NS3235 Civil Wars

Since 1945, civil wars have occurred five times more frequently than interstate wars. These civil conflicts produce major humanitarian crises, give rise to violent extremists, and serve as arenas for strategic competition. This course explores three phases of civil wars: conflict onset, conflict dynamics, and conflict termination. This exploration will involve reading the scholarly literature on civil wars and simulating key dynamics to truly understand the complexities of civil conflicts across multiple regions of the world.

Prerequisite

None

Lecture Hours

Lab Hours

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

Describe and critically assess theoretical approaches to civil wars, including ones that emphasize economic grievances, strategic dilemmas, ethno-religious identities, and political institutions.
Explain common mechanisms for civil war onset and draw lessons for how to predict societies at risk of falling into civil wars.
Tackle common puzzles in the study of civil wars, such as why do rebels kill civilians, how do external states shape civil war outcomes, and why do rebels often kill each other when fighting their governments.
Explain the obstacles to terminating civil wars and what can be done to forge a lasting peace.
Derive lessons from past civil wars and discuss how they might inform U.S. strategy in addressing ongoing civil wars in the context of strategic competition with Russia, China, and Iran.