Crisis Management and Conflict Analysis (Bachelor Year 3 / Spring)

Methods of Instruction

Students are encouraged to participate in class discussions and ask questions that directly relate to the case study that they have chosen. All course content is located on the ICP Moodle (formation.icp.fr). The course will be taught entirely in English (teaching, articles, videos,
Powerpoint, etc.). The course content will address questions related to methodology, theory, techniques related to conflict analysis, and case study analysis.
 

Assessment and Final Grade

Final Report = 100%
Students are to redact a written report in English on one of the assigned case studies. The report must directly address one of the guiding questions provided by the professor for the case study that you have chosen. Students may work in a group of either 3, 4 or 5 students. No individual reports will be accepted. Groups of 2, 6 or more students will not be accepted and will be sanctioned by 3 points. Please clearly indicate your case study and the members of your group in your report. All case studies and guiding questions can be accessed on the ICP Moodle (formation.icp.fr), along with numerous sources for each case study.
Report guidelines and expectations:
→ Several guiding questions will be provided for each case study. Students must choose one case study and address one guiding question.
→ The professor will provide students with the necessary methodological and theoretical tools for case study analysis. As such, it is expected that students apply the relevant course content within their case study.
→ The final should not be a summary reading material provided. Students are expected to conduct research on the assigned topic. All research must be conducted in ENGLISH. No sources will be accepted in any other language and students will be penalized accordingly.
→ The report must be a minimum of 3 pages per person (without counting the cover sheet, bibliography and annexes). For example, a group of 3 students must redact a minimum of 9 pages and 12 pages of redaction minimum is necessary for a group of 4 students, etc.
→ In their report, students must include: a cover sheet that contains the title of the work, students’ names, the research question provided by the professor, citations, footnotes, and a bibliography. All work, unless otherwise specified, is required to be New Times Roman 12 font,
1.5 spaced. It is expected that final be written in standard English and be free of spelling errors. Deductions will be taken accordingly.
→ Each group member must specify what parts you have written in the report. This is to avoid issues with plagiarism. Please make sure to source your work! Plagiarism can be accidental.
→ All reports must be submitted through the ICP Moodle (formation.icp.fr) in the following formats: .DOC, .DOCX, .ODT, or PDF. NO .PAGES (MAC) will be accepted.
Submission of Assignments: There will be a 2 point per day deduction for late projects submitted after midnight. Failure to submit the final exam will result in a re-sit exam that will be organized by the administration during the months of may or June.
Plagiarism: Please do not plagiarize. This includes self-plagiarism. Do NOT use previously written reports from other courses. These reports cannot be cited as they have not been published. Plagiarism will be dealt with according to the standards of the ICP. Make sure to use citations and a bibliography in your work. All final reports will automatically be sent through an anti-plagiarism detection program.
 

Course Requirements

Attendance:
Course attendance is not mandatory, and attendance will not be taken. It is, however, expected that students attend class regularly. Course notes will not be distributed in any form. Be sure to acquire all information from a colleague when absent.
Punctuality:
Please arrive on time to class. Students more than five minutes late may be refused.
Final report feedback:
All students may consult their copies with their professor after corrections have been completed. Faculty administrators will organize a meeting with the professor for the consultation of corrections.
 

Course Schedule

Class 1 –
Topic → Course introduction & Case studies choice
Class 2 –
Topic → Case Study Methodology
Recent Trends in Armed Conflict
Class 3 –
Topic → Conflict Terminology & Definitions
-Characteristics of conflict
-What are we studying?
Class 4 –
Topic → Actors of Conflict
-Spectrum of actor-based analysis
Class 5 –
Topic → The Causes of War
-Security based premises
-Economic based interests
Class 6 –
Topic → The Causes of War (continued)
-Mis-recognition & Symbolic motivations
Class 7 –
Topic → Misperceptions and War
Class 8 –
Topic → Stages of Peace
-Conflict Prevention Stage
-Conflict Management
-Conflict Resolution
-Conflict Transformation
Class 9 –
Topic → Mechanisms of Peace
-Peacekeeping
-Peacemaking
-Peacebuilding
-Peace enforcement
Class 10 –
Topic → Mechanisms of Peace (continued)
-Conclusion: What makes a good mediator?
 

Bibliography

These sources should be able to assist you in your research.
Dario Battistella, Dictionnaire des relations internationales : approches, concepts, doctrines, Dalloz, 2012.
Dario Battistella, Retour à l’état de guerre, Paris, Armand Colin, 2006.
Dario Battistella, Théories des relations internationales, Presses de Sciences Po, 2014.
John Burton, Conflict: Human Needs Theory, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
John Burton and Frank Dukes, Conflict: Readings in Management & Resolution, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, Oxford University Press, 2019.
Greg Cashman, What Causes War?: An Introduction to Theories of International Conflict, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2nd edition, 2013.
Greg Cashman and Leonard Robinson, An introduction to the causes of war: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq, Rowmand & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007.
Dale Copeland, The origins of Major war, Cornell University Press, 2000.
Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett, Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2005.
William H. Hill, Russia, the Near Abroad, and the West: Lessons from the Moldova Transdniestrian Conflict, Woodrow Wilson Center Press and The John Hopkins University Press, 2012.
Jean-Vincent Holeindre, Frédéric Ramel, La fin des guerres majeures ?, Economica, 2010.
Robert Jervis, Perception and Misperception in International Politics, Princeton University Press, 1976.
Robert O. Keohane, After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy, Princeton University Press, 2005.
Robert O. Keohane, and Joseph Nye, Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition, Longman, New York, 1977.
Charles King, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture, Hoover Institutional Press, 2000.
Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics among Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, New York, 1948.
Richard Ned Lebow, A cultural theory of international relations, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Richard Ned Lebow, Why Nations Fight: The Past and Future of War, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Jack S. Levy and William R. Thompson, Causes of War, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Thomas Lindemann, Causes of War: The Struggle for Recognition, ECPR Press, 2010.
Thomas Lindemann, La Guerre: Théories, Causes, Règlements, Armand Colin, 2010.
Thomas Lindemann, Penser la guerre. L'apport constructiviste, Paris, L'Harmattan, 2008.
Thomas Lindemann, Sauver la face, sauver la Sociologie constructiviste des crises internationales, L’Harmattan, 2010.
Thomas Lindemann and Erik Ringmar Erik, ed., The International Struggle for Recognition, Paradigm Publisher, 2012.
Jeffrey Mankoff, Russian Foreign Policy: The Return of Great Power Politics, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2nd edition, 2011.
John Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
Scott Douglass Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Endless Debate, W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd edition, 2012.
Stephen Van Evera, Causes of War, Cornell University Press, 2001.
Stephen Van Evera, Guide to methods for students of political science, Cornell University Press, 1997.
Stephen M. Walt, Taming American power: the global response to US primacy, W. W. Norton, 2005.
Stephen M. Walt, The Origins of Alliances, Cornell University Press,1987.
Kenneth Waltz, Man, the state, and war: a theoretical analysis, Columbia University Press, 2001.
Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics, New-York, McGraw-Hill, 1979.
Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics, Princeton University Press, 1999.