Geopolitics of Violent Non-State Actors - JPM715

• Title: Geopolitics of Violent Non-State Actors
• Guaranteed by: Department of Political Science (23-KP)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2017
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:1/1, C [HT]
• Capacity: 25 / 30 (30)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses for incoming students

Aim of the course

Last update: Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D. (25.10.2017)

The aim of the course is to present role of the violent non-state actors in the post-Cold War geopolitics. It aims at theoretical and conceptual introduction to the topic as well as at presentation of some of the prominent cases. Students who pass the course should develop better understanding on the differences among different kinds of groups and their types of operations. The course should also give students basic empirical bases regarding the different groups operating in the contemporary world and about their impact on the areas of operation. 

Course completion requirements

Last update: Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D. (29.01.2021)

Attendance and reading: Students are required to attend classes and prepare draft papers according to specifications given throughout the course. (30%)

Short essay: Recommendation to your country against a selected VNSA (1.500-2.000 words) (30%)

Final take-home exam: Students will be handed a task on which they should write short (3-4 pages) reflection in 48 hours. They are allowed to use any sources at their disposal. The paper follows standard formal criteria including citations. (40%)

 

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D. (04.02.2018)

1)    Introduction

2)    Terminology, typology

(state, quasi-state, non-state actors, types of violent non-state actors)

3)    Post-Cold War system and the non-state actors

(importance of VNSAs in the post-Cold War system)

4)    Warlords – Afghanistan, Somalia, LRA

(warlords and the state failure, self-interest in governance, cases of 1990s Afghanistan and Somalia and Lord´s Resistance Army)

5)    Proxy warfare (Yemen, Afghanistan)

(definition of proxy warfare, relevance and impacts of proxy warfare in the 21st century, cases of Yemen, Afghanistan)

6)    Jihadist groups, pt. 1 – global struggle (AQ Central x Daesh)

(globalist jihadist groups, networking x territorial approach, grand strategies of Al-Qaeda and Daesh)

7)    Jihadist groups, pt. 2 – local groups (Hezbollah, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hamas)

(jihadist groups and territory, nationalism vs. Islamism, affiliation to global movements, cases of Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram)

8)    Syrian war

(application of the previous findings on Syrian and Iraqi civil wars)

9)    Narco gangs – Latin America

(VNSAs and organized crime, crime and violence, narco-terrorism, Colombia and Central America)

10) From ideology to profit – FARC, Taliban

(ideological-criminal nexus, turn from ideology to business, cases of Taliban and FARC)

11) Ethno-nationalist groups – LTTE, Kurds, Myanmar

(ethno-nationalism in the post-Cold War world, militias vs. State, cases of Tamil Tigers, Kurds, and Myanmar minorities)

12) Countering the violent non-state actors (Chechnya, Iraq 2006/7)

(strategies to counter VNSAs, state-building and out-governing vs. violence, return of VNSAs, cases Chechnya, Iraq (AQI 2006/7), Daesh)