This course provides students with an introduction to the study of violent conflicts and efforts to build peace within states, a crucial topic given that over the last half century internal conflicts have levied a far greater human toll than interstate wars. In the first part of the course, students will be introduced to broad trends in the study of internal conflict and civil wars globally, including to theoretical debates about what causes such wars to begin, why they become entrenched and how they decline. In the second part of the course, attention turns to non-violence and peace-building inside states, including movements that challenge the state without violence, grassroots activism for peace, and the difficulties of truth and justice in post-conflict settings. Throughout the course, the empirical focus will be on states in Asia and the Pacific, with illustrative examples drawn from both major and minor internal conflicts across the region, and from related peacebuilding and civil society efforts.

On comleting the course students should be able to:

1. Possess a broad overview of theories about the rise, decline,  causes and varieties of internal conflicts, and of theories about non-violence and social movements that challenge conflict.

2. Apply these theories to particular country contexts, through empirical knowlege of important internal conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region, and of attempts to challenge and/or contain conflict in the region.

3. Possess an appreciation of the major trends in internal conflict  globally and in the Asia-Pacific region.

4. Express themselves clearly in verbal and written formats.

Tutorial participation 10%

Tutorial presentation 15%

Research essay 3000 words 40%

Examination 35%  (2 hours, 3 essay questions)

3 contact hours and 6 hours private study per week.

6 university courses (36 units).

No prior knowledge of the Asia-Pacific, Peace and Conflict Studies, or Political Science required.

Readings will be made available on Wattle.

Wattle