Friday, September 5, 2008

EDS II Syllabus

Here is the class syllabus for EDS II. You may click the links to directly to access the online journals, news articles and other readings. All materials are also available as hard copies at room 3K 205.


English Discussion Seminar II (War, Peace and Security)

Nathan Gilbert Quimpo
Credit 2, Year 1-2, Trimester 2, Wednesday, 5&6 Period

Course Description This intermediate-level course serves as an introduction to conflict, peace and security studies. The objectives of the course are to broaden the students’ knowledge of major issues related to conflict, peace and security in the contemporary period and to develop the students’ proficiency in listening, speaking and engaging in informed discourse in English.

Requirement for Enrollment
No formal pre-requisites for enrollment into the course.

Course Work
Students are expected to attend all seminars, study the assigned readings before class, and participate actively in class discussions and debates.

Method of Assessment Participation in class discussions/debates, and presentations: 50% of overall
course mark.
Final examination: 50% of overall course mark.
Course Schedule and Readings


Session 1: 3 September
Introduction


Session 2: 10 September
A. Debate: The world has become a relatively more peaceful and safer place to live in since the end of the Cold War.
B. Lecture: Armed Conflict since the End of the Cold War
  1. Human Security Centre, Human Security Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 1-11. (For the complete Human Security Report 2005, Access/Download here.
  2. Readings on the Russia-Georgia War:
Recommended:
  1. Ted Robert Gurr and Barbara Harff, Ethnic Conflict in World Politics, 2nd Edition, Boulder: Westview Press, 2000, pp. 1-18. (Hardcopy at 3K205)
  2. Adrian Hamilton, “We Are Still Fighting the Cold War,” The Independent, 14 August 2008. Access/Download here.


Session 3: 17 September
A. Debate: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should abandon its plan to admit Georgia as a member.
B. Lecture: Ethnic Conflict
  1. International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka: The Failure of the Peace Process,” 28 November 2006, pp. 1-12. Access/Download here.
  2. Somini Sengupta, “Ethnic Divide Worsens as Sri Lanka Conflict Escalates,” New York Times, 8 March 2008. Access/Download here.


Session 4: 24 September
A. Discussion: What should be done to bring about a peaceful resolution of the long-standing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka?
B. Lecture: Clash of Civilizations?
  1. Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” (excerpt), Foreign Affairs, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 22-49. (Hardcopy at 3K205).
Recommended:
  1. International Debate Education Association, “Clash of Civilisations: Myth or Reality?”. Access/Download here.


Session 5: 1 October
A. Debate: There is a “clash of civilizations” between the West and the Islamic world.
B. Lecture: The War in Iraq
  1. Lee Kuan Yew, “The United States, Iraq, and the War on Terror,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007. Access/Download here.
  2. Michael Schwartz, “Why Did We Invade Iraq Anyway? Putting a Country in Your Tank,” TomDispatch.com, October 30, 2007. Access/Download here.


Session 6: 8 October
A. Debate: The U.S. and its allies did the right thing in invading Iraq in 2003.
B. Lecture: Terrorism and the War on Terror
  1. Rohan Gunaratna, “Islamic Terrorism: Can We Meet the Challenge?”, Global Asia, vol. 2, no. 3, Winter 2007, pp. 34-40. Access/Download here.
  2. John Sidel, “It is Not Getting Worse: Terrorism is Declining in Asia/From Bali to Karachi: Where's the Terror?,” Global Asia, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 41-49. Access/Download here.


Session 7: 22 October
A. Debate: ‘Islamist’ terrorism is declining in Asia.
B. Lecture: ‘Resource Wars’
  1. U.S. Agency for International Development, “Minerals and Conflict,” Washington, D.C.: USAID, 2004, pp. 1-15. Access/Download here.
Recommended:
  1. Michael L. Ross, What Do We Know About Natural Resources and Civil War?”, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 41, no. 3, 2004, pp. 337–356. Access/Download here.


Session8: 29 October
A. Discussion: What should we do to prevent valuable minerals from being associated with conflict or used to finance it?
B. Lecture: Humanitarian Intervention
  1. Scott Straus, “Darfur and the Genocide Debate,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2005. Access/Download here.
  2. Mahmood Mamdani, “The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency,” London Review of Books, 8 March 2007. Access/Download here.


Session 9: 5 November
A. Debate: The United Nations should engage in a more forceful humanitarian intervention in Darfur.
B. Lecture: Women and War
  1. Jennifer Turpin, “Many Faces: Women Confronting War,” in Ann Lorentzen and Jennifer Turpin, eds., The Women and War Reader, New York: New York University Press, 1998, pp. 3-18. (Hardcopy at 3K205).
Recommended:
  1. April Carter, “Should Women Be Soldiers or Pacifists?” in Lorentzen and Turbin, pp. 33-37. (Hardcopy at 3K205).


Session10: 12 November
A. Debate: Women should be pacifists, not soldiers.
B. Lecture: Conflict, Peace and Security
  1. Rob McRae, “Human Security in a Globalized World,” in Rob McRae and Don Hubert, eds., Human Security and the New Diplomacy: Protecting People, Promoting Peace, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001, pp. 14-27. (Hardcopy at 3K205).
Recommended:
  1. Lotta Harbom, Stina Hogbladh and Peter Wallenstein, “Armed Conflicts and Peace Agreements,” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 617-631. (Hardcopy at 3K205).


Session 11: 19 November
Final Exam


Note: A few course readings may be changed or added to take more recent developments regarding particular conflicts or peace processes into account.

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