POLS404 Конфликти и войни в съвременния свят
Анотация:
CCOURSE SHORT DESCRIPTION:
The course will explore the changing character and patterns of contemporary conflicts and wars. Globalisation and the knitting together of the global economy have lifted a billion people out of poverty, helped businesses grow, and coincided with a period of peace between the great powers. However, it is faultless recently that the picture has another side: the same mutual interdependence that has brought the world together has also created new vulnerabilities and threats.
COURSE AIM AND ANNOTATION:
The course’s primary objective is to familiarise students with various forms and characteristics of contemporary international conflicts, emphasising on the challenges and opportunities arising from connectivity and asymmetrical use of geopolitical, geo-economic, and geo-strategic means.
The course will reflect the current most intensive political and academic discourses:
- The changing patterns of social, economic, international and military conflicts.
- The geopolitical perspective of the current armed conflicts and wars around the world through the examination of territorial, borders, identities, ideological, economic, and cultural dynamics.
- The connectivity between ideological, economic, infrastructure and institutional conflicts.
- The hybrid character of contemporary threats and conflicts.
Seminar readings will present the political, social, economic, historical, international and military factors that influence the dynamics of various types of conflicts and wars. Discussions will involve complex analyses of geopolitical, geo-economical, and geostrategic considerations in multiple cases.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this course, students should be able to (i) grasp and critically assess the character, ends, means, and complex implications of conflicts and wars in XXI Century; (ii) understand the multi-dimensional nature of the interaction between politics, economy, ideology and geography; (iii) evaluate future conflicts by applying a critical understanding of geopolitics, conflict and war. A permanent learning emphasis will be on the role of democracy in conflict prevention and resolution.
Students will also be able to apply a methodology of critical geopolitical analysis to contemporary international, transnational, and local conflicts; to discuss the new battlegrounds of migration, economy, infrastructure, trade and international organisations; and to debate the hybrid, cyber, drone, and other means of current and future armed conflict.
Преподавател(и):
Валери Рачев
Описание на курса:
Компетенции:
JOB OPPORTUNITIES: the obtained knowledge and skills could be applied in working as:
- Political scientist.
- Expert in international organisations as EU, NATO, UN, OSCE, and others.
- Business development strategist and consultant.
- A civil servant in diplomatic, defence and security sector institutions.
- Expert and consultant to political parties, institutions and leaders.
- Journalist and editor.
Предварителни изисквания:
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION: English
REQUIREMENTS: Students are not expected to know advanced theories of conflict and war before this course; the theoretical methods encountered in this course will always be applied through case discussions.
Форми на провеждане:
Редовен
Учебни форми:
Лекция
Език, на който се води курса:
Английски
Теми, които се разглеждат в курса:
Литература по темите:
RRecommended reference readings:
Huntington, S. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (NY: Simon & Shuster, 2003 edition) or Huntington, S. ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’ Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993. Available at http://users.metu.edu.tr/utuba/Huntington.pdf.
Owens, Mackubin Thomas, In Defense of Classical Geopolitics, Naval War College Review; Autumn 1999. Available at www.iwp.edu/docLib/20131016_OwensInDefenseofClassicalGeopolitics.pdf
Raik, K. and Sinikukka Saari (eds.) Key Actors in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood. Competing perspectives on geostrategic tensions (Helsinki: The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2016). Available at www.fiia.fi/assets/.../Report47_Key_Actors_in_the_EUs_Eastern_Neighbourhood.pdf
Kellner, D., Dialectics of Globalization: From Theory to Practice. Available at https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/.../2007_Kellner_DialecticsGlobaltoPrac07.pdf
Poirson, T. and Robert Oprisko, Caliphates and Islamic Global Politics (Bristol: E-International Relations Publishing, 2014). Available at www.e-ir.info/wp-content/uploads/.../Caliphates-and-Islamic-Global-Politics-E-IR.pdf
US National Intelligence Council, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. Available at https://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/global-trends-2030?highlight=WyJhbHRlcm5hdGl2ZSIsIndvcmxkcyIsImFsdGVybmF0aXZlIHdvcmxkcyJd
UK Ministry of Defence Global strategic Trends out of 2045. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-strategic-trends-out-to-2045
Recommended electronic journals and websites:
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/political-geography/
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fgeo20/current
http://www.exploringgeopolitics.org/
http://toal.org/critgeo/
http://www.e-ir.info/
http://www.david-campbell.org/
http://www.eurasianet.org/
Средства за оценяване:
To complete the course successfully, the students must have a positive passing grade (at least 3) for each of the four requirements. The overall grade will be a summary of the four weighted assessments.