Purpose: The focus of
this seminar is on recent wars in
Asia
and
Africa
. Theorizing about the causes of war
in political science is based almost exclusively upon great power cases, with a
heavy regional bias toward
Europe
and the
United States
. We will look at a number of wars
in Asia and Africa, and one region (South East Asia) that seems to have
transcended the problem of war, to see if the theories generated from great
power cases can help us to understand the war dynamics of other states.
Organization: Most
seminars start with an examination of theories, and then move to case studies.
We will do the opposite. We
will begin the course with an examination of a number of recent wars in
Asia
and
Africa
. In the second half of the
course, we will examine theoretical literatures on the causes of war and how the
particularities of the state-building process in post-colonial societies might
affect their propensity to go to war. We
will test the validity of various theoretical propositions against the empirical
evidence we have gathered from the cases in the first half of the semester.
Grading: This is a
seminar course. All students are
expected to attend every session, and be prepared to participate in class
discussions. To that end, class
participation will account for 20% of each student's grade.
The remaining 80% of each student's grade will be drawn from a major
research project of the student's choosing.
The process for completion of that research project is as follows:
a) students will present an oral presentation to the class, in the week
assigned for that region in the syllabus, on specific wars.
These will be collaborate projects, as there are not enough wars (or
weeks) to give every student a whole class for presentation.
Each student's performance in the oral presentation will account for 20%
of the final grade; b) each student will present a research paper of not less
than 15 pages (double-spaced, typed) on the background and current politics of
the security picture in his or her chosen area.
That paper will be due on April 1. It
will account for 20% of the final grade; c) each student will present a research
paper, building on the work done for the earlier paper, which assesses the war
he or she studied in light of one or more of the theoretical issues discussed in
the second half of the class. Minimum
length is 20 pages (double-spaced, typed). This
paper will be due on May 4. It will
account for 40% of the final grade.
Books: The
following books are available for purchase at the Bookstore.
NONE of these texts is on reserve, so I strongly recommend that
you purchase them.
-Mohammed Ayoob, The
Third World
Security Predicament
-Sumit Ganguly, Conflict Unending:
India-Pakistan Tensions Since 1947
-Amitav Acharya, Constructing a Security Community in
Southeast Asia
Other readings will be posted on the class website (see URL
on first page), or will be available on the Bailey-Howe Library reserve reading
website (http://voyager.uvm.edu). At
that website, select "Course Reserves."
Then select the course number (POLS 258) to access the readings.
You will be prompted for your name and password at some point in that
process. Your name is your zoo
e-mail address. Your password is your
zoo account password. Direct links to all posted readings can be
found on the class website. There is
one recommended reading which will be on reserve in hard-copy at the Bailey-Howe
Library.
Classroom Protocol -- The Department of Political
Science requires that this classroom protocol, defining minimum standards of
conduct, be included in all syllabi.
1. Students are
expected to attend and be prepared for ALL regularly scheduled classes.
2. Students are
expected to arrive on time and stay in class until the class period ends.
If a students knows in advance that s/he will need to leave early, s/he
should notify the instructor before the class period begins.
3.
Students are expected to treat faculty and fellow students with
respect. For example, students must
not disrupt class by leaving and reentering during class, must not distract
class by making noise, and must be attentive to comments being made by the
instructors and by peers.
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS,
READINGS
AND ASSIGNMENTS
January 14 -- Housekeeping, Overall Introduction, Choice
of Research Project
-in this week's meeting we will discuss the overall organization of the
course. Students will choose the
war(s) on which they wish to focus
January 21 -- Research Week
-2 page bibliography on your war is due (part of oral
presentation grade)
-we will meet only briefly this week. The
rest of class period should be used by the various groups to coordinate
their tasks for the oral presentation.
January 28 -- Research Week
-outline of presentation due (part of oral presentation grade)
-we will once again meet only briefly. Class
time should be used for library research and to coordinate group work.
February 4 – Horn of
Africa
-Patrick Gilkes and Martin Plaut, “In Focus:
The War Between Ethiopia and
Eritrea
,” August 2000 (available on Bailey/Howe
reserve reading website)
-Ken Menkhaus and John Prendergast, "Conflict and Crisis in the
Greater Horn of Africa," Current History, May 1999 (available on Bailey/Howe
reserve reading website)
-recommended for background: -Terrence
Lyons, "The Horn of Africa Regional Politics," from Howard Wriggins
(ed.), Dynamics of Regional Politics (available in Bailey/Howe reserves)
- newspaper clipping file on Horn of Africa (class
website)
February 11 –
Central Africa
--Rene Lemarchand, "The Fire in the
Great Lakes
," Current History, May 1999 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve
reading website)
-David Shearer, "
Africa
' Great War," Survival, Summer 1999 (available on Bailey/Howe
reserve reading website)
-Paul S. Orogun, “Crisis of Government, Ethnic Schisms, Civil War and
Regional Destabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” World
Affairs, Summer 2002 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading
website)
-recommended for background:
- newspaper clipping file on Central Africa (class
website)
February 18: Persian/Arabian
Gulf
-F. Gregory Gause, III, “
Iraq
’s Decisions to Go to War, 1980 and 1990,” Middle East Journal,
Winter 2002 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading
website)
-Richard Hermann, “Coercive Diplomacy and the Crisis over
Kuwait
, 1990-91,” in Alexander George and William Simons (eds), The Limits of
Coercive Diplomacy -- 2nd edition (available on Bailey/Howe
reserve reading website)
-recommended for background: -F.
Gregory Gause, III, "Gulf Regional Politics:
Revolution, War and Rivalry," from Wriggins, Dynamics of Regional
Politics (available in Bailey/Howe reserves)
February 25: India-Pakistan
- Sumit Ganguly, Conflict
Unending: India-Pakistan Tensions
Since 1947, entire
March 11:
Southeast Asia
and ASEAN
-Amitav Acharya, Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia
(entire)
March 25: Student
Choice
-if any student or group of students is interested in researching another
recent war, we will assign a few background readings and
have the oral presentation during this week.
April 1: General
Theories on the Causes of War
-Jack S. Levy, “The Causes of War:
A Review of Theories and Evidence,” from Philip E. Tetlock et al.
(eds.), Behavior, Society and Nuclear War – Volume 1 (available on
Bailey/Howe reserve reading website)
-K. J. Holsti, “International Theory and War in the
Third World
,” from Brian L. Job (ed.), The Insecurity Dilemma (available on
Bailey/Howe reserve reading website)
-Preliminary Paper due
April 8: The
Context of
Post-Colonial
State
Building
and War
-Mohammad Ayoob, The
Third World
Security Predicament, Chapters 2, 3, 4, 8, 9
-Barry Buzan, “Third World Regional Security in Structural and
Historical Perspective,” from Brian L. Job (ed.), The Insecurity Dilemma
(available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading
website)
April 15: The
International System and Regional War
-Mohammed Ayoob, The
Third World
Security Predicament, Chapters 5, 6
-Benjamin Miller, “Between War and Peace:
Systemic Effects and Regional Transitions from the Cold War to the
Post-Cold War,” Security Studies, Autumn 2001 (available on Bailey/Howe
reserve reading website)
April 22: Liberalization,
Democratization and War
-Etel Solingen, “Economic Liberalization, Political Coalitions and
Regional Orders,” from
David
Lake
and Patrick Morgan (eds.), Regional Orders (available on Bailey/Howe
reserve reading website)
-Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder, “Democratization and War,” Foreign
Affairs, May/June 1995 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading
website)
April 29: Conclusion
-discussion of themes of the course and students’ final papers
May 4: Final
Paper Due