DEPARTMENT
OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
POLI
347: INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT, CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
COURSE
OUTLINE AND READING LIST: FIRST SEMESTER OF 2015/16 SESSION
INSTRUCTOR: Kumi Ansah-Koi Lecture
Sessions: Legon Campus: Mondays: 1730-1920 hours @ JQB 09
Accra City Campus: Fridays: Check up at
the ACC for exact time.
Course Overview and Objectives
This
Course is a sequel to the Introduction to
International Politics course done at Level 200. It particularly focuses on
the international scene and international conflicts, on the possible resolution
of those conflicts, and on human rights as an issue in international relations.
The Course aims at offering students a deeper understanding of international
relations; and a better appreciation of the complexities and dynamics relating
particularly to human rights and conflicts in international relations.
Students
should be regular and punctual in their class attendance. Classes would be
interactive. Tutorial classes are compulsory in the Political Science
department; and are especially relevant and helpful in this Course. Students
would be required to keep abreast with current developments on the
international scene. The readings listed here are basic and introductory. More
would be highlighted in class. Much of the required readings for the Course are
available on the internet; accessibility should therefore not be a
problem. Enjoy the Course.
1.
The International
Setting and its Actors:
a) Origins and Nature/Features
of the international setting
b) Identification of
the Actors in International Relations
c) Distinction between
the International /Foreign and the Internal/Domestic; and also between the
Sub-National, National, and the Trans-National. The increasingly blurred nature of that
distinction.
2. International
Conflicts: What they are, Nature, Types/Manifestation, and Case Studies. Basic
Concepts in Peace/Conflict Studies: Incompatibility, Parties, Issues, Conflict
Behaviour, Conflict Environment, Conflict Dynamics, Hostility, Antagonism, etc.
3. The
UN System and International Conflicts.
4. Conflict
Resolution in International Relations.
(a) Comparative Study of
various mechanisms for Conflict Resolution. We would focus, for example, on
such mechanisms as Diplomacy/Negotiations/Mediation, Resort to Force of Arms or
Violence, Arbitration, International Law, Judicial Bodies like the International
Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, Arbitration, and the
like.
(b) Distinction between
Conflict Prevention/Aversion, Conflict Management, Conflict Resolution, and
Post-Conflict Peace-Building/Making. We would as well focus on such incidental
issues as Peace Support Operations, DDRR, Transitional Justice, and the like.
5.
Regional/Sub-Regional
Organizations and International Conflicts/Human Rights: Case Studies of the
African Union, ECOWAS, and the European Union
6.
Human Rights in the
International Context (since World War Two).
(a) World War Two and
emergence of the notion of human rights in international relations
(b) Human rights: What
they are
(c) State Obligations
regarding Human Rights
(d) Human Rights in
contemporary international relations
(e) Emergence of the
notion of Crimes against Humanity; and the aftermath.
7.
The International
Bill of Human Rights
8.
International
Humanitarian Law
9. Course
Review/Conclusions
Basic Readings/Documents/Treaties:
Sandy Ghandhi, Blackstone’s
Statutes International Human Rights Documents, 6th edition, Oxford University Press, 2008
Erskine Childers with Brian
Urquhart,
Renewing the United Nations System, Uppsala, Sweden,
Quentin
Gausset, Michael A. Whyte, and Torden Birch-Thomsen (eds), Beyond Territory and
Scarcity. Exploring Conflicts Over Natural Resource Management, Stockholm, 2005
Charter
of the United Nations
Statute
of the International Court of Justice
International Bill of Human
Rights:
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Optional
Protocol 1 to the ICCPR
Optional
Protocol 11 to the ICCPR
Convention
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Convention
on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Convention
Against Torture
Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action
International Humanitarian Law
Geneva
Convention 1: Wounded and Sick
Geneva
Convention 11: Armed Forces at Sea
Geneva
Convention 111: Prisoners of War
Geneva
Convention IV: Civilians
Protocol
1 to the Geneva Conventions: International Conflicts
Protocol
11 to the Geneva Conventions: Internal Conflicts
African Charter on Human Rights
and People’s Rights
Final Act of the Conference on
Security and Co-operation in Europe
Constitutive Act of the African
Union
Lewis
Coser, The Functions of Social Conflict,
New York: Free Press, 1956
Deng
and Zartman (eds.), Conflict Resolution
in Africa, Washington DC: The Brookings Institution.
Sage Handbook of Conflict
Resolution, London:
Sage Publications
C
A Crocker, F O Hampson, & P Aall
(eds.), Grasping the Nettle: Analysing
Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington DC: USIP Press..
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