Kommentar |
This English-language weekly lecture series introduces students to the basics of international peace and conflict. Like the follow-up lecture series ”Managing Peace and Conflict” next winter it mainly focuses on presenting theories and concepts, exemplified by empirical illustrations. This wide approach will enable students to study more specific topics later, such as individual conflicts, nationalism or escalation processes.
The lecture series is divided into four parts. First, we analyze and delineate the basic concepts peace, conflict, crisis, violence, war and security. Understandings strongly diverge. This will include a consideration of the normative dimension of conflict, in particular the concepts of just war and just peace and its relevance today in the debate on humanitarian intervention and the Responsibility to Protect. Second, we try to grasp the major causes of conflict, distinguishing system-level, state-level, domestic, group-level and individual factors, which often uniquely interact to generate conflict. These explanations are derived from realist, constructivist, liberal and psychological explanations of conflict, pre-supposing some knowledge of IR theories. We also consider factors promoting peace, such as democracy, trade and joint institutions. Third, we discuss conflict types – on a meta-level inter-state, intra-state and inter-communal conflict and hybrid types, on a meso-level various sub-types. Here I focus on enduring rivalries among pairs of states on the inter-state level and ethnic conflict and secessionist conflict on the intra-state level. The fourth part of the lecture series is dedicated to understanding the consequences of conflict, ranging from the death and wounded to forced displacement, segregation and trauma living on in memories and narratives of conflict. The concluding session is devoted to considering how sustainable peace can grow despite all those obstacles. |
Literatur |
Reading recommendations
- Cottam, Martha L. et al. (eds., 2016), Introduction to Political Psychology, New York: Routledge, 3rd edition.
- Crocker, Chester A. / Hampson, Fen Osler / Hall, Pamela (eds., 2007), Leashing the Dogs of War. Conflict Management in a Divided World, Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace.
- Imbusch, Peter und Ralf Zoll (eds., 2005), Einführung in die Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
- Levy, Jack (2012), Interstate War and Peace, in Walter Carlsnaes et al. (eds.), Handbook of International Relations. London: Sage, 2nd edition, 581-606.
- Midlarsky, Manus I., Hg. (1989, 2000 und 2009), Handbook of War Studies I-III, Chicago: The University of Michigan Press.
- Rotberg, Robert I. / Rabb, Theodore K. (eds., 2009), The Origin and Prevention of Major Wars, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Stein, Janice Gross (2012), Psychological Explanations of International Decision Making and Collective Behavior, in Walter Carlsnaes et al. (eds.), Handbook of International Relations. London: Sage, 2nd edition, 195-219.
- Vasquez, John A. (1993), The War Puzzle, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Vasquez, John A. (ed., 2012), What Do we Know About War? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2nd edition.
- Wallensteen, Peter (2011), Peace Research. Theory and Practice, Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
- Williams, Paul D. (2018), Security Studies: An Introduction, 3rd edition, London: Routledge.
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