Syllabus
Week 1. Class overview and political realism (4.10.2023)
Optional:
· Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics chs. 3-5
Week 2. Power transitions (11.10.2023)
Required:
· Tammen, Kugler, and Lemke, “Foundations of Power Transition Theory” (57 pages)
Optional:
· Kim and Gates, “Power Transition Theory and the Rise of China” (8 pages)
Student Leaders: Johannes, Paolo D.
Week 3: Liberalism (18.10.2023)
Required:
· Simpson, “Making Liberal Use of Kant? Democratic Peace Theory and Perpetual Peace” (19 pages)
Optional:
· Russett and ONeal, Triangulating Peace chs. 2-5
Student Leaders: N/A
Week 4: Psychological and biological approaches (25.10.2023)
Required:
· Levy, “Loss Aversion, Framing, and Bargaining: The Implications of Prospect Theory for International Conflict” (17 pages)
· Leblanc, “The Origins of Warfare and Violence” (19 pages)
Student Leaders: N/A
Week 5: Rationalist and bargaining approaches (1.11.2023)
Required:
· Reiter, “Exploring the Bargaining Model of War” (16 pages)
· Fearon, “Rationalist Explanations for War” (35 pages)
Assignments: Annotated bibliography due Friday 5 pm
Student Leaders: Elisa, Ken
Week 6: Geography, territory, and conflict (8.11.2023)
Required:
· Toft, “Territory and War” (14 pages)
· Cox, “The Razor ’s Edge: A Review of Contiguity in Conflict Studies and an Argument for Redefining Neighbors” (23 pages)
Student Leaders: Maële, Davide, Maria C.N.
Week 7: History and conflict (15.11.2023)
Required:
· Crescenzi, “Reputation and International Conflict” (15 pages)
· Thompson, “Principal Rivalries” (29 pages)
Optional:
· Goertz and Diehl, “The Initiation and Termination of Enduring Rivalries: The Impact of Political Shocks” (23 pages)
Student Leaders: Shirsha, Elisabeth
Week 8: Civil wars and insurgency (22.11.2023)
Required:
· Dixon, “What Causes Civil Wars? Integrating Quantitative Research Findings” (29 pages)
· Denny and Walter, “Ethnicity and Civil War” (14 pages)
Optional:
· Kathman, “Civil War Contagion and Neighboring Interventions” (24 pages)
Assignments: Literature review due Friday 5 pm
Student Leaders: Francesca, Mejra, Vadym
Week 9: Alliances (29.11.2023)
Required:
· Leeds, “Do Alliances Deter Aggression? The Influence of Military Alliances on the Initiation of Militarized Interstate Disputes” (13 pages)
· Morrow, “Alliances and Asymmetry: An Alternative to the Capability Aggregation Model of Alliances” (30 pages)
Optional:
· Leeds, “Alliance Reliability in Times of War: Explaining State Decisions to Violate Treaties” (27 pages)
Student Leaders: Gabriella, Sonja
Week 10: War outcomes (6.12.2023)
Required:
· Biddle, Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle chs. 1-4 (77 pages)
Student Leaders: Pinja, Sophia, Anna-Mariia
Week 11: Securing the peace (13.12.2023)
Required:
· Lo, Hashimoto, and Reiter, “Ensuring Peace: Foreign-Imposed Regime Change and Postwar Peace Duration, 1914-2001” (19 pages)
Optional:
· Fortna, “Scraps of Paper? Agreements and the Durability of Peace” (65 pages)
Student Leaders: Basile, Alejandra
Week 12: The future of war (20.12.2023)
Required:
· Gleick and Shimabuku, “Water-Related Conflicts: Definitions, Data, and Trends from the Water Conflict Chronology” (12 pages)
· Akoto, “Accountability and Cyber-Conflict: Examining Institutional Constraints on the Use of Cyber Proxies” (22 pages)
Optional:
· Valeriano and Maness, “The Dynamics of Cyber Conflicts between Rival Antagonists, 2001-2011” (14 pages)
Student Leaders: Jude, Diana, Donja
Assignments: Please note that the final installment of the project, the argument and research plan, is due 8.1.2023 by 5:00 pm.
NOTE: All texts available in this syllabus are for study purposes of this course only. They are protected by copyright and must not be further distributed.
Annotation
An exploration of the academic literature on the causes of war.