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Special Course in International Conflict Resolution
Module 1, 7.5 ECTS
The course runs September 2010.
Responsible teacher:
Stellan Vinthagen [email protected]
(mobile phone 0704-763789)
Course content and objectives
International Conflict Resolution is an inter-disciplinary subject. The course
gives you a basic orientation in conflict resolution, mediation and peace
building. A main aim is to critically analyse research about and experiences of
international conflict resolution, and to apply theoretical literature on empirical
cases. The course specifically highlights the importance of long-term peace
building.
The course has two main components:
(1) conflict analysis
(2) conflict resolution (short term and long term)
To pass the course you need to participate actively in the case study group work
(including two oral case presentations), and hand in a report which you
write individually. Reading the course literature on your own is an
essential part of the course work. In the individual report, you need to
show that you have read and understood the course literature. The
lectures in the course are not mandatory, but serve an important
purpose providing the structure to the course and helping you to
understand the literature and hence be prepared for your case study
group work and individual report.
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Schedule
Please note that the most recent schedule can be found on the web at GUL:
Introduction to International Conflict Resolution IK1621. (or click
on ”GUL” under the headline “Student” at the bottom right corner
when you are at www.globalstudies.gu.se). Make it a habit to regularly
check this web site, since any changes will be announced there (for
instance there may be cancelled lectures, extra lectures, lecture hall
changes etc.).
Literature
The readings for the course consists of (a) a collection of articles, (b) reports and
articles which you download from the Internet or directly at the special course
site “GUL” (see below), and (c) the information that you yourself find and read
in connection with your case study.
The collection of articles will be sold in Lila’s office next to the student
administrator’s office at School of Global Studies. For information about where
to find information for case studies, see below (Resources).
It is absolutely essential that you thoroughly read all the literature listed below.
You will need it for your individual report, and as a tool for understanding the
case studies for the group work. Keep up with the reading from the beginning –
there is very little time towards the end of the course to catch up with readings
you have not done earlier!
The lectures do not provide a review of the literature, but aim to deepen,
contextualise and complement the literature. You are expected to have at least
looked at the literature before the lecture, and to read it within the same week of
the lecture.
The texts marked with * are part of a collection of articles sold at the university
the first week of class. Those marked with ¤ you have to download yourself
from the internet. Some of these are journal articles which demand special
access. You can reach these from a computer at the university or from another
computer if you have a Gothenburg University library card. If you have any
problems getting access to the articles, please contact Stellan
([email protected]). Two articles, marked with +, are
available at the GUL web site, in the folder called “Mandatory Articles”.
Lecture 1: Introduction to International Conflict Resolution
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An introduction to key debates and concepts in international conflict resolution.
*Fernando, Laksiri (2000): “Peace Studies” in Jayadeva Uyangoda (ed.):
Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies: An Introductory Handbook. University
of Colombo (9 p.)
Lecture 2: Contemporary violent conflicts
About the challenges for international conflict resolution
Stellan Vinthagen
¤Harbom, Lotta & Peter Wallensteen (2009): ”Armed Conflict, 1946–2008” in
Journal of Peace Research 46 (4). (11 p.) At:
http://jpr.sagepub.com.ezproxy.ub.gu.se/cgi/reprint/46/4/577
*Brown (2007): “New Global Dangers” in Chester Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson
& Pamela Aall (eds): Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a
Divided World. United States Institute of Peace Press (13 p.)
*Brown (2001): “Ethnic and Internal Conflicts” in Chester Crocker, Fen Osler
Hamson & Pamela Aall (eds): Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing
International Conflict. United States Institute of Peace Press (15 p.)
Lecture 3: Conflict analysis
What do we need to know to understand a violent conflict?
Stellan Vinthagen
*Wallensteen (2002): “Approaching Conflict Resolution”, in Understanding
Conflict Resolution: War, Peace and the Global System, London etc.: Sage (17
p.)
*Miall et al (1999): “Conflict Mapping and Conflict Tracking” in Contemporary
Conflict Resolution, Cambridge: Polity Press (3 p.).
¤
Stern & Nystrand (2006): Gender and Armed Conflict, READ PAGES 34-84
(50 p.). Download text at:
http://www.sida.se/Svenska/Om-oss/Publikationer/
Lecture 4: Basic theories and concepts in conflict resolution
Traditional and alternative perspectives on dealing with conflict as contending
theories.
Stellan Vinthagen
*Miall et al (1999): “Introduction to Conflict Resolution” in Contemporary
Conflict Resolution, Cambridge: Polity Press (18 p.).
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Miall, Hugh (2004): “Conflict Transformation: A Multi-Dimensional Task” in
Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation. (17 p.) At:
http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/miall_handbook.pdf
¤
Kriesberg (2001): “The Development of the Conflict Resolution Field”, (20 p.)
Available at:
http://www.juniata.edu/faculty/cookhu/WEBCT/Intervention/K2.doc
¤
Lecture 5: Structural violence: Justice versus peace in international conflict
resolution
The role of power, rights and needs in conflicts and peaceful solutions.
Stellan Vinthagen
Galtung, Johan (1969): “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research” in Journal of
Peace Research, vol. 6, no. 3 (25 p.), available at
¤
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.ub.gu.se/stable/422690
¤
Gurr, Ted Robert (2000): “Nonviolence in Ethnopolitics: Strategies for the
Attainment of Group Rights and Autonomy” in PS: Political Science & Politics.
(6 p.) http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/NonviolenceEthnopolitics-Gurr.pdf
+
Woodhouse (1999) “International Conflict Resolution: Some Critiques and a
Response”, Working paper, University of Bradford (on “GUL”). (27 p.)
Lecture 6: Interventions in armed conflicts: The international system and
conflict resolution
Niklas Lantz
*Freedman, Lawrence (2007): “Using Force for Peace in an Age of Terror” in
Chester Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson & Pamela Aall (eds): Leashing the Dogs of
War: Conflict Management in a Divided World. United States Institute of Peace
Press (17 p.)
¤
Jentleson, Bruce W. (2007): “America’s Global Role after Bush” in Survival,
49(3). (16 p.) At:
http://scholar.google.se/scholar?hl=sv&q=Jentleson+Bruce+%22America%E2%
80%99s+Global+Role+after+Bush%22+Survival
*Hoffmann, Stanley (2001): “The Debate about Intervention” in Chester
Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson & Pamela Aall (eds): Turbulent Peace: The
Challenges of Managing International Conflict. United States Institute of Peace
Press (10 p.)
Lecture 7: Practical experiences of conflict resolution: Peace Activism in
Israel/Palestine
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Gabriella Engell-Nielsen
*Van Tongeren et al (2005): “People Building Peace: Key Messages and
Essential Findings” in People Building Peace, Boulder/London: Lynne Reinner
(10 p.).
¤
Fischer, Martina (2006): “Civil Society in Conflict Transformation:
Ambivalence, Potentials and Challenges” in Berghof Handbook for Conflict
Transformation. (25 p.) At: http://www.berghofhandbook.net/uploads/download/fischer_cso_handbook.pdf
¤
Ropers (2004): “From Resolution to Transformation: The Role of Dialogue
Projects” in Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation (12 p.). At:
www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/ropers_handbook.pdf
Killick, Nick, VS Srikantha, Canan Gündüz (2005): “The Role of Local
Business in Peacebuilding” in Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation.
At:
¤
http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/killick_etal_handbook.pdf
Lecture 8: Social movements and peacebuilding
About how popular mobilisations over time might change social structures and
systems that sustain injustice and protracted conflict.
Stellan Vinthagen xx
*Chabot & Vinthagen (2007) “Rethinking Nonviolent Action and Contentious
Politics in Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change. (30 p.)
+
Johansen (2007) “Waves of Nonviolence and the New Revolutionary
Movements” (40 p.) (on the course web “GUL”).
Lecture 9: Long-term peace building
About development and peace, post-war reconstruction and reconciliation.
Camilla Orjuela
*Ball (2001): “The Challenge of Rebuilding War-Torn Societies” in Chester
Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson & Pamela Aall (eds): Turbulent Peace: The
Challenges of Managing International Conflict. United States Institute of Peace
Press (15 p.)
¤
Pankhurst, Donna (1999): “Issues of justice and reconciliation in complex
political emergencies: conceptualising reconciliation, justice and peace” in Third
World Quarterly, 20(1) (17 p.) At:
http://scholar.google.se/scholar?hl=sv&q=Pankhurst+Donna+%22Issues+of+jus
tice+and+reconciliation+in+complex+political+emergencies%22&btnG=S%C3
%B6k
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*Meintjes, Pillay & Turshen (2001): “There Is No Aftermath for Women” in
The Aftermath: Women in Post-Conflict Transformation, Zed Books. (16 p.)
*Richmond, Oliver (2005): “Conceptualising Peace” in The Transformation of
Peace. Palgrave (19 p.).
Lecture 10: Rebels, presidents and ordinary people: Actors, interests and
solutions to armed conflicts
Camilla Orjuela
*Lederach, John Paul (2001): “Identifying Key Actors in Conflict Situations” in
Luch Reychler & Thania Paffenholz (eds.): Peacebuilding: A Field Guide.
Lynne Rienner Publisher. (11 p.)
¤
Zartman, I William (2001): “The Timing of Peace Initiatives: Hurting
Stalemates and Ripe Moments” in The Global Review of Ethnopolitics
1 (1). (9 p.) At:
www.ethnopolitics.org/ethnopolitics/archive/volume_I/issue_1/zartman.pdf
¤
Bächler, Günter (2004): ”Conflict Transformation through State Reform” in
Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation. (17 p.) At
http://www.berghof-handbook.net/uploads/download/baechler_handbook.pdf
¤
Barnes, Catherine (2002): Owning the process: mechanisms for political
participation of the public in peacemaking. Conciliation Resources. (16 p.) At:
http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/public-participation/documents/OwningProcess.pdf
* Uyangoda, Jayadeva (2000): “Negotiations in Conflicts” in Jayadeva
Uyangoda (ed.): Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies: An Introductory
Handbook. University of Colombo (10 p.)
¤
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and
Security (3 p.). At http://www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/res1325.pdf
The case study group work
The purpose of the case study group work is to gain in-depth knowledge about
conflict dynamics, conflict resolution and peace building in a particular case.
The case is used to facilitate the understanding of broader theoretical issues
brought up in the lectures and the literature. The two oral presentations will
enable us to learn also about the cases other groups are working on. The work
with the case study takes its point of departure in what you learn in the lectures
and the literature.
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Groups will be formed of four to five persons. The groups will study violent (or
potentially violent) political conflicts in different parts of the world. The cases
are:
• South Africa (apartheid)
• Sweden (Sami people)
• India-Pakistan
• Chechnya
• Nigeria (Islamists)
• Bolivia
• Iraq
• Burma
There is time scheduled for work in the groups (normally twice a week), but the
groups are expected to choose additional time on their own if needed. You are
free to meet with your group at other times or places of your choice as long as
everyone in the group agrees.
Each group will have maximum 20 minutes for their presentation. After each
presentation there will be 10-15 minutes discussion. Please prepare carefully for
the presentation, so that you manage to keep the time. For each presentation, the
group should prepare a hand-out and/or power-point presentation which conveys
the most important messages (in bullet-points or as key words). Try to make
your presentation as clear and structured as possible, so that your classmates can
easily follow it. The purpose of this exercise is mainly to learn to understand
conflict analysis and conflict resolution, so do not worry too much about
perfectly learning every detail about your conflict. During the group
presentation, the listeners will be asked to think of the differences and
similarities between their own conflict and the conflict presented. This will be
discussed after each presentation.
Group presentation 1: Conflict analysis
The first task is to make a conflict analysis of your case with the help of the
analytical tools given in the literature and lectures. Present actors (at least eight
actors need to be identified!), issues, relevant power relations, structural factors,
conflict phases and historical background of the conflict. What are the main
causes of the conflict? What are the main challenges for conflict resolution? In
what ways does gender matter for the conflict?
Group presentation 2: Conflict resolution
The second group work task is to look at conflict resolution:
What attempts have been made to solve the conflict(s)? What made the attempt
possible, and what were the results? Which actors were involved and what were
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their interests? Who supported the peace attempt and who tried to spoil it? What
does peace mean to different actors?
Analyse short term and long term aspects of conflict resolution: What are the
short term issues that need to be dealt with? What is needed to achieve a
solution which is sustainable in the long run? Is there a contradiction between
the need to end violence and the need to end injustice?
Written individual report
The grading will be based on your active participation in the case study group
work (preparation in the group and two presentations for the rest of the class +
the hand-out/power point) and the individual written report.
In the individual report, you make use of the case you have been studying, to
discuss the course literature. You hence can start preparing for your report
already from the beginning of the course.
Questions for the individual report:
Choose two of the following questions to answer:
(a) What are the main causes for violent conflicts, according to the literature?
What are the structural causes for armed conflict and what sustains it? How well
does the literature explain the causes and dynamics of the conflict which you
have studied? Give examples of aspects taken up in the literature and how they
correspond with your case!
(b) What do we learn from the literature about the roles of different actors in
conflict resolution? Who should be involved in conflict resolution attempts?
Who should not? Why? Give examples from your case of different actors and
their role in conflict resolution. Don’t forget the gender aspect: What are the
roles of women in conflicts and conflict resolution – according to the literature,
and in your case?
(c) Discuss the concepts “peace” and “justice” and the tension between them.
Refer to the discussions in the course literature. What are the interests behind
defining peace and/or justice in a certain way? What are the implications for
conflict resolution and long-term peacebuilding?
How is peace and justice defined by different actors in your particular case? Is
there a tension between them? In what way?
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(d) What are the most important challenges for long-term peacebuilding in
countries that have gone through a violent conflict? Use the course literature and
your own case to map out and discuss the different issues that need to be dealt
with to achieve sustainable peace.
Everyone has to answer the following question:
(e) Select two articles from the course literature (which you have not already
discussed in the earlier questions). Use your knowledge from the case study to
critically discuss the usefulness of the articles. What in these articles do you find
helpful for understanding and/or dealing with the conflict? What is not helpful
or even problematic? Why?
You will thus answer 3 questions in total (two that you choose plus question e).
Use about 2 pages to reply to each question. The maximum length of your report
is 8 pages (single space, size 12). Reports longer than 8 pages will not be read!
The main purpose of the report is to reflect over and discuss the course
literature. The grading will be based on how well you understand the course
literature – not on how much you know about your specific case. The course
literature consists of 32 texts. To pass the course, you need to refer to and/or
discuss a minimum of 16 of these texts.
You need to give clear reference to the texts in the course literature. When you
use facts, arguments or quotes from the literature (or from other sources), write
the author and possibly the page number in a parenthesis (Lederach, p. 147) or
in a footnote.
Please note that plagiarism is not tolerated. Copying other people’s work (even
a few sentences) without using quotation marks and properly referring to it can
cause you to be blocked from further studies at the university. You may want to
collaborate and discuss your report with your fellow students – but you have to
submit your own text, not copy from your friends.
The grading will follow the Swedish system. The Swedish grades only have VG
(Väl Godkänd), G (Godkänd) and U (Underkänd) which means Pass with
distinction (VG), Pass (G) and Fail. These are based on how much you have
achieved in the course. When grading, we value good analysis, demonstration of
good understanding of the main arguments in the literature, ability to apply it to
your case, and ability to critically discuss and draw reasonable conclusions from
the literature and the case. To get a G you need to show in your report that you
have read and understood the literature and been able to use it to discuss your
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case. VG will be given to those who in addition to this are able to do a good
analysis of their own and show excellent understanding of the literature and the
case. Those who do not manage to pass the course will get an email with a
complementary task. To pass the course you also need to have participated
actively in the group work and presentations.
Resources
Use the Internet to find information about your case conflict. Below are some
suggestions.
Information about different countries/conflicts:
The World Fact Book, CIA (easily
accessible and updated facts, brief
description of conflicts)
BBC (latest news, but also good
background material, time lines etc.)
Google Scholar (academic texts;
search your country or conflict in
combination with key words such as
“peace building”, “war”, “conflict
resolution”. Some texts can only be
accessed through the university
library)
International Crisis Group (short
backgrounds, reports on current events
in most violent conflicts)
Uppsala University Conflict Database
(info about conflict developments and
peace initiatives, year-based)
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
Kriegsursachenforschung
(AKUF): Hamburg Conflict Database
(if you understand German...)
Swisspeace Foundation (quick
updates, reports on some conflicts)
University of Maryland: Minorities at
Risk Project (MAR) (Risk assessments
and analytical summaries on
https://www.cia.gov/library/publication
s/the-world-factbook/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
www.scholar.google.com
http://www.icg.org
http://www.pcr.uu.se/database/
http://www.akuf.de
http://www.swisspeace.ch/typo3/en/cou
ntries/index.html
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/mar/
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minorities)
Heidelberg Institute on International
Conflict Research (HIIK): Conflict
Barometer (reports on conflict trends)
SIPRI: Facts on International
Relations and Security Trends
(FIRST) (access to a number of data
bases)
Conciliation Resources: Accord Series
(well-informed magazine, good links
to some conflicts)
Relief Web. Humanitarian information
on complex emergencies and natural
disasters.
Insight on Conflict. About local peace
organisations.
Al Jazeera. News.
http://www.hiik.de/en/konfliktbaromete
r/index.html
http://first.sipri.org/
http://www.c-r.org/ourwork/accord/index.php
www.reliefweb.int
http://www.insightonconflict.org/
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Web site on conflict resolution issues in general:
Berghof Handbook on Conflict
Resolution (on-line book with
background papers and current
debates)
Conflict Resolution Info (good
info about concepts and issues in
conflict resolution)
Beyond Intractability (good info
about concepts and issues in
conflict resolution)
Collaborative for Development
Action (CDA) (on aid and
conflict + on peace work)
International Conflict Research
(INCORE)
Transcend: A peace and
development organization for
conflict transformation by
peaceful means (news and
analysis)
UNIFEM portal on Women,
http://www.berghofhandbook.net/std_page.php?LANG=e&id=11
http://www.crinfo.org/
http://www.beyondintractability.org
http://www.cdainc.com
http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/
http://www.transcend.org/
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/
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Peace and Security
International Centre of Nonviolent Conflict
The Peace Media Clearinghouse.
A collection of audio and visual
resources, e.g. interesting
documentaries.
http://www.nonviolent-conflict.com/
http://peacemedia.usip.org/multimedia
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