FVPAA044 Conflicts, International Organizations and Conflict Resolution

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Winter 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 8 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lukáš Vomlela, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Kateřina Janků, Ph.D.
Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Contact Person: Mgr. Jana Bortlíková
Prerequisites
Students are requested to make an oral presentation and to submit it´s written form. Beside the regular reading of literature, active participation in discussion is also expected.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is focusing on conflicts, particularly on ethnic conflicts, which emerged after World War 2. Course is introducing main ethnic conflict theories and approaches to conflict research. The main aim of the course is to explain the main aspects of international organisations, as important actors in international relations. Course is dealing with the emergence and forms of international organisations during past decades and their role in conflict resolution. The main attention is paid to the United Nations Organisation, the Organisation for Security in Cooperation in Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Course is dealing with the concepts of peacekeeping and peacebuilding and the main conflicts in the World since the World War 2 would be introduced. Special attention is paid to the region of Western Balkans, wars in former Yugoslavia and the role of international community in conflict resolution.
Learning outcomes
Students prove knowledge of the most influential theories of conflicts. They understand the development of international relations, development international organisations in the past decades, forms of cooperation in the international field and the role of international organisations in contemporary international relations. Students also prove their knowledge of the main aspects of the reasons of different forms of conflicts and they are able to describe the main reasons of the ethnic conflicts considered as the most important in the last decades. Students also understand the role of international organizations in conflict resolution. Students are able to find relevant information dealing with the problems of conflict resolution, international organisations and ethnic conflicts. They understand the most important issues connected with the roots of conflicts, escalation of conflicts and possible tools of conflict resolution.
Syllabus
  • 1. Theory of conflicts
  • 2. Conflict resolution in international relations
  • 3. Peacekeeping and peacebuilding
  • 4. Post-conflict reconstruction
  • 5. Historical development of international relations
  • 6. Conflict Resolution in the League of Nations
  • 7. History and the development of international organizations after World War 2
  • 8. United Nations Organization, United Nations Peacekeeping Missions
  • 9. Organization for Security in Cooperation in Europe and North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • 10. Role of international organizations in conflict resolution
  • 11. Breakup of Yugoslavia and international community
  • 12. Role of international organizations in conflict
  • resolution and post-conflict reconstruction
Literature
    required literature
  • BRIGG. M. The New Politics of Conflict Resolution Responding to difference. London: Palgrave 2008.
  • STEFANOVA B. The Europeisation of Conflict Resolution. Regional Integration and Conflicts in Europe from the 1950s to the Twenty-First Century. Manchester. Unipress 2011.
  • FOWKES. B. Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict in the Post-Communist World. London: Palgrave 2002.
    recommended literature
  • POPOV, N. (ed.): The Road to War in Serbia. Trauma and Catharsis. Budapest 2000.
  • GURR, T. R. – HARFF B. Ethnic Conflict in World Politics. Dilemas in World Politics. Oxford: Westview Press, 1994.
  • COHEN, L. J. – DRAGOVIĆ-SOSO, Jasna (eds.): State Collapse in South-Eastern Europe: New Perspectives on Yugoslavia´s Disintegration. West Lafayette 2008.
  • WOODWARD, S. L.: Balkan Tragedy. Chaos and Dissolution after the Cold War. Washington 1995
  • GLENNY, M. The Balkans 1804 – 1999. Nationalism, War and the Great Powers. London 2000.
  • TESAŘ, F. Etnické konflikty. Praha: Portál 2007.
  • HESS G. D. The Economic Causes and Conseguences of Conflicts. Cambridge 2009.
  • LEBOW R. N. Why Nations Fight. Cambridge 2010.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2021, Winter 2022, Summer 2023, Winter 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/winter2023/FVPAA044