PS 543/CR507 Seminar: Resolving
International Conflict
| Prof
Mel Gurtov |
| Office: 650D Urban Affairs Building |
| Telephone: (503) 725-5974 |
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Email:
mgurtov@aol.com |
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Office Hours: Tues., 2-4; Wed., 9-11; and by appointment |
"For transgressions against God, the Day of
Atonement atones; but for transgressions by one human being against
another, the Day of Atonement does not atone until they make peace with
one another." Torah
Purposes:
The seminar explores different kinds of
international disputes and actual conflicts in order to identify and
assess theories, analytical frameworks, and methods of conflict
prevention, management, and resolution. A wide variety of case
studies and literature is used. Our emphasis is on understanding
why conflicts arise, under what circumstances they lead to violence, and
(most importantly) what techniques, skills, and ethical concerns come
into play in peacemaking and peace building.
Requirements:
The
seminar requires a high degree of participation, which means: (1)
attending every session; (2) helping facilitate one session;
(3) doing the readings and being prepared to discuss them; (4)
presenting research results (week 10); (5) submitting a major
research paper (15-20 pages), due at the last class, on some aspect
of international conflict resolution; and (6) taking the final
examination. There are no Incomplete grades.
Texts to purchase:
C. Crocker et al., eds., Herding Cats;
R. Fisher, Beyond Machiavelli;
I. W. Zartman, Cowardly Lions;
Cousens and Kumar, eds., Peacebuilding as Politics;
J. Lederach, Building Peace.
Discussion Schedule (starred [*] items on
reserve in the PS library, 650P):
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1. |
Thinking about
International Conflict Resolution |
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Readings |
Lederach,introduction and chs. 1-2
Crocker, ch. 1 |
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2. |
Sources of
Conflict and Escalation |
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Readings |
Zartman, ch. 1
*R. Cohen,"Negotiating Across Cultures"
*I. Janis, "Groupthink"
*G. Paige, "On Values and Science"
*T. Homer-Dixon, "On the Threshold"
*T. R. Gurr, Minorities At Risk (chapter)
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3. |
Structural and
Social-Psychological Frameworks |
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Readings: |
R. Fisher, entire book
Crocker, #2-3 and #11
Lederach, Chs. 3-4
*H. Kelman, "The interactive Problem-Solving Approach" |
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4. |
Warning and
Prevention
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Readings: |
Zartman, chs. 2-5, 8
Crocker, #4-6 and 8
*Carnegie Commission, Preventing Deadly Conflict (chapter
3) |
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5. |
Humanitarian Action and the Role of NGOs |
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Readings: |
Read UN Charter, esp. Chapters VI-VII
Crocker, #7
(Burundi)
*T. Weiss, "Principles, Politics, and Humanitarian Action"
*Fiona Terry, Condemned to Repeat? (chapters)
*The Responsibility To Protect (Report of the
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty)
*L. Minear, "A Moment of Truth for the Humanitarian Enterprise" |
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6. |
The Civil-Society Factor in Peacemaking |
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Readings: |
Crocker, #17-18 (Northern Ireland)
*A. Varshney, Ethnic
Conflict and Civic Life (chapters)
*Edwards and Gaventa, eds., Global Citizen Action
(chapters)
*R. Daubon and H. Sauders, "Operationalizing Social Capital,"
ISQ (2002)
*M. Cholchester, "Sustaining the Forests" |
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7. |
Agreeing and Settling: Hopes and Failures |
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Readings: |
Crocker, #20, 22-24
Lederach, chs. 5-10
*J. Tepperman, "Truth
and Consequences," Foreign Affairs (Mar. - Apr. 2002)
*Savir, The Process (chapters)
[Also valuable: *The
2003 Geneva Accord (or Initiative) on Israel-Palestine] |
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8. |
Distorted Nationalism: Two Cases |
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Readings: |
(1) China-Japan Rivalry: see
www.china-japan-reconciliation.blogspot.com and other Internet
readings to be assigned.
China Assails Japan's Books on 30's Invasion;
China's Economic Brawn Unsettles Japanese;
China Pushing and Scripting Japan Protests;
Sino-Japanese Rapprochement as a "Diplomatic Revolution"
(2) Yugoslavia:
Zartman, ch. 6
Cousens and Kumar, ch. 5. |
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9. |
Finding a Path to a Durable Peace |
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Readings: |
Cousens and Kumar, entire book (except chaps. on
Haiti & Yugoslavia)
Lederach, pp. 149-end of book
Zartman, ch. 7 (Haiti)
Crocker, chs. 15 and 19 (Haiti) |
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10. |
Presentations of Research Results |
Instructions
for Papers
1. Choice of topic: Make sure we have discussed and
reached agreement on a topic. Remember that your paper should clearly
focus on the theory and application of some aspect of international
conflict resolution. Avoid excessive background information in the
paper, and instead devote most of your time to analysis of the problem.
Possible topics include:
interstate disputes; NGO-state disputes; multiparty disputes (e.g., over
territory); government-political movement disputes; peacekeeping in theory
and practice (incl. third-party interventions); role of international law;
disputes involving multinational corporations, labor, and environment;
comparative approaches to conflict resolution; comparisons of conflict
resolution efforts in two or more disputes.
2. Make explicit use of the ideas and frameworks
in our class readings. Your paper should have a theoretical foundation
(hypotheses) that can be tested in practice (e.g., a case study).
3. The Paper: 15-20 double-spaced pages
(minimum-maximum), using at least 12 sources other than the course
texts (which you certainly may cite). Sources may be a mixture of books,
scholarly articles, newspapers, and documents. Use the Internet for
opinion articles by scholars and practitioners and for especially for
official documents (such as UN decisions and official government
materials).
4. Citations: Use any consistent form for citing
sources: footnotes, endnotes, in-text notes. A bibliography is not
needed except for in-text notes; include relevant information (author,
article and journal or book title, and page numbers) in your
notes. Refer to class readings if in doubt about proper form. Avoid
lengthy direct quotations or excessive reliance on any one source.
5. Check spelling, punctuation, and grammar. A
sloppily written paper will count heavily against you. Paginate your
paper; use 12-point font; give it a title. |