| Description |
Why do civil wars occur and how do they end? Why are some conflicts more violent than others? Who are the main actors? In this seminar we will analyze these, and further questions, by exploring theoretical concepts and applying them empirically with the help of case studies and quantitative analyses. The seminar is divided into three parts. In the first part, we will focus on definitions and historical trends of internal armed conflicts and examine the different perspectives on why civil wars occur. Are conflicts about ethnicity, greed or about bargaining? In the second part, we will evaluate civil war dynamics, and in particular patterns of violence and the role of the international community. Is UN peacekeeping effective? What is the impact of economic sanctions? We will also investigate the role of actors, such as insurgents and pro-government militias. Additionally, new topics within the civil war research will be reviewed, such as female combatants and natural resources. The third part of the seminar deals with civil war outcomes and their recurrence, with a focus on peace agreements. At the end of the seminar students are expected to write a final paper on a topic of their choice, in which they demonstrate their ability to conduct a literature review, write a theoretical framework and derive hypotheses, and to estimate them empirically. |
