Aims
This course aims to:
• develop your understanding of the complex causes of war
• appreciate the different meanings of the concept of peace
• assess the benefits and perils of intervention in situations involving violent conflict
• understand the difficulties and opportunities involved in achieving reconciliation after violent conflict
Content
Peace is not just when the fighting stops. Events like Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, the current wars in the Middle East and Sudan, as well as the many civil wars of the past few decades, are not simple conflicts, but wars triggered by complex causes. People distressed by the suffering they see, through news and social media, pressurise politicians to do something. Yet even well-meaning interventions can just make matters worse. This course will explore the different meanings of the word ‘peace’, causes and impact of interstate and intrastate war, and what issues arise when outsiders intervene in civil wars.
We will start by placing the study of war and peace in today’s context, where wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have brought the concept of geopolitics back into public discourse. In this context, is aiming for peace simply a pipe dream? Why bother?
We will first look at the geopolitical situation of the moment and explore different paths to a more stable future. We will consider the morality of going to war and ways of regulating the conduct of those who make war, focusing on the ancient Just War tradition. As we look at the causes of violent conflict, we will try to grapple with complexity and recognise the different ways people understand the term ‘peace’.
After establishing this foundation, we will move on to the question of intervention in the complex systems that wars represent. With an emphasis on civil wars, we will examine the motivation of outsiders who intervene and the goals they pursue, especially that of bringing about a peaceful outcome. This will lead us into considering the different ways in which wars come to an end and the form of the resulting peace, followed by a brief history of the academic fields of International Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies. The history will draw out some of the ideas that have developed along the way and the conceptual ground will allow us to consider the spectrum of activities undertaken by those who try to bring violent conflict to an end.
After considering the hybridity of warfare through specific examples, including terrorism and cyberwar, we will finish up with the most challenging question of all: how reconciliation can be achieved.
Presentation of the course
The course will be delivered via illustrated lectures and group discussions. No prior knowledge or experience is required, but you are asked to undertake the pre-course reading listed below before coming to Cambridge.
Course sessions
1. Introduction: is peace even possible? The return of geopolitics
In the contexts of the Ukraine war and Gaza, we will examine hybrid warfare, options for returning to stability, different interpretations of the word 'peace', and the identities and objectives of those who (claim to) seek it.
2. Can war be just?
We will examine the development and current relevance of the ancient Just War tradition, lying somewhere on the spectrum between 'war is wrong' and 'anything goes' and forming the foundation of the modern law of armed conflict.
3. What's war about?
This session will focus on the complex causes of war.
4. Intervention: why, whether, who, how?
We will examine the motivations that lie behind military and civilian intervention in conflict situations. Considering such situations as complex systems, we will use examples of external civil war interventions from recent decades to draw out conclusions about what works and what doesn't.
5. How wars end
Post-war settlements influence the sustainability of the subsequent ‘peace’. We will consider the ways in which world wars, civil wars and the Cold War have ended, with the implications for subsequent stability.
6. A brief history of studying peace
Thinking about peace dates back at least to ancient Greece, but we will focus on the current academic fields of International Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies and identify the ideas of some key thinkers over the past seventy years or so.
7. Building stability, making peace
This session looks at the spectrum of different forms of peace-making, including peacekeeping, 'peace enforcement', state-building and peacebuilding.
8. Terrorism as war
International terrorism is an often-effective form of asymmetric warfare. In this session, we will consider where terrorism and counterterrorism sit in the field of warfare and whether one can ever talk of peace in this context.
9. Cyberwar, cyberpeace?
Increasingly, cyberspace is the ‘final frontier’ of political contestation. But is this war? We will consider how actors pursue their goals, including peace, in the interconnected digital environment.
10. Conclusion: approaching reconciliation
As we look at the influence of history, education, symbols, apology and forgiveness, we will consider what has helped different societies to come closer to this most challenging goal.
Learning outcomes
You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.
The learning outcomes for this course are:
• to analyse the causative factors involved in violent conflict
• to distinguish between different interpretations of ‘peace’ and their impact on the form
of intervention
• to apply Just War criteria to crisis intervention
• to better understand the news coverage of current conflicts and proposed solutions
• to contribute constructively and in a balanced way to discussion about war and peace
Required reading
Dixon, Peter, and Simmons, Mark, ‘The role of track two initiatives’, in Peace by piece: Addressing Sudan’s conflicts (Accord 18), pp, 60-63, (Conciliation Resources 2006)
Download free from https://www.c-r.org/accord/sudan
Lanoszka, Alexander, ‘Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe’ (International Affairs 92 (1), 2016, pp, 175–195)
Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290507166_Russian_hybrid_warfare_and_extended_deterrence_in_eastern_Europe
Note that this was written before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ramsbotham, Alexander and Yousuf, Zahbia ‘Making peace with the past: transforming
broken relationships’, in Transforming broken relationships: Making peace with the past (Accord Insight 3), (Conciliation Resources 2016)
Download free from https://www.c-r.org/accord/reconciliation-and-peace-processes
