TOPICS: DIPLOMACY OF WAR & SOCIAL CONFLICT in Spring 2020 (PO5091B)

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. Emphasis will be given on the need for local, regional and international diplomacy to moderate or possibly resolve/ transform conflicts. Students will select post-Cold War case studies to analyze for their success or failure to resolve disputes and conflicts. These can include diplomatic aspects of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, North-South Korea, Russia-Ukraine, US-Israel-Saudi Arabia-Iran, China-Philippines, and conflicts in Yemen and Syria. Other areas of focus can 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 read the entire text of Contemporary Conflict Resolution and will select chapters from The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy (online in library) to discuss in class. The course will conclude with a discussion of World War Trump and the diplomatic dilemmas confronting the Trump administration and beyond. Students will choose one subject involving diplomacy to write a 15-20 page term paper and present an in-class Power Point presentation on their subject of choice.