Course ID: | INTL 8230. 3 hours. |
Course Title: | International Conflict |
Course Description: | Major theories of international conflict. The objective is to explore the logical and empirical foundations for the key hypotheses linking systemic, structural, coalitional, and individual factors to decisions regarding war and peace. Also, introduces the different types of methodologies currently used in the quantitative study of international relations. |
Oasis Title: | INTERNATL CONFLICT |
Duplicate Credit: | Not open to students with credit in POLS 6230 |
Semester Course Offered: | Not offered on a regular basis. |
Grading System: | A-F (Traditional) |
|
Course Objectives: | Students will gain an understanding about the conditions that
affect the prospects for war between nation-states. Various
factors at different levels of analysis (decision-making,
national, dyadic, and systemic) will be considered in an
attempt to understand why states go to war. In addition,
students will gain a deeper understanding of the historical
patterns, expansion, and outcomes of war. After taking this
course, the students will have a broad familiarity with the
theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of
international conflict and be able to apply this knowledge to
their own research agendas. |
Topical Outline: | I. STUDYING WAR
A. The Logic of Inquiry
B. Identifying Wars and Other Armed Conflicts
C. Historical Patterns
II. DECISION-MAKING APPROACHES
A. Rational Choice and Expected Utility
B. Psychological Approaches
III. KEY FACTORS AT THE NATIONAL AND DYADIC LEVELS OF ANALYSIS
A. Regime Type: The Democratic Peace
B. Economic Factors
C. Geography
D. Alliances and Arms Races
E. Power Distribution
IV. SYSTEMIC INFLUENCES AND WAR
A. Polarity and Hegemony
B. Civilizational Rifts
V. OUTCOMES OF CONFLICT |