GOVT 85.48 Civil War

Although civil war and insurgency have been around for centuries, policymakers and scholars in political science and related disciplines have only begun paying attention to these types of political violence in earnest since the end of the Cold War. In more recent years, developing effective counterinsurgency strategies have become major policy goals of the U.S. government. Similarly, ending civil wars and smaller domestic disputes have become priorities of the international community, in general, and the United Nations, in particular. At the same time, social scientists working in a range of scholarly traditions have renewed their efforts to provide compelling and useful explanations of many forms of internal political violence, including civil war, revolution, ethnic war, and genocide.

This course introduces students to the core debates in this field of study as well as to cutting-edge research. Topics will include the socio-political contexts, goals, and organizational structures of rebel groups, general theories of political violence, civil war settlement, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. By the end of the course, students will be able to intelligently evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various counterinsurgency and peacebuilding strategies in light of evidence from social science and apply their insights in a final paper.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or SOC

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

Government