Course Catalogue

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The course provides an advanced introduction to the incidence of armed conflict and warfare that have taken place across the former Soviet Union since 1991, with a focus on diverging outcomes in terms of war- and peace-making in the region.

The emergence, dynamics (war-making) and termination (peace-making) of armed conflicts are critical to understanding the complex process of state- and nation-building in the former Soviet Union. Starting with violent secessionist conflicts in the Caucasus region and Moldova and extending our analysis to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, this course will provide students with the contemporary context essential to understanding post-Soviet politics, economies and societies in times of war and beyond.

This course draws theoretical insights from International Security, Sociology and Military & Defence Studies to equip students with analytical lenses necessary to understand why wars occur in the region and how these armed confrontations are resolved. Were post-Soviet armed conflicts unavoidable? What do these conflicts have in common? How have the incidence of wars in post-Soviet space evolved and transformed over the past three decades? Which strategies and approaches to peace-making were implemented across the region and how effective they were? These questions will guide much of seminar discussions throughout the course.

Weekly 2-hour seminar over 10 weeks.

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Students will be required to write one essay of 3500 (50%) words, a policy briefing report of recommended 1500 words (30%), and in-class 10-minute oral presentation (20%). In larger classes these presentations maybe undertaken in pairs.

Adjustments and/or alternative modes of assessment will be available for students with disabilities that hinder attendance and/or public speaking

This course aims to provide a grounding in the contemporary warfare and peace-making in post-Soviet region. Students will analyse the role of military strategy, political and military objectives in shaping the dynamics of war, subsequent 'frozen conflicts' and peace in the former Soviet Union since 1991. The module will provide broad perspectives from across the former Soviet Union, departing from the Russia-centric analysis of war and peace in the region. To facilitate this, the course aims to:

■ provide students with an opportunity to utilize theoretical frameworks and empirical data to investigate emergence, development and outcomes of wars in the region.

■ engage students with an advanced understanding of the dynamics of armed conflicts in the region connected with the issues of political violence, state- and nation-building in the context of International Relations and International Security.

■ enable students to examine the interplay of the region's conflicts and development with international politics.

■ evaluate the role of strategy, resources and capacity in the context of post-Soviet wars

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ critically engage with and apply theories of warfare and peace-making

■  evaluate the impact of armed conflicts on state- and nation-building, and foreign policy

■ identify and critically appraise the impact of different foreign actors on war- and peace-making

■ understand how post-Soviet wars differ in temporal and spatial dimensions

■  develop critical thinking skills through report-writing and oral presentations

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.