Admission requirements
This course is designed for the minor Global Affairs. It is not possible to follow single courses of this minor. You need to be enrolled in Usis for the minor to be accepted to this course. There are 200 places open for registration, on a first come first serve basis, where LDE students are given priority.
This course is also open for inbound exchange students if they wish to take the entire minor Global Affairs; it is not possible to take single courses from this minor. Exchange students must be admitted by the FGGA International Office prior to the start of the minor; priority will be given to direct exchange partners of FGGA. For more information about the application procedure for exchange students, please contact the FGGA International Office at international@fgga.leidenuniv.nl.
Description
The aim of this course is to provide students with a BA level knowledge of the political and military debates surrounding contemporary humanitarian intervention and international peace operations. The role that military deployments can play in protecting human rights in cases of genocide and ethnic cleansing has been hotly disputed throughout the 1990s and beyond. This course will introduce students to some of the major contemporary debates within international peace operations literature and enable students to critically assess their strengths and limitations.
During this course, students will discuss various interventions in a globalised and changing world. The main questions will be: What kinds of humanitarian interventions have taken place in the last decades? What is the meaning of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect? What is the role of the United Nations and other international organisations? What is the potential role of the military instrument in effectuating humanitarian intervention?
This course will focus on three main types of interventions: peacekeeping, peace enforcement and post-conflict peacebuilding (statebuilding). Topics include the history and development of peace operations, theory development concerning peacekeeping, peace enforcement and statebuilding and critical analysis of recent peacekeeping and statebuilding missions that demonstrate the ongoing dialectic process between theory and doctrine development, and application and practical experience, thus highlighting the tension between ambition and the harsh realities of complex peacekeeping and statebuilding missions.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
To explain the evolution, politics and effectiveness of UN peacekeeping in the post-Cold War period
To explain the meaning, key characteristics and differences of the three main types of intervention: peace-keeping, peace enforcement and statebuilding
To explain how the reality of humanitarian interventions often frustrates achieving the political objectives of humanitarian interventions
To explain the role of the military instrument in such missions
To explain the (debates on the) utility of force in such contexts for both spoiler parties and the intervention force
To explain key arguments that exist within the political and academic debates that argue either for or against humanitarian intervention
Timetable
The timetable will be displayed with a link on the website, Brightspace and on the front page of this minor programme.
The schedule 2021 will be published asap.
Mode of instruction
The course will consist of lectures and guest lectures.
The total study load for this course is 140 hours, consisting of:
21 hours for attending lectures
119 hours studying the compulsory literature and working on assignments
Participation in lectures, discussions and exercises is required in order to obtain a grade. One lecture may be missed. Being absent more than once may likely lead to expulsion from the course.
Assessment method
Midterm exam
25% of total grade
Resit not possible
Grade must be compensated
Final Paper
75% of total grade
Resit possible
Resit will take the same form
Grade must be 5.50 or higher to pass the course
Students will be permitted to resit the 75% final paper if they have a calculated overall course grade lower than 5.50 or with permission of the Board of Examiners. The midterm exam needs to be compensated.
Late hand in penalty: 0,5 minus per day, and after seven days we do not accept papers any longer.
The Course and Examination Regulation Security Studies and the Rules and Regulation of the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs apply.
Reading list
TBA on Brightspace
Registration
Registration in uSis is possible from August 16th, after registration for the entire minor.
Register for every course and workgroup via uSis. Some courses and workgroups of the minor have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts).
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. Important information about the course is posted here.
After enrolment for the course in uSis you are also enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
Contact
globalaffairs@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
All sessions will be in English.
Papers need to be written in English.