DA4770 Ethnic Conflict

The Ethnic Conflict course poses a series of questions, such as ‘what is a state?', ‘what is a nation?' in order to better understand when and why ethnic conflict erupts and persists. Often cited as the most prevalent form of warfare today, ‘ethnic conflict' as a term may conceal more that its reveals. For instance, strife in Northern Ireland and in Israel is often explained away as ethnonationalist and ethnoreligious in nature. On the face of it, both cases would seem to have much in common. However, once local histories and regional politics are considered, the two represent radically different models of (and for) ethnic conflict. This course will examine a series of such examples in order to better understand the origins, trajectory, and virulence of ethnic conflict. Prerequisites: None.

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

• Describe how cultural narratives of war (war stories) are affected by the events of war and how national/group identities respond to war—especially when things don't go as expected. The events of the Korean War may have something to say about the narratives of the Vietnam War, which may have something to say about the story of the Iraq War, etc.
• Derive lessons from a holistic war and society approach to shed light on the interactions between localities form a larger field of relations, which shape and condition peoples and territories on a transregional or even global scale (e.g., during the Cold War, Third World leaders could “play” one superpower against the other to gain aid and other support; the new transnational terrorism of the post-9/11 world.), and how this can better inform U.S. foreign policy.

• Write a 750-word paper and present a research project on a selected conflict, from within a war and society approach.