy,” Journal of Conflict Studies (2005) & Joseph Nye, “Public Diplomacy and Soft Power” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2008 Case Study: MOZAMBIQUE and EL SALVADOR
	Class 19	Traditions of non-Violence and Just Peace Read Stephan and Chenoweth, “Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict,” International Security (2008) Recommended, Pruitt, (2010) “Creating a Musical Dialogue for Peace,” The International Journal of Peace Studies Ramsbotham ch. 16 “Conflict Resolution in Art and Popular Culture” Case Study: MYANMAR
	Class 20	Exhaustion and low-level violence Read: Fisher, “Political Science says Syrian War will probably last at least another decade,” Monkey Cage Patrick Cockburn, “Will Exhaustion end the Syrian Civil War,” (2014) Counterpunch Recommended: Amnesty International “Lebanon/Israel: Out of all proportion, Civilians bear the brunt of Civil War” ch.s 1 & 4-6 Case Study: DARFUR
Part V: How do you (re)Create Peace?
	Class 21	Post-conflict Reconstruction *Reading Reflection 3 due* Read Tschirgi, “Rebuilding War-Torn Societies: A Critical Review of International Approaches,” Chapter 28 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Recommended: Arutosh Varshney, “Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond,” World Politics (2001) Case Study: NORTHERN IRELAND
		No Class-Easter Monday
	Class 22	Democracy and the Rule of Law Read Doyle, “Postbellum Peacebuilding: Law, Justice and Democratic Peacebuilding,” Chapters 31 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Recommended: Suhrke, “The Long Decade of Statebuilding,” Chapters 32 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Lake, “Practical Sovereignty and Postconflict Governance,”Chapters 5 & 17 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Case Study: CHILE
	Class 23	War Tribunals Read Jeremy Sarkin (2001), “The Tension between Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda: Politics, Human Rights, Due Process and the Role of the Gacaca Courts in Dealing with the Genocide” Journal of African Law Recommended: Stromseth, “Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice: The Road Ahead” Chapter 33 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Daniel Druckman and Lynn Wagner (2016) “Justice and Fairness in Negotiation,” Group Decision and Negotiation 26 Geoff Dancy, Hunjoon Kim, and Kric Wiebelhaus-Brahm (2010) “The Turn to Truth: Trends in Truth Commission Experimentation,” Journal of Human Rights 9(1) Case Study: SIERRA LEONE
	Class 24	Reconciliation and Truth Commissions Read James Gibson, (2006) “The Contributions of Truth to Reconciliation: Lessons from South Africa,” Journal of Conflict Resolution "Can an Evil Man Change? The Repentence of Eugene de Kock" Antjie Krog, New York Times March 15th, 2015 Recommended: Portraits of Reconciliation New York Times Magazine Matthew Osborn, Ben D’Exelle, and Arjan Verschoor (2017) “Truly Reconciled? A Dyadic Analysis of Post-Conflict Social Reintegration in Northern Uganda,” Journal of Peace Research 55(1) Case Study: SOUTH AFRICA
April 23	Classes 25-26	Film and Discussion Night: Makeup for March 15 &

	Class 27	Other Perspectives from Anthropology and Feminism Read Sara Davies and Jacqui True. 2019. The Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace and Security, chapters 1 & 2 Susanne Schaftenaar (2017) “How (Wo)men Rebel: Exploring the Effect of Gender Equality on Nonviolent nad Armed Conflict Onset,” Journal of Peace Research 64(6) Recommended: Douglas P. Fry “Life with War” Science (2012) Jonge Oudraat and Kuehnast,“Peace and Security in the Twenty-First Century: Understanding the Gendered Nature of Power,” Chapter 21 in Managing Conflict in a World Adrift Case Study: AFGHANISTAN and CAMBODIA
	Class 28	Conclusions: On the future of global peace and what you can do about it Read M.K. Gandhi (1960), “The Gospel of Non-violence” & “Ahimsa” Case Study: ARGENTINA *FINAL EXAM*