POS 233S: War and Peace, Spring 2009
Class meeting: ROBRT101 MWF 12:00-13:05
Scott Erb, Roberts 302; Phone: ext. 7486
E-mail: scotterb@maine.edu
Office Hours: MWF, 10:30 – 11:30, TuTh 10:00 – 11:00
Course Description:
This course is designed to first give students a thorough understanding of the academic literature and arguments concerning the study of international conflict and conflict management. To that end we will be reading most of the chapters of a multi-authored volume Leashing the Dogs of War, focused on figuring out ways to understand and mitigate international conflict. It is important to come to class since the articles often will be a bit confusing without background information about political science theories or the place of the article in the literature. Whereas in POS 136 we looked at war broadly and through case studies, in this course we start dissecting its causes and ways to try to build peace.
The course also looks at a number of case studies in order to assess these theories. These are based in two book, My Kashmir by Habibullah, and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Child Soldier by Ishmael Beah. We will look in detail at these cases (Pakistan-Indian conflict over Kashmir and the Sierra Leone wars), but also consider other similar cases while reading these books, including Iraq, Uganda, and Sudan. We will also follow conflicts taking place during this course in the news.
Course Requirements:
1. 3 Midterm exams. These exams will deal with the first book, and take place rather frequently, with only two or three weeks of classtime between them. That is for your benefit – if we tried to cover large swathes of material in one 65 minute exam, it would be daunting to study for, and hit and miss if I asked the questions you prepared for. In this case you will have a good idea of the knowledge base necessary, and a tractable amount of notes and articles to review before each exam.
2. Two Short papers, reacting each to the final two books, and incorporating cases studied in class. This is designed to assess your analytical ability to use information in the course so far and assess the two final books, incorporating ideas from the case studies and class discussion. Each paper should be 6-8 pages long, and due on the dates given in the syllabus.
3. Group work. You will be organized in five groups. Each group is responsible for planning one class day during the final two weeks of class. The group will choose a conflict or a region, (e.g., ‘the Arab world’ or ‘sub-Saharan Africa’ is legitimate, as is a focus on one conflict such as Israel-Palestine or Iraq) and report on the violence in that region, and analyze it using both information from the course and your own research.
4. Research paper; A research paper based on your group project will be due finals week. It should be at least ten pages long, have quality sources cited, and approach one aspect of the conflict or region your group covered.
Each of the 7 components is of equal value in determining your final grade. In cases where grades are near borderlines, attendance, participation, and engagement can push a student up to the next grade level. No one will be ‘pushed down.’ This means that a person who ends up averaging 88.8 but has good attendance, participation and engagement may get an A-, while a person averaging 89.8 but with poor attendance and participation may get a B+.
On-line lecture notes
Online notes can be found at: http://academic.umf.maine.edu/~erb/
You are responsible for all information covered in class; these notes are not inclusive of all you are required to know, but offered to help you either get more from class or get a sense of the basic issues covered in the case of a missed class.
Office Hours and Grading policy
The office hours are listed at the top of the syllabus. I am also around most days with my door open. If you stop by at a non-office hour time, it’s possible I’ll be very busy on a deadline and need to set up an appointment to see you, but usually I’ll have time. Grades 90% or above will be the A range, reflecting superior understanding of the material and an ability to creatively use the material to analyze issues. 80-89.9% represents the B range, reflecting above average knowledge of the material, and good analysis of the issues. 70-79.9% is the C range, representing average knowledge and adequate analysis. 60%-69.9% is the D range, meaning the student has learned just enough to pass, but has not performed well or shown a good ability to use the material to analyze. Below 60% is an F. I grade on a 40 -100, meaning that the lowest grade on any exam is 40%. Not doing an assignment, however, earns you a “O.” A plus or minus grade is within two percentage points of the cut off (e.g., 90% to 91.99% is an A minus; 88% to 89.99% is a B+). I reserve the right to reward improvement and attendance.
Basic information:
1. Please submit written work, printed out. Electronic submissions are only allowed to show the work is done on time, a printed version must still be submitted. The exception is for the final paper due finals week. That can be submitted electronically.
2. In addressing me, please call me “Scott,” or “Professor Erb.” Never address college professors with Ms., Miss, Mrs. or Mr. Use “Dr.” or “Professor.” Not every professor appreciates students using their first name if you have not been invited to do so, so in general use Dr. or Prof. However, I’m inviting you to call me “Scott.”
3. Keep track of due dates, I will not be constantly reminding you when something is coming up; I assume you check the syllabus or appropriate hand out.
4. Most handouts will be on line if you miss class. If you are not in class when an original handout is given, you are expected to go on line to retrieve it.
5. If you arrive late, come in quietly and find a seat. Do not try to apologize or explain, since that would be disruptive. If you are going to be chronically late (e.g., your are coming from phys ed. and you simply can’t make it in time), let me know.
6. My goal is to get assignments back to you the next class period. If you disagree on a grade, please put in writing the reason for your disagreement, and what you think you deserve. It is extremely rare that any grade gets changed.
7. Issues in a course like this are often controversial. Do not be afraid of stating your positions, but learn that you need to support and back up statements. Please treat all students with respect, both in and outside the class room. Any student showing disrespect due to political positions taken by others may be asked to leave. No student’s grade will be at all hurt or helped by their position on issues; important is how well one develops arguments and analyzes data.
8. Last semester I missed some student e-mails due to the massive amount of e-mail I’ve been getting. If I do not respond to you, don’t assume I’m brushing you off, try again!
Required Readings:
Leashing the Dogs of War (LDW)
My Kashmir (Habibullah)
A Long Way Gone (Beah)
January 21 – Introduction
January 23 – What is war, LDW, 17-38
January 26 - Terrorism and global dangers, LDW, 39-52; 67-82
January 28 – Failing and failed states, LDW, 83 - 114
January 30 – Civil wars and ethnic movements, LDW, 131-161
February 2 – Environmental change and economic causes; LDW 177-218
February 4 – Motivations for conflict, LDW, 219 - 244
February 6 – Midterm exam 1
Unit Two: Force and Soft Power: uses and limits
February 9 – Force for peace and its limits, LDW, 245 - 276
February 11 – Humanitarian intervention, LDW, 277 - 299
February 13 – Shake Hands with the Devil, P I
February 23 – Shake Hands with the Devil, PII
February 25 – Coercive diplomacy and saving lives with force, LDW, 299 - 334
February 27 - Economic sanctions? LDW, 335-354
March 2 - Grand strategies, LDW, 356 -368
March 4 – Soft Power and Law, LDW, 390 – 425
March 6 – Midterm Exam 2
March 9 – Rethinking the War on Terror, LDW, 426 - 436
March 11 - International Mediation, LDW, 437 – 454
March 13 – Conflict resolution, LDW, 455 - 476
March 16 – Democracy vs. Stability, p I, LDW 603-618
March 18 - Democracy vs. Stability, p II, LDW, 619-636
March 20 -- The role of sovereignty, LDW 653-678
March 23 – Midterm Exam 3
March 25 – Kashmir: roots of India-Pakistan conflict (pages to be assigned)
March 27 - Islam, Hinduism, and religion (pages to be assigned)
March 30 – History of the conflict (pages to be assigned)
April 1 - Current dilemmas and problems (pages to be assigned)
April 3 - Comparison with other regional cases: Iraq (pages to be assigned)
April 6 – Conclude Kashmir (pages to be assigned)
April 8 – Child soldiers, Beah, 1 -43
April 10-- Case study: Sierra Leone, Beah 44 -88 (paper on Kashmir due)
April 13 – Case study: Sudan, Beah 88-125
April 15 – Case study: Uganda, Beah, 125 -178
April 17 – African conflict, children, human rights, finish Beah
Unit 5: The Killing Fields – Genocide and World Politics
April 27 – Presentations (paper on Beah due)
April 29 – SYMPOSIUM DAY (no class)
May 1 -- Presentations
May 4 - Presentations
May 6 - Presentations
May 8 – Presentations
Finals Week: Research paper due
Equal educational opportunity is offered to students with special needs due to disability. Please notify the instructor of a reasonable accommodation is needed to meet course requirements.