TOPICS: DIPLOMACY AND WAR in Spring 2019 (PO4091C)

This course will first analyze general theories related to the art of diplomacy, conflict resolution, crisis management, conflict transformation and prevention of war. It will then analyze the nature of intervention strategies and their consequences; negotiation and mediation techniques, as well as other diplomatic instruments to deal with conflict resolution; the institutions and regimes of security and conflict management, such as bilateral and multilateral negotiations, mediation, and Contact Groups, plus the diplomatic issues related to peace and state building.

Students will examine a number of post-Cold War case studies as they are discussed in the main texts and handouts. These include US-led military interventions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and diplomatic aspects of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, North-South Korea, Russia-Ukraine, US-Iran, China-Philippines, and the ongoing conflict in Syria. Other areas of focus include international diplomacy involving anti-state socio-political conflict, such as the so-called "managed" revolutions in South Africa, Philippines, Northern Ireland and Colombia. Students will choose one subject for study to write a 15-20 page term paper. The course will conclude with a discussion of the diplomatic dilemmas confronting the Trump administration.