Prospectus

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International Interventions in Conflicts: Balancing Peace and Justice

Course
2021-2022

Admission requirements

Only students of the MSc Crisis and Security Management programme can take this course.

Description

Can there be justice without peace? Can there be peace without justice? These questions have confronted states and communities alike as they sought to end civil wars. This course deals with how the ‘international community’ has sought to answer them as they engaged collectively in efforts to manage and resolve violent conflict.

Apart from the many other challenges that states and international organisations face as they intervene in a conflict – from stopping violence, to building a rule of law, sustainable peace, democracy, and many things in between – they often also encounter a situation where atrocities have been committed and the perpetrators occupy powerful roles. With the establishment of the International Criminal Court and other international criminal tribunals, the call to prosecute war criminals has increased. But at the same time, negotiators, conflict parties, and even victim populations, have argued that an uncompromising emphasis on criminal justice is prolonging conflicts and, thus, suffering. As the world continues to face violent conflict, the key dilemma therefore remains pertinent: How do we balance peace and justice?

In this course, students will become familiar with various perspectives on the relationship between peace and (criminal) justice, and how they might oppose or complement each other. We will address how policymakers have changed their approaches (or not) and how global expectations with regard to transitional justice have altered. We will also address the empirical evidence on the effect of international judicial interventions on peace, and discuss several case studies into how criminal prosecutions (allegedly) solidified or undermined peace in conflict-affected countries.

Course objectives

After the course, students will be able to:
1. Describe the background, trends, and effectiveness of international justice interventions in conflict
2. Develop an independent argument about the trade-offs involved in international justice interventions in conflict
3. Distinguish and evaluate the different debates on peace and justice in international interventions in conflict
4. Critically assess a number of key empirical manifestations of the balance between peace and justice in (post-)conflict settings
5. Critically evaluate different theoretical frameworks and methods in the study of peace, conflict and justice and apply these to different empirical examples

Timetable

On the right side of programme front page of the E-guide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.

Mode of instruction

Every class will consist of a combination of lectures in plenary, student presentations and group discussion around central questions in the syllabus. Several classes will feature breakout discussions and group assignments

Attendance is mandatory. Students are only allowed to miss one session if there are special, demonstrable personal circumstances. The Board of Examiners, in consultation with the study advisors, will decide on such an exceptional exemption of mandatory attendance.

Total study load: 140 hours

  • Lectures: 21 hours

  • Self-study: 119 hours

Assessment method

Students are not obliged to hand in an assignment at the first opportunity in order to make use of the re-sit opportunity. The re-sit assignment will test the same course objectives, but will be different in terms of topics, cases or substance.

Participation (10%)
Students are required to participate actively in the course by participating in discussions, either in class or on discussion boards. Grade can be compensated.

Reflection paper(s) & presentation (25%)
Students are assigned one or two weeks (depending on the number of students) in which they write a paper to reflect on the literature and topics of that week. Students will give a short presentation about this paper in class. Resit is not possible. Grade can be compensated.

Scenario role play (group assignment) (25%)
Students are asked to conduct a group exercise in class in which they ‘role play’ to game out a peace and justice-dilemma. They will write a joint paper in which they formulate a set of recommendations on how to solve this dilemma based on the class discussions. 25% of final grade. Resit not possible. Grade can be compensated.

Final paper (40%)
Students are asked to write a paper analysing a peace and justice-dilemma of their choosing, applying the insights and concepts they have learned during the course. Grade must be 5.50 or higher to pass the course. Resit possible

The calculated grade of the assignments must be at least 5.5 in order to pass the course.
If a student passed an assignment, it is not possible to participate in a re-sit in order to obtain a higher grade.

Reading list

A selection of books and articles, to be announced on Brightspace.

Registration

Register for every course and workgroup via uSis. Registration in uSis is possible from 7 March, 13.00h. Some courses and workgroups have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts). In uSis you can access your personal schedule and view your results.

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.
The corresponding Brightspace course will become available one week prior to the first seminar.

Contact

E-mail: t.j.a.buitelaar@fgga.leidenuniv.nl

Remarks