Political Science 395, Section 1                                             Roy Licklider

How Civil Wars End                                                              licklide@rci.rutgers.edu

Fall, 2003                                                                                732 932-9249 (Douglass office)

 

 

CAREERS:  Students often want information about jobs related to international affairs.  Careers in International Relations is an essay about different kinds of positions in this area and appropriate ways to prepare for them; it may be purchased for fifty cents at the undergraduate Political Science Department office on the fifth floor of Hickman Hall, Douglass Campus; it is also on the political science department web-page at www.polisci.rutgers.edu.    A slightly revised web version with many links to other sites has been prepared by faculty at Drake University; its address is http://www.drake.edu/artsci/ir/ ir_careers.html.. 

 

OFFICE HOURS:

            Tuesday 12:30-1:00 and Thursday, 4:15-4:45, first floor, Milledoler Hall, CAC

            616 Hickman Hall, DC by appointment

 

WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?  After the Cold War, civil wars, wars within states, have become more prominent (although it’s not clear they really are more numerous or more violent than before).  Thus a central foreign policy question, for the U.S. and other developed states, is whether and how to intervene in such conflicts. 

 

But this choice requires that we know something about how civil wars end, which means learning how people who have been killing one another with considerable skill and enthusiasm can come together to form a common political system.  This seems obviously impossible, but in fact we know that almost all major states have done it at least once.  (The U.S. has done it twice, after the Revolutionary War in which one historian asserts that as many people from New Jersey fought for the British as for the American side, and the Civil War when New Jersey was also divided.)  So we know that it happens, but we do not really understand how.

 

This seminar will focus on the ways in which civil wars end and states are formed afterward in the post-World War II era.  The central concern will be to develop and test general statements which can guide our actions in the future. 

           

 

REQUIRED BOOKS (paperbacks at the Rutgers Bookstores at Ferren Mall Bookstore and New Jersey Books):

Bruce Jentelson, Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized: Preventive Diplomacy in

the Post-Cold War World                 

Thomas G. Weiss and Cindy Collins, Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention, 2nd edition

Stephen Stedman, Donald Rothchild, and Elizabeth Cousens, Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements

            Andrew Rigby, Justice and Reconciliation After the Violence

Most of the assigned reading is in these books.  The few other materials on the syllabus will be in the undergraduate reserve room at Alexander Library.   They should also be available on electronic reserve.  As a backup, full sources are given for all of them, and most can be located in the university library system.  Regardless of how you obtain them, you are required to read the assigned material before you come to class; class sessions will consist primarily of discussions about the reading and related topics, and, as noted below, class participation will count a substantial portion of your grade. 

 

 

GRADING: 

 

20% CLASS PARTICIPATION:  In a seminar, students are expected to actively participate in the learning process by contributing to class discussions.  Grading will be based on quality rather than quantity of discussion.  In particular, comments that show that you have read the material, have listened to your classmates, and are able to say things which move the discussion forward rather than repeating what has already been said will be valued.  Since the whole point of discussion is to help your classmates, at the end of the semester each students will assign a letter grade to every other student’s class participation.  The average of these grades will count half of the total participation grade (10% of your final grade); I will independently assign a participation grade which will count the other half. 

 

10% READING QUIZZES:  Nine reading quizzes will be given during the semester at the beginning of class; they will not be announced in advance, and no makeups, excuses, or rewrites will be accepted.  Each quiz will require you to demonstrate that you have read a specified part of the reading assignment for that day; outlining the major points and noting a few things which are unique to the assignment are the obvious ways to do this.  Written notes (but no books or xeroxes) may be used.  Quizzes will be graded pass or fail.  Students with six passing grades will get an A for the reading portion of their final grades; those with five will get a B, those with four will get a C, those with three will get a D, and those with fewer than three will get an F.

 

20% FINAL EXAMINATION at the regularly scheduled time and place unless decided otherwise by the class

 

40% RESEARCH PAPER: You may do either of these two types of papers.  Note that the comparative paper is substantially more difficult for most people; therefore students who complete it are likely to receive higher grades. 

 

(A) SINGLE COUNTRY PAPER:  Select a civil war which ended for at least five years (lists will be distributed early in the course) and summarize its history in a page or two.  You are encouraged but not required to select something after 1945.  Then explain (1) why it ended as it did and (2) why it did not begin again for at least five years.  For each of these questions, you should develop three different answers (for example, the American Revolution ended because of British-French competition, British military incompetence, and internal divisions within Britain), make the strongest argument for each, then state which one you find most persuasive and explain why you rejected the other two.  You are expected to use appropriate material from books, journal articles, and the Internet.  The length of the paper can vary, but it will probably be at least twenty pages.

 

(B) COMPARATIVE PAPER: Select two countries, at least one of which has had a civil war that has ended for five years.  You may pick two countries which are similar to one another, one of which has had a civil war and one of which has not.  Alternatively you may pick two different countries which have had civil wars but which differ in other ways such as how it ended.  Other combinations are possible; consult with me about topics.  Present brief histories (a page or two) of each, then discuss how they are similar and different and how these similarities and differences have influenced how their civil wars (or lack of them) have affected them. 

 

Regardless of the type of paper, you must submit your topic for approval to me by September 18.  Feel free to consult with me about it.  All students will present ten-page written summaries of their papers during three weeks in October on days noted in the syllabus.  For each class during this three weeks, each student will be required to read summaries of the projects being presented, so authors must bring sufficient copies for me and for your readers.  Late excuses will not be accepted; if you have schedule conflicts, plan around them, and if you get sick, have someone else submit your paper.  Each student is expected to critique papers of other students in writing before each class; these critiques will be graded and count as 10% of your grade and also be given to the author for use in revision, so submit two copies.  During the class we will discuss the projects for that day. 

 

Final papers are due on a rolling basis (those who present early hand in early, etc.) in November.  Students will be assigned time slots by me at random early in the course; you may trade slots with someone else until the initial draft is due but not afterward. 

 

10%: CRITIQUE OF OTHER STUDENTS’ PROJECTS, as noted above.  The critiques should normally be at least two pages long and are expected to be written in standard English.  Two copies should be submitted, one for me and one for the paper author.

 

NOTE: Students must complete at least one version of the paper and the final exam in order to pass the course.

 

 


9/2:      Introduction

 

 

I.  WHAT CAUSES CIVIL WARS AND CAN OUTSIDERS HELP PREVENT THEM?

 

9/4:      CAUSES AND THEORIES OF PREVENTION

            Michael E. Brown, “Ethnic and Internal Conflicts: Causes and Implications” in

Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall, Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict, pp. 209-226

            Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized, Preface and chapters 1-2

OPTIONAL READING: Donald M. Snow, Uncivil Wars: International Security and the New Internal Conflicts

            Fen Osler Hampson, Madness in the Multitude: Human Security and World Disorder

            Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall, Turbulent Peace: The

                        Challenges of Managing International Conflict

David A. Lake and Donald Rothchild, The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict:  Fear, Diffusion, and Escalation

            Manus Midlarsky, The Internationalization of Communal Strife

 

9/9:      CHECHNYA AND NAGORNO-KARABAKH

            Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized, chapters 3-4

 

9/11:    THE BALTIC COUNTRIES VS. CROATIA AND BOSNIA

            Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized, chapters 5 and 7

 

9/16:    MACEDONIA VS. SOMALIA

            Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized, chapters 8-9

 

9/18:    RWANDA, CONGO, AND LESSONS LEARNED

            Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized, chapters 10-11 and 13

OPTIONAL READING: Ted Robert Gurr, Peoples Versus States: Minorities at Risk in the New Century

            Daniel L. Byman, Keeping the Peace: Lasting Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts

Mats Berdal and David M. Malone, Greed and Grievance:  Economic Agendas in Civil Wars

            Michael Lund, Preventing Violent Conflicts: A Strategy for Preventive Diplomacy

John L. Davies and Ted Robert Gurr, Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems

 

 

II.  INTERVENTION IN ONGOING CIVIL WARS

 

9/23:    THEORIES AND ACTORS IN HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION

            Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention, Introduction and chapters 1-2

9/25:    CASES AND DILEMMAS IN PRACTICE

            Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention, chapters 3-4

           

9/30:    PAST AND FUTURE POLICIES–LESSONS LEARNED

            Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention, chapters 5-6

OPTIONAL READING: Herman J. Cohen, Intervening in Africa: Superpower Peacemaking in a Troubled Continent.

            Barbara F. Walter and Jack Snyder, Civil Wars, Insecurity, and Intervention

David Carment and Frank Harvey, Using Force to Prevent Ethnic Violence: An Evaluation of Theory and Evidence

Karin von Hippel, Democracy by Force: U.S. Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World

Michael O’Hanlon, Saving Lives With Force: Military Criteria for Humanitarian Intervention

            Alan J. Kuperman, The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention: Genocide in Rwanda

            Peter Ronayne, Never Again?  The United States and the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide since the Holocaust

Mary B. Anderson, Do No Harm:   How Aid Can Support Peace–Or War

            Fiona Terry, Condemned to Repeat?  The Paradox of Humanitarian Action

            Peter Uvin, Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda

           

 

PRESENTATIONS OF RESEARCH PROJECT DRAFTS

 

10/2:    Group #1

 

10/7:    Group #2

 

10/9:    Group #3

 

10/14:  Group #4

 

10/16:  Group #5

 

 

III.  ACHIEVING AND IMPLEMENTING PEACE AGREEMENTS

 

10/21:  INTRODUCTION TO CASES AND NICARAGUA

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 1 and 13

 

10/23:  EL SALVADOR AND GUATEMALA

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 14-15

 


10/28:  RWANDA AND CAMBODIA

            Ending Civil Wars, chapter 16-17

 

10/30:  BOSNIA AND LEBANON

            Ending Civil Wars, chapter 18-19

 

11/4:    LIBERIA AND SRI LANKA

            Ending Civil Wars, chapter 20-21

           

11/6:    INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 4 and 7

            GROUP 1 PAPERS DUE

 

11/11:  DISARMAMENT/DEMOBILIZATION AND POSTSETTLEMENT ELECTIONS

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 6 and 8

            GROUP 2 PAPERS DUE

           

11/13:  HUMAN RIGHTS AND RETURNING REFUGEES

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 9-10

            GROUP 3 PAPERS DUE

 

11/18:  POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND POLICING

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 3 and 11

            Philip Carter, “Faux Pax Americana,” Washington Monthly (June 2003), pp. 11-13

            GROUP 4 PAPERS DUE

 

11/20:  TRANSFERRING CONTROL TO THE LOCALS AND LESSONS LEARNED

            Ending Civil Wars, chapters 12 and 22

OPTIONAL READING: Roy Licklider, Stopping the Killing: How Civil Wars End

            Barbara Walter, Committing to Peace: The Successful Settlement of Civil Wars

Elisabeth Jean Wood, Forging Democracy from Below: Insurgent Transitions in South Africa and El Salvador

Krishna Kumar, Rebuilding Societies After Civil War: Critical Roles for International Assistance

            Krishna Kumar, Postconflict Elections, Democratization and International Assistance

            GROUP 5 PAPERS DUE

 

           

IV.  FROM CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL SOCIETY–TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE

 

11/25:  THE CONCEPT OF RECONCILIATION AND POST-WORLD WAR II EUROPE

            Justice and Reconciliation After the Violence, Preface and chapters 1-2

 

12/2:    SPAIN AND LATIN AMERICA

            Justice and Reconciliation After the Violence, chapters 3-4

 

12/4:    POST-SOVIET EASTERN EUROPE AND SOUTH AFRICA

            Justice and Reconciliation After the Violence, chapters 5-6

 

12/9:    PALESTINE AND LESSONS LEARNED

            Justice and Reconciliation After the Violence, chapters 7-9

Roy Licklider, “Ethical Advice:  Conflict Management Vs. Human Rights in Ending Civil Wars

OPTIONAL READING: Fen Osler Hampson, Nurturing Peace: Why Peace Settlements Succeed or Fail

            Robert Rothstein, After the Peace: Resistance and Reconciliation

Martha Minow, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence.

            Patricia Hayner, Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State Terror and Atrocity

James L. Gibson and Amanda Gouws, Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa: Experiments in Democratic Persuasion

Elizabeth Cousens and Chetan Kumar, Peacebuilding As Politics: Cultivating Peace in Fragile Societies           

Kimberly Maynard, Healing Communities in Conflict: International Assistance in Complex Emergencies

Cynthia Sampson and John Paul Lederach, From the Ground Up: Mennonite Contributions to International Peacekeeping

Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall, Turbulent Peace: The

            Challenges of Managing International Conflict                

 

 

12/22:  FINAL EXAMINATION: 12:00-3:00