Conflict and state building

Knowledge

Students will

• Be familiar with main concepts and definitions associated with studies of conflict, war and peace;
• Acquire knowledge of main theoretical perspectives and key issues of intra- and international conflict, war and peace;
• Be introduced to the relationship between conflict, war and peace and key factors such as systems of governance, trade, economic development and nationalism;
• Be familiar with the empirical support of main theories and hypotheses of conflict, war and peace.

Skills

Students will

• Acquire understanding of how theories and explanatory factors at different levels can be combined in analyses of conflict and peace
• Be able to formulate researchable questions and analyse them according to scientific methods of research
• Develop skills in commenting other students || chr(38) ||rsquo; work in a constructive manner.

Competences

Students will

• Acquire general understanding of key factors and mechanisms causing conflict and enabling peace and be able to critically analyse historic and comparative cases of intra- and international conflict, war and peace.

Knowledge of research methods.

Bachelor || chr(38) ||#39;s degree in Political Science or equivalent.

Students at UiO must apply for courses in StudentWeb.

International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

Students admitted to other Master programmes may also be qualified to apply for the course. Please see the webpage on Hospitant students.

Only students admitted to the course may take part in instruction and tuition and sit for the examination.

The course will comprise a lecture series of 10 lectures, each lasting 2 x 45 minutes, and a one-day workshop on academic writing. The purpose of the workshop is to develop your ability to formulate a researchable issue and to address this issue in a scientifically tenable manner. In addition to this, the workshop will give you training in commenting other students || chr(38) ||rsquo; written work in a constructive manner. More information on the workshop will be given at the beginning of the semester.

This course will be taught at The University of Oslo, Blindern campus. Other location in Oslo may be used. Fronter will normally be used.

The course is part of the regular course provision at The Faculty of Social Science. Teaching is mainly held during daytime. Detailed course-information is found on the Webpage for the current semester.

Access to teaching

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

3-hour written school exam.

Previous exams and guidelines

Dictionary, which must be handed in to the Department of Political Science office at least two days before the written exam.

You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam.

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

English

See here for information about the regulations for explanations of examination results and appeals.

Literature marked C is in a Compendium, which is available at Kopiutsalget in Akademikas basement

Bellamy, Alex J., 2005. “Responsibility to Protect or Trojan Horse? The Crisis in Darfur and Humanitarian Intervention after Iraq”. Ethics and International Affairs, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 31-54. Link

Cederman, Lars-Erik, Andreas Wimmer and Brian Min, 2010. “Why do ethnic groups rebel? New data and analysis.” World Politics 62 (1), pp. 87-119. Link

Chandler, David, 2004. “The Responsibility to Protect? Imposing the ‘Liberal Peace’”. International Peacekeeping, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 59-81. Link

Coakley, John, 2009. “Ethnic Conflict Resolution: Routes Towards Settlement”, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol 15, no. 3, pp. 462—483. Link

Collier, Paul, 2000. “Doing Well Out of War: An Economic Perspective.” In Mats Berdal and David Malone (eds.). Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, pp. 91-111. Link

Dokken, Karin, 2008. African Security Politics Redefined. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-206.

Evans, Gareth and Mohamed Sahnoun, 2002. “The Responsibility to Protect”. Foreign Affairs, vol. 81, no. 6, pp. 99-110. Link

Fearon, James D. and David D. Laitin, 2003. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War”, American Political Science Review 97 (1), pp. 75-90. <a href="http://x-port-sfx.uio.no/sfx_ubo?sid=BIBSYS&date=999

If you have a disability or a health problem that entails significant inconvenience in an examination situation, you may be considered for special examination arrangements. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.

A student may sit this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do so in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit the exam.