William E. DeMars
Chairman of the Department of Government


Govt. 345 - International Conflict
(The Changing Face of War)
Fall 2004 Syllabus


Prof. William DeMars
E-mail: demarswe@wofford.edu
Office: 216 Daniel
Phone: x4598
Office Hours: M/W/F 3:00 – 4:00 or by appointment

The Changing Face of War

This course will examine the changing face of warfare. In recent decades interstate war (between two or more countries) has become more rare, while other forms of war have become more frequent. The latter include insurgencies, mercenary and warlord conflicts, terrorism, use of American airpower, multilateral humanitarian intervention, and ethnic conflict and genocide.

Goals and Expectations
This course will be taught as a Writing Seminar, with emphasis on student research, writing, and presentations. Students will prepare a research paper (15-20 pages) in a series of steps through the semester, in consultation with the professor.

The final grade will be based 50% on two exams, 25% on the final paper, 15% on the steps toward the final paper (annotated bibliography, draft paper, and class presentation) and 10% on class participation.

Regular attendance is essential to success in this course, and is required. The class participation grade will include attendance and active engagement with all the aspects of the course. In addition to attendance as a component of the class participation grade, students missing three or more class sessions for any reason may be asked to withdraw from the course.

In accord with the college, we in this course are governed by the norms and procedures of The Honor Code of Wofford College.

Required Texts
One book is available at the bookstore. Other required readings will be made available by the Professor. In addition, students are expected to keep informed on current wars and conflicts by reading a regular (daily or weekly) international news source.

1. Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999).

 
Grading System
10% Participation
25% Final Paper
15% Steps toward the Final Paper
25% Midterm Exams
25% Final Exam

Plan of Study
(* indicates reading available from Professor)
Week 1: The Return of Interstate War?
T Sep 7 Introduction to Course
Th Sep 9 * Max Boot, “The New American Way of War,” NYT, 7/25/03.
* Michael Kelly, “The Air-Power Revolution,” Slow Squeeze,” and “The
American Way of War,” The Atlantic Monthly, April, May, and June, 2002.
Week 2 Insurgency and Counterinsurgency
T Sep 14 * John Baylis, “Revolutionary Warfare,” in Contemporary Strategy: Theory and
Concepts, John Baylis, Ken Booth, John Garnett, and Phil Williams, ed.
(London: Holmes and Meier, 1987).
Th Sep 16 * Anthony Clayton, Frontiersmen: Warfare in Africa since 1950 (London: UCL
Press, 1999): pp. 22-35, and 171-174 (two Algerian wars).
Week 3
T Sep 21 * U.S. Army Joint Low-Intensity Conflict Project. Final Report: Vol I, Analytical
Review of Low-Intensity Conflict (Fort Monroe, VA: TRADOC, 1 Aug., 1986).
Th Sep 23 Consultations on Paper Topics
Week 4: New and Old Wars
T Sep 28 Kaldor, Chapters 1 and 2, “Introduction,” and “Old Wars”
Th Sep 30 Kaldor, Chapter 3, “Bosnia-Herzegovina: A Case Study of a New War”
Week 5
T Oct 5 Wrap Up Day
Th Oct 7 Midterm Exam
Week 6:
T Oct 12 Kaldor, Chapter 4, “The Politics of New Wars”
Th Oct 14 Kaldor, Chapter 5, “The Globalized War Economy”
Week 7
T Oct 19 * R.T. Taylor, “The Insurgent Economy,” Black Market Operations of Guerrilla
Organizations,” Crime, Law, and Social Change, Vol. 20 (1993): 13-51.
Th Oct 21 * Reading on the warlordism TBA
Week 8: Multilateral Counterinsurgency and Democracy
T Oct 26 Kaldor, Chapters 6 and 7, “Toward a Cosmopolitian Approach,” and
“Governance, Legitimacy, and Security”
Th Oct 28 * Thomas R. Mockaitis, “What is to be done?”, Chapter 1, “Holding the Ring of
Entering the Fray, and Chapter 4, “The Former Yugoslavia,” from Peace
Operations and Intrastate Conflict (Preager, 1999).
Week 9:
T Nov 2 Bibliographic Essays Due, Consultations
Th Nov 4 * Thomas R. Mockaitis, Chapter 5, “Peace Operations and Intrastate Conflict:
Toward a New Paradigm.”
Week10: Al Qaeda
T Nov 9 * Excerpts from Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2002).
Th Nov 11 * Excerpts from Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda.
Week 11
T Nov 16 Student Presentations
Th Nov 18 Student Presentations
Week 12
T Nov 23 Student Presentations
Th Nov 25 Thanksgiving Holiday, No Class
Week 13
T Nov 30 * Jessica Stern, “The Protean Enemy,” Foreign Affairs, (Jul/Aug 2003): 27-40.
Th Dec 2 Insurgency in Iraq, TBA
Week 14
T Dec 7 TBA
Th Dec 9 Wrap Up Day
Final Exam: Wednesday, December 15, 2:00 - 5:00

Homepage for William E. DeMars

Last Update: April 23, 2005
demarswe@wofford.edu