Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the wars in the Middle East, and continuing civil conflict in Sudan and Myanmar illustrate the devastating consequences of political violence. These cases also raise the central puzzle addressed in this course: why does political violence erupt despite its substantial costs to all involved parties? And why does it erupt in some cases but not in others?
In part 1 of the course, we introduce these theoretical puzzles in more detail. We then trace global conflict patterns and discuss rationalist explanations for war as a high-level way to structure potential answers. In a second part, we zoom in on specific types of political violence, sequentially discussing civil war, internationalized conflicts, interstate war, nonviolent resistance and repression, terrorism, one-sided violence, and communal violence. In a third part, we synthesize these discussions and discuss what these findings mean for broader efforts to explain political violence. In each week, we read theoretical and empirical articles or book chapters that introduce key arguments. These readings are complemented by illustrations from contemporary conflicts, with a focus on cases from Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space.
Students actively participate in the seminar through short written reflections, in-class discussions, and a presentation on a specific conflict. In addition, students critically evaluate a conflict resolution proposal generated by generative AI and assess it in light of the academic literature discussed in class. Thereby, students gain an overview of the main theoretical approaches to explaining political violence and learn how to apply these approaches to real-world conflicts.
- Teacher: Andreas Juon