COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST - POLI 631: CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACE STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

 UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

M.PHIL FIRST SEMESTER 2013-14: COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

POLI 631:  CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACE STUDIES

 

LECTURER: A. K. D. FREMPONG

This course is intended to get students to make in depth studies into various aspects of issues related to conflict, conflict resolution and peace. From an initial understanding of the basic concepts: conflict, conflict resolution and peace, detailed analysis of war, non-violent modes of conflict resolution (negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication/litigation), peace settlement, post-conflict peacebuilding and transitional justice will be made. As case study, ISRAEL-PALESTINE AND SUDAN will be examined for conflict intractability.

The course will follow the seminar format in which students will be allocated various topics and supporting literature for them to make presentations to be followed by class discussions.

1. UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT (Violent and Non-violent), CONFLICT RESOLUTION (prevention, management), AND PEACE (Positive &Negative) 

Mark R. Amstutz (1982) An Introduction to Political Science: The Management of Conflict, Dallas: Scott, Foresman and Co, Chapters 1, 2 & 16 

Albert F Eldridge (1979) Images of Conflict, New York: St Martin’s Press. 

David P.Barash &Charles P. Webel (2002) Peace and Conflict Studies, London: SAGE Publications, chps. 1 &2. 

David Carment &Albert Schnabel (2003) Conflict Prevention: Path to Peace or Grand Illusion, Tokyo/New York: UN University Press, chps. 1& 2

 

 2.   WAR 

Feargal Cochrane (2008) Endiing Wars, Cambridge: Polity Press, chp. 1 

David P.Barash &Charles P. Webel (2002) Peace and Conflict Studies, London: SAGE Publications, chps. 1, 3, 4,5 &6. 

Howard Adelman (2004) “Cultures of Violence”, in Tom Keating & W. Andy Knight, eds. Building Sustainable Peace, Tokyo/New York: UN University Press, chp. 14. 

Alexander Moseley (2006) “The Philosophy of War” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/w/war.htm 

H. Fielding Hall (1917) The Nature of War and its Causes, London: Hurst & Blackett. 

Steven R. Ratner (nd) “International vs. Internal Armed Conflict”, Crimes of War, http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/intl-vs-internal.htm

 

3. MODES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION (Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration, Adjudication/Litigation) 

Chester A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & Pamela Aall (2003) Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of  Managing International Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, chps. 24, 26, 30. 

Feargal Cochrane (2008) Endiing Wars, Cambridge: Polity Press, chps. 2 &3. 

M. Maiese (2003) “Negotiation”, Beyond Intractability, http://www,beyondintractability.org/essay/negotiation/ 

I. William Zartman (2008) “Negotiation and Conflict Resolution”, in Bercovitch, Kremenyuk and Zartman, eds, Sage Handbook of Conflict Resolution, London: Sage Publications. 

L. Ross & C.Stillinger (1991) “Barriers to Conflict Resolution”, Negotiation Journal, Vol. 8, pp. 389-404. 

J. Bercovitch (2004) “International Mediation and Intractable Conflict”, Beyond Intractability, http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/med_intractable_conflict/ 

J. Bercovitch (2007) “Mediation in the Most Resistant Cases”, in Crocker, Hampson and Aall, eds. Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, chp. 5, pp. 99-121. 

M. Kleiboer (1996) “Understanding Success and Failure of International Mediation”, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 40, No.2; pp, 360-389. 

C. A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & P. Aall (2004) Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases, Washington D. C: USIP Press, chp. 1. 

Christina Leb (2003) “Arbitration”, Beyond Intractability, http://www.beyondintractability.org/action/essay.jsp?id=26771&nid=1314 

Brad Spangler (2003) “Adjudication” Beyond Intractability, http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/adjudication

 

4.   PEACE SETTLEMENTS 

Chester A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & Pamela Aall (2003) Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of  Managing International Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, chps. 41, 43. 

Feargal Cochrane (2008) Endiing Wars, Cambridge: Polity Press, chp.  4. 

S. John Stedman, D. Rothchild &Elizabeth M. Coussens (2002) Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements, Boulder/London: Lynne Rienner, chps. 2, 8,9&20. 

Joseph Masciulli (2004) “From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace”, in Tom Keating & W. Andy Knight, eds. Building Sustainable Peace, Tokyo/New York: UN University Press, chp. 15. 

C. A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson and P. Aall (2004) “Recipes for Securing Settlement” and “Making Settlement Stick”, Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases, Washington D. C: USIP Press, Chps. 7 & 8, pp. 149-184. 

Carin Norberg & Cyril Obi, ed. (2007) Reconciling Winners and Losers in Post-Conflict Elections in West Africa: Political and Policy Imperatives, Uppsala: Nordic Africa institute (NAI) 

E. H. Bombande and Z. S. Takwa (2007) Ouagadougou Peace Accord: A Break-Through At Last? WANEP Policy Brief. 

K. D. Loetzer and A. Casper (2011) After the Presidential Election in Cote d’ Ivoire, KAS International Report

 

5.   POST-CONFLICT PEACEBUILDING 

Chester A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & Pamela Aall (2003) Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, chps. 42, 45, 46. 

Gerd Junne & Willemijn Verkoren (2005) “The Challenges of Postconflict Development”, in Junne & Verkoren, ed Postconflict Development: Meeting New Challenges, Boulder/London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, chp. 1. 

Tom Keating & W. Andy Knight (2004) “Introduction: Recent Developments in Postconflict Studies: Peacebuilding and Governance” in Keating & Knight, eds, Building Sustainable Peace, Tokyo/New York: UN University Press, pp. xxi-lxii. 

W. A. Knight (2004) “Conclusion: Peacebuilding Theory and Praxis” in Keating & Knight, eds, Building Sustainable Peace, Tokyo/New York: UN University Press, pp. 161-188. 

Adekeye Adebajo (2004) “West Africa’s Tragic Twins: Building Peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone”, in Keating & Knight, eds, Building Sustainable Peace, Tokyo/New York: UN University Press, pp. 355-382. 

Charles T. Call (2008) “Ending Wars, Building States”, in C. T. Call with V. Wyeth ed. Building States to Build Peace, Boulder/London: Lynne Rienner,  chp. 1, pp. 1-22.

 

6. TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE 

J. D. Oblin (2007) “On the Very Idea of Transitional Justice”, The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, Vol. VIII, No. 1, Winter/Spring, pp. 41-68. 

Alex Boraine (2005) “Transitional Justice” in S. Chesterman, M. Ignatieff & R. Thakur, eds. Making States Work: State Failure and the Crisis of Governance, Tokyo/New York: United Nations University Press, Chp. 15, pp. 318-338. 

Neil J. Kritz (1995) “The Dilemmas of Transitional Justice”, in Kritz, ed. Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes, USIP Press, pp. xix-xxx. 

Diane F. Orenticher (1995) “Settling Accounts: The Duty to Prosecute Human rights Violations in a Prior Regime” in Kritz, ed. Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes, USIP Press, pp. 375-416. 

Priscilla Hayner (2007) “Report: Negotiating Peace in Liberia: Preserving the Possibility of Justice, Geneva: Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) & International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). 

Priscilla B. Hayner (2002) “Why a Truth Commission?”, in Unspeakable Truths, New York/London: Routledge, Chapter 3, pp. 24-31. 

A.K. D. Frempong (2005) “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone”, Seminar Presentation in Transitional Justice, Flecther School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA, 6 April. 

 

7.   CASE STUDIES ON CONFLICT INTRACTABILITY  

C.A. Crocker, F.O Hampson & P. Aall (2007) “ Introduction: Mapping the Nettle Field” in Crocker, Hampson & Aall, eds, Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, pp. 3-30. 

Stephen Cohen (2007) Intractability and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” in C. A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & P. Aall, eds,  Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, pp. 343-355. 

Shibley Telhami (2007)  “Beyond Resolution? The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict” in C. A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & P. Aall, eds, Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, pp. 357-372 

J. S. Morrison & Alex de Waal (2007) “Can Sudan Escape its Intractability?” in C. A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson & P. Aall, eds, Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington D. C: USIP Press, pp. 161-182. 

M. O.Maundi, et al (2006) “Sudan: 1983-1993”, GETTING IN: Mediators’ Entry into the Settlement of African Conflicts, New York: USIP Press, chp. 6

GRADING

There will be a Continuous Assessment (30%) and an End-of-Semester Examination (70%)

The Continuous Assessment will be based on the papers presented at class seminars. The End-of –Semester Examination will be a three-hour paper consisting of five/six questions out of which students answer three (70marks)