INS 640 CONFLICT ANALYSIS AND RESOLUTION:
THEORY AND PRACTICE
AUTUMN TERM 2000
Revised Version, 10 September 2000
Dr. A. Ackermann
Office: 1531 Brescia Avenue Albert Pick Hall, 2nd Floor
Seminar Hours: Wednesdays 9-11:30am Pick Hall, Room 121 Office Hours:
Wednesday: 11:30-12:00 Tuesday/Thursdays: 12:15-1
Telephone: 305-284-2346
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION:
This seminar provides a broad overview of historical, theoretical, and empirical approaches to violent conflicts. We begin with a discussion on the role of conflict studies in international relations and then focus on the various theoretical approaches to the study of violent conflicts and war. Since many of these theoretical approaches are mainly concerned with international war (i.e., large-scale war; interstate war) but we are increasingly witnessing ethnic and other communal wars, we will also explore theories of intergroup violence and conflict. The second part of the seminar will focus more specifically on the changing nature of violent conflict in the latter part of the twentieth century, in particular the linkage of interstate and ethnic/nationalist conflicts. The seminar concludes with exploring alternatives to violent conflicts with a particular focus on conflict prevention and reconciliation.
Since the objective of this seminar is to provide students with an elementary understanding of the theoretical and empirical approaches and debates in the study of violent conflict and war, the seminar is a broad survey of the subject matter and the vast literature that exists in the field of conflict analysis and resolution rather than a narrow focus on a set of particular theories or a detailed analysis of interstate wars and other international conflicts.
SEMINAR REQUIREMENTS:
This seminar takes a "skills-oriented approach." It reflects the School of International Studies' emphasis on training graduate students in the skills crucial to functioning in various professional environments. Emphasis in the seminar rests on reading, writing (lots of it), critical discussion of materials, the development of analytical skills, and learning to do effective oral presentations. It is important that you attend seminars regularly and that you complete all assignments on time. All assignments are due on the day for which they are listed. No incompletes will be given unless there are some important personal circumstances which provide a hardship for students to complete assignments on time.
1. Seminar Participation and Weekly Reports (40%)
You are expected to prepare for seminars by completing a weekly one page report of your reaction to those issues and questions raised in the readings. These reports should not be summaries of the readings but they should be a personal response in terms of how the readings have (or have not) contributed to your own understanding of the conflict analysis/resolution topic under investigation. I would like your reports to show some evidence that you have read most, if not all, of the required readings. Weekly reports will not be graded but reports judged as unsatisfactory will be returned for resubmission. A copy must be handed in at the end of the seminar, and I do not accept late submissions. Each student will present his or her personal reactions as presented in the reports during each seminar session. Failure to submit reports on a weekly basis will result in a lower of your grade according to the percentage allocated for this exercise.
2. Research Paper: Due Date, December 1 (60%)
Project Focus: Postconflict Peacebuilding 15-20 pages, double-spaced, footnotes/endnotes and bibliography required; Use of case study approach. I suggest that you consider the following cases: Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Burundi, South Africa, E.Timor. You may work in a team of two or on your own. I would like you to examine what models are in place or are to be implement for peacebuilding in the postconflict phase. You should explore both the efforts on the part of the international community (regional/international organizations, NGOs, etc) as well as domestic organizations and actors. You should address some of the following questions: What are the elements of the model or framework implemented to build "peace?" What are the successes and failures? How to evaluate these? What are the limits? What still needs to be done? Why is the particular model/strategy working? Why not? For example: In the case of post-genocide Rwanda, the international community and the Rwandan government as well as local organizations have established a variety of peacebuilding/reconciliation measures. Among them are: an international tribunal to address the war crimes; a national reconciliation commission, local efforts of reconciliation. If you choose this case, or investigate another case, your task would be to do an analysis as to what the peacebuilding/reconciliation measures are and what the shortcomings and successes of these efforts are.
Structure of Research Project:
1. Literature Review on the theoretical and empirical literature of peacebuilding in postconflict societies
2. Analysis of Case Study
3. Conclusions
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:
Greg Cashman, What Causes War? An Introduction to Theories of International Conflict, Lexington Books, 1993.
Hugh Miall et al., Contemporary Conflict Resolution, Blackwell, 1999.
I. William Zartman, et al., Peacemaking in International Conflict, US Institute of Peace, 1997.
A.Ackermann, Making Peace Prevail, Syracuse UP, 2000.
BOOKS ON RESERVE AT RICHTER LIBRARY:
Dennis Sandole and Hugo van der Merve, Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice, Manchester UP, 1993
Robert L. Rothstein, ed. After the Peace, Lynne Rienner, 1999.
Louis Kriesberg, Constructive Conflicts, Rowman and Littlefield, 1998
Chester Crocker, Managing Global Chaos, US Institute of Peace, John Paul Lederach, Building Peace, US Institute of Peace, 1997
John Burton, Conflict: Resolution and Provention, 1990
James Rule, Theories of Civil Violence,
Additional readings are on reserve at the Richter Library and are marked with ** in the syllabus.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
August 23 INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE SEMINAR
August 30 CONFLICT STUDIES AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY: AN OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD CAUSES OF WAR: THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
Discussion Questions: What are some of the systemic approaches to the study of war and violent conflict? How does the level of analysis debate affect the study of war? What is your own opinion as to the causes of war?
Readings:
G. Cashman, What Causes War?, chs. 8&9 *R. Gilpin,
"The Theory of Hegemonic War," in The Origin and Prevention of Major War, pp. 15-37.
*V.P. Beska, Conflicts: What they are and how to resolve them, 1997, pp. 3-29
Louis Kriesberg, "The Development of the Conflict Resolution Field," in Peacemaking in International Conflict, eds. I. William Zartman, and J. Lewis Rasmussen, 1997.
H. Miall, Contemporary Conflict Resolution, ch. 1, pp. 1-33
Reference Readings:
Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State and War. New York: Columbia University Press, 1954.
Robert Gilpin, War and Change in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
John Vasquez, "The Steps to War," World Politics, 40, no. 1 (October 1987): 108-45.
M. Midlarsky, Handbook of War Studies. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
J. David Singer and Melvin Small, The Wages of War, 1816-1965: A Statistical Handbook. New York: Wiley, 1972.
Richard Barringer, War: Patterns of Conflict. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1972. Geoffrey Blainey, The Causes of War. London: Macmillan, 1973.
September 6: CAUSES OF VIOLENT CONFLICT: THE STATE, NATIONALISM
Discussion Questions: Provide a critical analysis on the major strands of thought on how nationalism may lead to violent conflict. What is your opinion on the relationship between nationalism and war?What is the essence of the hypothesis that democracies are more peaceful?How has that hypothesis been supported? How has it been refuted? What additions have been made to it? Do you agree or disagree with the position that democratic states are more peaceful?
Readings:
Cashman, chs.5
*S. Van Evera, "Hypothesis on Nationalism," International Security (1994)
*E. Mansfield and J. Synder, "Democratization and War," International Security, Summer 1995.
*J.Snyder, "The New Nationalism: Realist Interpretations and Beyond," in The Domestic Bases of Grand Strategy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Reference Readings:
Hans Kohn, The Idea of Nationalism. New York: Macmillan, 1956.
Stephan I. Griffiths, Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Elie Kedourie, Nationalism. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1993.
Charles Kupchan, ed. Nationalism and Nationalities in the New Europe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995.
Quincy Wright, A Study of War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942.
Michael Doyle, "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs, Part I and II," in Philosophy and Public Affairs 12, no. 3 and 4 (1983).
Erich Weede, "Democracy and War Involvement," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, no. 4 (December 1984).
Richard Rosecrance, The Rise of the Trading State. New York: Basic Books, 1986.
September 13: CAUSES OF VIOLENT CONFLICT: THE INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP LEVELS
Discussion Questions: Analyze some of the various interdisciplinary approaches to war and violent conflict on the individual and group levels. What contributions have social psychologist made to conflict studies? How would scholars exploring war on the systemic or state level criticize those that see violent conflict rooted within individuals or the specific dynamics of groups? In what ways have misperceptions and group dynamics fed into the decision to go to war?
Readings:
G. Cashman, chs. 1-4
Reference Readings:
Robert Rieber, ed. The Psychology of War and Peace. New York: Plenum Press.
Martha. Cottam and C. Shih, Contending Dramas. New York: Praeger, 1992.
Robert Jervis, Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976.
Graham Allison, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. Boston: Little, Brown, 1971.
I. Janis. Groupthink. Houghton Mifflin, 1982.
A. Bandura, "The Social Learning Theory of Aggression," in The War System (1980), eds. R. Falk and S. Kim.
September 20: INTERGROUP VIOLENCE AND CONFLICT: VARIOUS THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
Discussion Questions: Why have ethnic and communal conflicts been ignored in international relations theory?Analyze the various strands of thought which explain the rise of communal conflicts.
Readings:
H. Miall, Contemporary Conflict Resolution, ch. 3 H.
Kelman, "Social-Psychological Dimensions of International Conflict," in Peacemaking in International Conflicts, eds I..W. Zartman and L. Rasmussen,
Peacemaking in International Conflict, ch. 6
*D. Sandole, "Generic Theory and Practice in Conflict Resolution," in Conflict Resolution, eds. D. Sandole and H. van der Merwe, ch. 1 (book is on reserve at Richter)
*Beska, Conflicts, Questionnaire (please do questionnaire)
*E.Azar, "Protracted International Conflicts: Ten Propositions,"
*J. Burton, Conflict: Resolution and Provention, chs. 1-3 (book in on reserve)
September 27: Intergroup Violence, cont.
Readings:
*Ted R. Gurr, "Peoples Against States: Ethnopolitical Conflict and the Changing World System," International Studies Quarterly 38, no. 3 (September 1994).
*Ted R. Gurr, "Minorities, Nationalists, and Ethnopolitical Conflict" in Managing Global Chaos, (book is on reserve)
*L. Kriesberg, Constructive Conflicts, chs. 1-3 (book is on reserve)
*J. Rule, Theories of Civil Violence, ch. 7 (book is on reserve)
References Readings:
Joseph V. Montville, ed. Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Societies. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1990.
Ted Robert Gurr, Minorities at Risk: A Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflicts. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace.
Ted Robert Gurr, Why Men Rebel. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970.
James B. Rule, Theories of Civil Violence. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
Edward E. Azar and John W. Burton, International Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice. Sussex: Wheatsheaf Books, 1986.
Louis Kriesberg, et al., eds. Intractible Conflicts and their Transformations. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
John Burton, ed., Conflict: Human Needs Theory, St. Martin's, 1990
October 4: Approaches to Conflict Resolution
Readings:
I.W. Zartman and L. Rasmussen, Peacemaking in International Conflict, ch. 2-5
*R. Fisher, "Generic Principles for Resolving Intergroup Conflict," Journal of Social Issues 50, no. 1 (1994): 47-66
*J.W. Burton, "Conflict Resolution as Political Philosophy," in Conflict Resolution, eds. D. Sandole and Hugo van der Merwe, ch. 4 (book is on reserve at Richter)
*Doug Steward, "Expand the Pie," Smithsonian
October 11: Approaches to Conflict Resolution, cont.
Readings:
I.W. Zartman and L. Rasmussen, Peacemaking in International Conflict, ch. 7
H. Miall, Contemporary Conflict Resolution, ch. 5
*L. Kriesberg, Constructive Conflicts, chs. 8-9 (book is on reserve)
*H. Kelman, "The Role of Social Identity in Conflict Resolution", unpublished paper
Reference Readings:
: Christopher Mitchell, and K. Webb, New Approaches to International Mediation, Greenwood, 1988
Jeffrey Rubin,ed. Dynamics of Third Party Intervention, Praeger, 1981
Ronald Fisher, Interactive Conflict Resolution, Syracuse UP, 1997
Saadia Touval, and I. William Zartman, eds., International Mediation in Theory and Practice, Westview, 1985
October 18: Conflict Prevention
Readings:
H. Miall, Contemporary Conflict Resolution, ch. 4
A.Ackermann, Making Peace Prevail, chs. 1-2
*L. Kriesberg, "Preventing and Resolving Destructive Communal Conflicts," in Wars in the Midst of Peace, eds. D. Carment and P. James,
*B. Harff , "How and Why the International Community Should Respond to Humanitarian Crises", Futures Research Quarterly 13, no. 1 (1997)
October 25 Conflict Prevention, cont.
Readings:
*J. Leatherman, et al., Breaking Cycles of Violence, 1999, chs. 3
Ackermann, chs. 3-8
Reference Reading:
Michael Lund, Preventing Violent Conflict, US Institute of Peace Press, 1996
David Carment and Patrick James, Peace in the Midst of War, University of South Carolina Press, 1998
David Carment and Patrick James, Wars in the Midst of Peace, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997
Barnett Rubin, ed., Cases and Strategies for Preventive Action, Century Foundation Press, 1998
Kumar Rupesinghe, and Michiko Kuroda, eds., Early Warning and Conflict Resolution, St. Martin's, 1992
Michael Brown and Richard Rosecrance, The Costs of Conflict: Prevention and Cure in the Global Arena, Rowman & Littlefield, 1999
Janie Leatherman, et al., Breaking Cycles of Violence, Kumarian Press, 1999
John L. Davies and Ted Robert Gurr, Preventive Measures, Rowman & Littlefield, 1998
November 1: Postconflict Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
Readings:
H. Miall, Contemporary Conflict Resolution, ch. 6, 7, 8
*L. Kriesberg, "Paths to Varieties of Intercommunal Reconciliation," in Conflict Resoluiton: Dynamics, Process and Structure, ed. Ho-Won Jeong, 1999
*H. Kelman, "Transforming the Relationship Between Former Enemies: A Social-Psychological Analysis", in After the Peace, ed. R. Rothstein, ch. 8 (book is on reserve)
*J.P. Lederach, Building Peace, 1997, ch. 3 (book is on reserve)
November 8: Postconflict Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
Readings:
*J. Montville, "The Healing Function in Political Conflict Resolution," in Conflict Resolution, eds. D. Sandole and H. van der Merwe, ch. 8 (book is on reserve at Richter)
*A. Ackermann," Reconciliation as Peace-Building Process in Postwar Europe," Peace & Change 19, no. 3 (July 1994): 229-250
*D. Shriver, "The Long Road to Reconciliation," in After the Peace, ed. R. Rothstein, ch. 9 (book is on reserve)
*M. Minow, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness, Beacon, 1998, ch. 6
Reference Readings:
John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliaiton in Divided Societies, US Institute of Peace, 1997
Louis Kriesberg, "Coexistence and the Reconciliation of Communal Conflicts," in The Handbook of Interethnic Coexistence, ed. Eugene Weiner, Continuum, 1998
Michael Henderson, The Forgiveness Factor, Grosvenor, 1996
Donald Shriver, An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics, Oxford UP 1995
David Whittaker, Conflict and Reconciliation in the Contemporary World, Routledge, 1999
Joseph Montville, "Reconciliation as Realpolitik," in Conflict Resolution: Dynamics, Process, Structure, ed. Ho-Won Jeong, Ashgate, 199
November 15: Conclusions and Review
November 22: Presentation of Preliminary Research Results
November 29: Independent Study Day to Work on Projects
For questions, suggestions, or comments e-mail Volker Franke