Year 2011-12
International conflicts and security (21695)
Qualification: Degree in Political and Administration Sciences
Year: 3rd and 4th
Term: 2nd
Number of ECTS credits: 4
Hours of student dedication: 100 hours
Teaching language: Spanish
Teacher: Dr. Pablo Pareja Alcaraz (Office 40.1E06)
Tutorial hours: Mondays from 16:00 to 17:00 h.
1. Introduction to the course
"International conflict and security" is an optional course within the "international profile" framework of the degree in Political Science and Administration. It is organised along three complementary objectives: firstly it aims to familiarize students with the main concepts and theoretical approximations to security studies; secondly to analyse the evolution of today's conflicts and other conventional and non conventional challenges to global security; thirdly it aims to study in a more detailed way some of the key conflicts and challenges to security that are of special relevance in order to understand contemporary international relations.
2. Competences to be achieved
In line with the new teaching ideal which accompanies the European Superior Education Studies Space, this subject seeks the acquisition and development of different general and specific competences.
2.1. Generic competences:
- Instrumental:
a) Capacity to analyse and synthesise (G1)
b) capacity to organise and plan (G2)
c) Oral and written communication in one´s own language (G3)
d) Ability to manage information - Ability to search and analyse information from different resources (G6)
e) Ability to be critical and self critical (G9)
- Interpersonal:
a) Ability to work in a team (G10)
b) Interpersonal abilities (G11)
c) Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team (G12)
d) Appreciation of diversity and multiculturalism (G14)
e) Ability to work in an international context (G15)
- Systemic:
a) Research abilities (G18)
b) Ability to learn (G19)
c) Ability to adapt to new situations (G20)
d) Ability to generate new ideas - creativity (G21)
e) Ability to work autonomously (G24)
2.2. Specific Competences:
a) To recognize political actors' behaviour (E5)
b) To recognize contemporary political theories (E8)
c) To recognize the historical dimension of social and political processes (E9)
d) To recognize international politics (E15)
3. Contents
The subject is made up of 10 units and 4 seminars. The contents of the first are structured in three blocks. The first will be presented in the 12 theoretical sessions that make up the course while the second and third ones will be developed in the seminars.
BLOCK I: THE STUDY OF SECURITY
Unit 1: Traditional theoretical approaches to security.
Unit 2: New approaches to security.
BLOCK II: THE EVOLUTION OF ARMED CONFLICT
Unit 3: The state and armed conflict.
Unit 4: Contemporary armed conflict.
Unit 5: Contemporary security privatization.
BLOCK III: TODAYS SECURITY CHALLANGES
Unit 6: Nuclear security.
Unit 7: Energy security and environmental security.
Unit 8: Transnational organized crime.
Unit 9: International terrorism and piracy.
Unit 10: The governance of contemporary security.
4. Assessment
The assessment combines mechanisms of continuous evaluation and final examination. The final mark will be made up from both.
4.1. Continuous evaluation (50% of the final mark). It will comprise of student's participation in seminars and in tutorial sessions and the realisation of set activities during the course (four in total and a final essay).
4.2. Final exam (50% of the final mark). The final exam will be centred on the contents presented in lectures and the set readings for each unit. Students must obtain a mark of at least 3 (out of 10) in the exam in order to pass the subject.
Students can choose to opt for an additional point in their final mark by writing a voluntary critical essay (5 pages) on one of the readings the teacher will present the first day. This essay must be handed in the same day as the final exam.
5. Bibliography and other resources
The teacher responsible for the subject will facilitate, at the beginning of the course, a list of recommended and compulsory readings for each of the units. The students will be able to access these through the Global Campus.
5.1. Basic Bibliography
Avant, D. (2005), The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security, Nueva York: Cambridge University Press.
Balzacq, T. (ed.) (2011), Securitization Theory: how security problems emerge and dissolve, New Security Studies, Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: PRIO/Routledge.
Beck, U. (2002), La sociedad del riesgo global, Madrid: Siglo XXI.
Buzan, B., Waever, O. and De Wilde, J. (1998), Security: A New Framework for Analysis, Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Buzan, B. and Hansen, L. (2009), The Evolution of International Security Studies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Collins, A. (2010), Contemporary Security Studies, 2ª ed., Oxford/Nueva York: Oxford University Press.
Dannreuther, R. (2007), International security: the contemporary agenda, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Duffield, M. (2001), Global Governance and the New Wars. The Merging of Development and Security, Londres/Nueva York: Zed Books.
Duffield, M. (2004), Las guerras en el mundo global. La convergencia entre desarrollo y seguridad, Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata (1ª ed. In english, 2001).
García, C. and Rodrigo, Á. (eds.) (2008), La seguridad comprometida. Nuevos desafíos, amenazas y conflictos armados, Madrid: Tecnos.
Hough, P. (2008), Understanding Global Security, 2ª ed., Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Kaldor, M. (2001), Las nuevas guerras. La violencia organizada en la era global, Barcelona: Tusquets (1ª ed. en inglés, 1999).
Kolodziej, E. A. (2005), Security and International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lipschutz, R. D. (1995), On Security, Nueva York: Columbia University Press.
Mauer, V. (2009), Handbook of Security Studies, Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Morgan, P. M. (2006), International Security: problems and solutions, Washington, DC: CQ Press.
PNUD (1994), Informe sobre el desarrollo humano. Nuevas dimensiones de la Seguridad Humana, Nueva York: Oxford University Press.
Ruiz-Giménez, I. (2005), La historia de la intervención humanitaria. El imperialismo altruista, Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata.
Singer, P. W. (2003), Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry, Ithaca, Nueva York: Cornell University Press.
Snyder, C. A. (ed.) (1999), Contemporary security and strategy, Oxon, Abingdon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Williams, P. (2008), Security Studies: An Introduction, Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Wheeler, N. J. (2000), Humanitarian Intervention in International Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5.2. Other resources
Web pages, annual yearbooks (SIPRI Yearbook, Global Civil Society, Anuario CIDOB, etc), atlases, specialized dictionaries, and a range of audiovisual material (films and documentaries) made available through the Global Campus by the teacher.
6. Methodology
The subject "International Security and Conflict" follows a methodology which combines learning activities developed in class and activities outside the classroom.
The class based learning activities are: lectures that cover a total of 22 hours and seminars and tutorials which cover a total of 8 hours organized in 4 two hour sessions. This totals 40 hours of the student's work, 30% of the total hours of student dedication for the course subject.
The non classroom based activities include, among others, reading and analysis of texts corresponding to each unit, the preparation of activities linked to different seminars, independent research using different information sources in order to get more information on the unit studied as preparation for the final exam. Non classroom based activities account for 70 hours of the course or 70% of the student's work. It is organised so that 50% of this takes place in the first 10 weeks and 20% in the 2 last weeks before the final exam.
7. Programme of Activities
Sem. Ses. Typ. Content
Student work during the week
Learning activity Hrs in class Hrs out of class
In class Out of class
Iª 1 T Subject presentation Presentation of the subject's teaching plan (contents, assessment, organization) Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information. 1 4
2 T Unit 1 Lecture 2
IIª 3 T Unit 1 Lecture Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation of exercise for seminar 1. 1 4
4 T Unit 2 Lecture 2
IIIª 5 S1 Seminar 1 Presentation and contextualization of case studies Reading and analysis of corresponding texts
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the seminar 1 exercise. 2 5
6 T Unit 3 Lecture 2
IVª 7 S2 Seminar 1 Evaluation of previous activity / tutorials Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation for the exercise for seminar 2. 2 5
8 T Unit 4 Lecture 2
Vª 9 S1 Seminar 2 Analysis of the background, the actors and their objectives in the different case studies Reading and analysis of corresponding texts.
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the exercise for seminar 2 2 5
10 T Unit 5 Lecture 2
VIª 11 S2 Seminar 2 Evaluation of the previous activity / tutorials Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation for the exercise for seminar 3
2
5
12 T Unit 6 Lecture 2
VIIª 13 S1 Seminar 3 Analysis of the evolution and the management mechanisms of the different case studies Reading and analysis of corresponding texts.
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the exercise for seminar 3. 2 5
14 T Unit 7 Lecture 2
VIIIª 15 S2 Seminar 3 Evaluation of the previous activity / tutorial of essays Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation for the exercise for seminar 4. 2 5
16 T Unit 8 Lecture 2
IXª 17 S1 Seminar 4 Developing management and/or solution proposals for the case studies. Reading and analysis of corresponding texts.
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the exercise for seminar 4. 2 5
18 T Unit 9 Lecture 2
Xª 19 S2 Seminar 4 Evaluation of the previous activity / tutorials Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Writing up final project based on the exercises carried out in the seminars. 2 7
20 T Unit 10 Lecture 2
Dedication hours: Subtotal 30 50
XIª XIIª Hours dedicated to the preparation of the final assessment 20
TOTAL HOURS OF THE SUBJECT 100
Sem.: nº of week; Ses.: nº of session; Tip: type of session: T (theoretical), S (seminar)
International conflicts and security (21695)
Qualification: Degree in Political and Administration Sciences
Year: 3rd and 4th
Term: 2nd
Number of ECTS credits: 4
Hours of student dedication: 100 hours
Teaching language: Spanish
Teacher: Dr. Pablo Pareja Alcaraz (Office 40.1E06)
Tutorial hours: Mondays from 16:00 to 17:00 h.
1. Introduction to the course
"International conflict and security" is an optional course within the "international profile" framework of the degree in Political Science and Administration. It is organised along three complementary objectives: firstly it aims to familiarize students with the main concepts and theoretical approximations to security studies; secondly to analyse the evolution of today's conflicts and other conventional and non conventional challenges to global security; thirdly it aims to study in a more detailed way some of the key conflicts and challenges to security that are of special relevance in order to understand contemporary international relations.
2. Competences to be achieved
In line with the new teaching ideal which accompanies the European Superior Education Studies Space, this subject seeks the acquisition and development of different general and specific competences.
2.1. Generic competences:
- Instrumental:
a) Capacity to analyse and synthesise (G1)
b) capacity to organise and plan (G2)
c) Oral and written communication in one´s own language (G3)
d) Ability to manage information - Ability to search and analyse information from different resources (G6)
e) Ability to be critical and self critical (G9)
- Interpersonal:
a) Ability to work in a team (G10)
b) Interpersonal abilities (G11)
c) Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team (G12)
d) Appreciation of diversity and multiculturalism (G14)
e) Ability to work in an international context (G15)
- Systemic:
a) Research abilities (G18)
b) Ability to learn (G19)
c) Ability to adapt to new situations (G20)
d) Ability to generate new ideas - creativity (G21)
e) Ability to work autonomously (G24)
2.2. Specific Competences:
a) To recognize political actors' behaviour (E5)
b) To recognize contemporary political theories (E8)
c) To recognize the historical dimension of social and political processes (E9)
d) To recognize international politics (E15)
3. Contents
The subject is made up of 10 units and 4 seminars. The contents of the first are structured in three blocks. The first will be presented in the 12 theoretical sessions that make up the course while the second and third ones will be developed in the seminars.
BLOCK I: THE STUDY OF SECURITY
Unit 1: Traditional theoretical approaches to security.
Unit 2: New approaches to security.
BLOCK II: THE EVOLUTION OF ARMED CONFLICT
Unit 3: The state and armed conflict.
Unit 4: Contemporary armed conflict.
Unit 5: Contemporary security privatization.
BLOCK III: TODAYS SECURITY CHALLANGES
Unit 6: Nuclear security.
Unit 7: Energy security and environmental security.
Unit 8: Transnational organized crime.
Unit 9: International terrorism and piracy.
Unit 10: The governance of contemporary security.
4. Assessment
The assessment combines mechanisms of continuous evaluation and final examination. The final mark will be made up from both.
4.1. Continuous evaluation (50% of the final mark). It will comprise of student's participation in seminars and in tutorial sessions and the realisation of set activities during the course (four in total and a final essay).
4.2. Final exam (50% of the final mark). The final exam will be centred on the contents presented in lectures and the set readings for each unit. Students must obtain a mark of at least 3 (out of 10) in the exam in order to pass the subject.
Students can choose to opt for an additional point in their final mark by writing a voluntary critical essay (5 pages) on one of the readings the teacher will present the first day. This essay must be handed in the same day as the final exam.
5. Bibliography and other resources
The teacher responsible for the subject will facilitate, at the beginning of the course, a list of recommended and compulsory readings for each of the units. The students will be able to access these through the Global Campus.
5.1. Basic Bibliography
Avant, D. (2005), The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security, Nueva York: Cambridge University Press.
Balzacq, T. (ed.) (2011), Securitization Theory: how security problems emerge and dissolve, New Security Studies, Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: PRIO/Routledge.
Beck, U. (2002), La sociedad del riesgo global, Madrid: Siglo XXI.
Buzan, B., Waever, O. and De Wilde, J. (1998), Security: A New Framework for Analysis, Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Buzan, B. and Hansen, L. (2009), The Evolution of International Security Studies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Collins, A. (2010), Contemporary Security Studies, 2ª ed., Oxford/Nueva York: Oxford University Press.
Dannreuther, R. (2007), International security: the contemporary agenda, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Duffield, M. (2001), Global Governance and the New Wars. The Merging of Development and Security, Londres/Nueva York: Zed Books.
Duffield, M. (2004), Las guerras en el mundo global. La convergencia entre desarrollo y seguridad, Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata (1ª ed. In english, 2001).
García, C. and Rodrigo, Á. (eds.) (2008), La seguridad comprometida. Nuevos desafíos, amenazas y conflictos armados, Madrid: Tecnos.
Hough, P. (2008), Understanding Global Security, 2ª ed., Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Kaldor, M. (2001), Las nuevas guerras. La violencia organizada en la era global, Barcelona: Tusquets (1ª ed. en inglés, 1999).
Kolodziej, E. A. (2005), Security and International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lipschutz, R. D. (1995), On Security, Nueva York: Columbia University Press.
Mauer, V. (2009), Handbook of Security Studies, Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Morgan, P. M. (2006), International Security: problems and solutions, Washington, DC: CQ Press.
PNUD (1994), Informe sobre el desarrollo humano. Nuevas dimensiones de la Seguridad Humana, Nueva York: Oxford University Press.
Ruiz-Giménez, I. (2005), La historia de la intervención humanitaria. El imperialismo altruista, Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata.
Singer, P. W. (2003), Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry, Ithaca, Nueva York: Cornell University Press.
Snyder, C. A. (ed.) (1999), Contemporary security and strategy, Oxon, Abingdon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Williams, P. (2008), Security Studies: An Introduction, Abingdon, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge.
Wheeler, N. J. (2000), Humanitarian Intervention in International Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5.2. Other resources
Web pages, annual yearbooks (SIPRI Yearbook, Global Civil Society, Anuario CIDOB, etc), atlases, specialized dictionaries, and a range of audiovisual material (films and documentaries) made available through the Global Campus by the teacher.
6. Methodology
The subject "International Security and Conflict" follows a methodology which combines learning activities developed in class and activities outside the classroom.
The class based learning activities are: lectures that cover a total of 22 hours and seminars and tutorials which cover a total of 8 hours organized in 4 two hour sessions. This totals 40 hours of the student's work, 30% of the total hours of student dedication for the course subject.
The non classroom based activities include, among others, reading and analysis of texts corresponding to each unit, the preparation of activities linked to different seminars, independent research using different information sources in order to get more information on the unit studied as preparation for the final exam. Non classroom based activities account for 70 hours of the course or 70% of the student's work. It is organised so that 50% of this takes place in the first 10 weeks and 20% in the 2 last weeks before the final exam.
7. Programme of Activities
Sem. Ses. Typ. Content
Student work during the week
Learning activity Hrs in class Hrs out of class
In class Out of class
Iª 1 T Subject presentation Presentation of the subject's teaching plan (contents, assessment, organization) Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information. 1 4
2 T Unit 1 Lecture 2
IIª 3 T Unit 1 Lecture Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation of exercise for seminar 1. 1 4
4 T Unit 2 Lecture 2
IIIª 5 S1 Seminar 1 Presentation and contextualization of case studies Reading and analysis of corresponding texts
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the seminar 1 exercise. 2 5
6 T Unit 3 Lecture 2
IVª 7 S2 Seminar 1 Evaluation of previous activity / tutorials Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation for the exercise for seminar 2. 2 5
8 T Unit 4 Lecture 2
Vª 9 S1 Seminar 2 Analysis of the background, the actors and their objectives in the different case studies Reading and analysis of corresponding texts.
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the exercise for seminar 2 2 5
10 T Unit 5 Lecture 2
VIª 11 S2 Seminar 2 Evaluation of the previous activity / tutorials Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation for the exercise for seminar 3
2
5
12 T Unit 6 Lecture 2
VIIª 13 S1 Seminar 3 Analysis of the evolution and the management mechanisms of the different case studies Reading and analysis of corresponding texts.
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the exercise for seminar 3. 2 5
14 T Unit 7 Lecture 2
VIIIª 15 S2 Seminar 3 Evaluation of the previous activity / tutorial of essays Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Preparation for the exercise for seminar 4. 2 5
16 T Unit 8 Lecture 2
IXª 17 S1 Seminar 4 Developing management and/or solution proposals for the case studies. Reading and analysis of corresponding texts.
Finding sources of information.
Correction/ improvement of the exercise for seminar 4. 2 5
18 T Unit 9 Lecture 2
Xª 19 S2 Seminar 4 Evaluation of the previous activity / tutorials Reading and analysis of corresponding unit texts
Finding sources of information.
Writing up final project based on the exercises carried out in the seminars. 2 7
20 T Unit 10 Lecture 2
Dedication hours: Subtotal 30 50
XIª XIIª Hours dedicated to the preparation of the final assessment 20
TOTAL HOURS OF THE SUBJECT 100
Sem.: nº of week; Ses.: nº of session; Tip: type of session: T (theoretical), S (seminar)