Approaches to Modern Conflict (ACV) - JPM755

• Title: Approaches to Modern Conflict (ACV)
• Czech title: Přístupy k moderním konfliktům (ACV)
• Guaranteed by: Department of International Relations (23-KMV)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2022
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:0/1, MC [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (42)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: cancelled
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: doc. Michal Parízek, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses not for incoming students
• Is complex co-requisite for: JPM948

Annotation

Approaches to Modern Conflict

Winter Semester 2021/2022
Instructor: Zack Kramer

Meeting Schedule

Bi-Weekly, Mondays, 15:30

PLEASE NOTE: To facilitate the number of enrolled students, this course will be held in two different blocks: One on Mondays during even weeks and one on Mondays during odd weeks. Students are all registered for one block or the other in SIS and should attend the sessions they are registered for. If you have to miss a session and would prefer to make it up by attending during the opposite week's sessions, please inform me by email beforehand (zachary.kramer@[e-mail]).

For clarification: 1st block (even week) lecture dates: Oct. 4, Oct. 18, Nov. 1, Nov. 15, Nov. 29, Dec. 13
2nd block (odd week) lecture dates: Oct. 11, Oct. 25, Nov. 8, Nov. 22, Dec. 6, Dec. 20

Last update: Kramer Zachary John, M.A. (30.09.2021)

Aim of the course

“Why did this particular conflict happen?” and “Why does international conflict happen at all?”. These are eternal questions in the study of International Relations. They have been answered from a variety of angles, focusing on different actors, incentives, and other factors. 

 

The aim of this course is to provide students with a systematized understanding of IRs’ diverse approaches to modern conflict studies and explanations of international conflict. In order to provide a broad set of conceptual tools for understanding international conflict issues and debates, each session will be structured around a different level of conflict analysis, progressing from the interpersonal to the global-systemic. The course will focus on the two dominant theories of international relations, Realism and Liberalism/ Institutionalism, at each level of analysis, with each session also including some discussion of one alternative theoretical approach especially pertinent to that level of analysis (including Evolutionary Biology, Foreign Policy Analysis, Feminism, Constructivism, Post-Colonialism, and Neo-Marxism). 

 

Last update: Kramer Zachary John, M.A. (14.09.2020)

Teaching methods

Courses are currently set to be held in hybrid format; please check your email for updates about the course format. In-person lectures will take place in Pekarska, room 314. The course time is biweekly on Mondays, 15: 30-16: 50. Two sessions of the course are scheduled, one during odd weeks and one during even weeks. 

For courses held online, please use the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81144896044

Check your email for changes to the course's Zoom address. 

 

The course will consist of six seminars. Each seminar will build on assigned readings to outline the key elements (actors, incentives, institutions, debates, etc.) of a particular level of analysis in conflict studies and delineate how different theoretical positions treat these elements. The course consists of 80-minute sessions.The courses consist of a short lecture aimed at contrasting theoretical positions at the given level of analysis (~ 20 minutes), with the rest of the session devoted to moderated class discussions aimed at integrating theory with concrete empirical applications to contemporary conflicts.

 

Last update: Kramer Zachary John, M.A. (04.10.2021)

Requirements to the exam

Students are expected to prepare all readings prior to each seminar. In between sessions 3 and 4, students will be asked to prepare a short position paper (2-3 pages) analyzing and critiquing one of the readings and providing an argument of their own as to whether they agree or disagree with the reading's findings. 

 

The course's final exam will consist of a five to ten page research paper asking students to choose a modern conflict and analyze it at a chosen level of analysis using a chosen theoretical lens. Students are encouraged to email me with their paper topic to confirm its suitability for the assignment. Papers should have the core focus of explaining why a conflict occurred within a given frame of analysis and theory (rather than pulling explanatory factors from a variety of approaches). Papers can take a broad historical approach or focus on proximate factors leading directly to conflict as they see fit.Students are encouraged to incorporate readings from the course, empirical work about their chosen conflict (these can include magazine, website or newspaper articles, not just academic papers), relevant theoretical work from conflict analysis, and / or empirical work on similar or related conflicts . Since this is the course's main assignment and a lengthy period of time is allotted for writing it, students should be able to assemble at least ten different sources for their papers. However, it is not necessary to add citations for every piece of general information related to a conflict (actors, main events, casualty counts, etc.), general sources like Wikipedia can be used for gathering this sort of general overview information.If you are uncertain whether or not to cite a source, it is generally better to cite it. it is not necessary to add citations for every piece of general information related to a conflict (actors, main events, casualty counts, etc.), general sources like Wikipedia can be used for gathering this sort of general overview information. If you are uncertain whether or not to cite a source, it is generally better to cite it. it is not necessary to add citations for every piece of general information related to a conflict (actors, main events, casualty counts, etc.), general sources like Wikipedia can be used for gathering this sort of general overview information. If you are uncertain whether or not to cite a source, it is generally better to cite it.

 

Readings are available in standard pdf form and on the Perusall website, a platform allowing for collaborative discussion and a place to ask questions or highlight pieces of text. I encourage all students to sign up for the Perusall readings list so that we can engage with the readings together and improve the quality and depth of our in-class discussions. Participation in the Perusall discussions will not be formally graded, but will be factored into each student's overall Participation grade. 

 

Course evaluations are based on the following criteria: Participation (Attendance, involvement in discussions) = 15%; Position Paper = 20%; Final Paper Outline = 15%; Final Paper = 50%

Grades are based on the scale: 

100% -90% = A

89% -80% = B

79% -70% = C

69% -60% = D

59% -50% = E

49% and below = F

 

Grades for all elements of the course are non-negotiable

Last update: Kramer Zachary John, M.A. (04.10.2021)

Syllabus

Readings

 

Session 1 - Introduction: Interpersonal Level, Human Nature and Sources of Interpersonal 

Conflict (52 pgs.)

 

Morgenthau, Hans J. (1946) Scientific Man Vs. Power Politics . 

Latimer House Limited. Chapter 8, pp. 174-190 (Conflict as inherent in human nature, liberalism / science insufficient for overcoming it)

 

De Waal, FB (2000). Primates - a Natural Heritage of Conflict Resolution. Science , 289 (5479), 

586-590. (Evolutionary biology, discussion of ape behaviors suggesting that conflict 

resolving and mitigating institutions are perhaps also inherent in human nature)

 

Hermann, MG (1980). Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior Using the Personal Characteristics 

of Political Leaders. International Studies Quarterly, 24 (1), 7-46. (An introduction to the 

idea of foreign policy decisions, including conflict, as driven by the personal characteristics of individual leaders)

 

Session 2 - Sub-state Level Theories of Conflict: Competing Domestic Interests (77 pgs.)

 

Fearon, JD (1994). Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes. 

American Political Science Review (3), 577-592. (Discussion of how domestic political audiences 'opinions influence leaders' decision-making during periods of conflict escalation, and the differences between democratic and authoritarian governments in this context). 

 

Kuperman, RD (2001). The Impact of Internal Politics on Israel's Reprisal Policy During the 

1950s. The Journal of Strategic Studies , 24 (1), 1-28. (Empirical example of how 

different domestic political actors handle responses to conflict situations completely inconsistently within a single state). 

 

Mazarr, MJ (2007). The Iraq war and agenda setting. Foreign Policy Analysis , 3 (1), 

1-23 (Introducing foreign policy analysis as an approach to explaining international conflict in the context of the Iraq War) 

 

Session 3 - State-Level Theories of Conflict: National Size, Nationalism, Government Type, 

Economic Development, etc. as Explanations for Bellicosity (79 pgs.)

 

Maoz, Z., & Russett, B. (1993). Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 

1946-1986. American Political Science Review , 624-638. (An exploration of liberal 

institutionalist and alternative explanations for the mechanisms at work in democratic 

peace phenomenon). 

 

Blomberg, SB, & Hess, GD (2002). The Temporal Links between Conflict and Economic 

Activity. Journal of Conflict Resolution , 46 (1), 74-90. (Hypothesis testing of causal links between economic activity, internal conflict, and external conflict; the study presents the finding that economic recession increases the likelihood of both internal and external conflict). 

 

Alesina, A., & Spolaore, E. (2005). War, Peace, and the Size of Countries. Journal of Public 

Economics , 89 (7), 1333-1354. (Nation size and power as explanations for likelihood of 

engaging in conflict). 

 

Milicevic, AS (2006). Joining the War: Masculinity, Nationalism and War Participation in the 

Balkans War of Secession, 1991–1995. Nationalities Papers , 34 (3), 265-287. 

(Introduction to feminist theories of conflict; the paper discusses how nationalism 

interacts with nation-specific conceptions of masculinity to affect the likelihood and 

character of international conflicts). 

 

Session 4 - Dyadic / Bilateral Theories of Conflict: Security Dilemma, Cooperation, Territoriality, Constructivist Dyads, Trade Interdependence (67 pgs.)

 

Vasquez, JA (1995). Why Do Neighbors Fight? Proximity, Interaction, or Territoriality. Journal 

of Peace Research , 32 (3), 277-293. (Study tests competing explanations of the 

clustering of conflict among neighbors, devising tests for the idea that it is the incidence 

of disputes over territory among neighbors more so than proximity or interaction)

 

Barbieri, K. (2005). The Liberal Illusion: Does Trade Promote Peace? . University of Michigan 

Press. Chapter 2, Theories of the Trade-Conflict Relationship, pp. 17-42. (Introduces the 

liberal idea that increased bilateral trade decreases the likelihood of bilateral conflict, and 

the realist alternative that it can make conflict more likely in cases where asymmetrical 

relations prevail and / or states attempt to exploit economic dependencies for political 

games). 

 

Howard, P. (2004). Why not Invade North Korea? Threats, Language Games, and US Foreign 

Policy. International Studies Quarterly , 48 (4), 805-828. (Introduction to Constructivist 

theories of conflict; the article illustrates how states can be socially constructed as 

different types of “threats” necessitating different security responses through discursive 

practices)

 

Session 5 - Regional Theories of Conflict (83 pgs.)

 

MacFarlane, SN, & Weiss, TG (1992). Regional Organizations and Regional Security. 

Security Studies , 2 (1), 6-37. (Discussion of the potential for an increased role for international organizations in regional cooperation and conflict management in the post-Cold War era). 

 

Mearsheimer, JJ, & Alterman, G. (2001). The Tragedy of Great Power Politics . WW Norton & 

Company. Ch. 5, Strategies for Survival, pp. 138-167. (Discussion of the neorealist 

concepts of state survival and the pursuit of regional hegemony). 

 

Rupesinghe, K., Sciarone, P., & Van de Gor, L., eds. (1996). Between Development and 

Destruction . St. Martin's Press, Inc. Chapter 13: Conflict Resolution in South Asia, pp. 

298-318, de Silva, KM (Introduction to post-colonial theories of conflict; the chapter 

develops the idea that the legacy of British imperial rule in South Asia established the 

foundations of contemporary regional conflict)

 

Session 6 - Systemic Theories of Conflict: Liberal Approaches, Institutionalism, Right to 

Protect, Security Community (63 pgs.)

 

Ramsbotham, O., Miall, H., & Woodhouse, T. (2011). Contemporary Conflict Resolution . Polity. 

Chapter 11: Towards Cosmopolitan Conflict Resolution, pp. 265-291. (Discussion of the contours of a potential / emergent global conflict management and resolution institutional infrastructure). 

 

Borg, MJ (1992). Conflict Management in the Modern World-System. Sociological Forum (Vol. 

7, no. 2, pp. 261-282). (Introduction to Neo-Marxism / World Systems Theory; 

exploration of how a state's position in the economic “world system” influences its 

conflict management strategy)

 

Waltz, KN (1988). The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory. The Journal of Interdisciplinary 

History , 18 (4), 615-628. (Introduction of neorealism's explanations for conflict at a global systemic level)

 

Last update: Kramer Zachary John, M.A. (27.09.2021)