War and Peace in the Modern Age

The course stresses the study of both the global state system as well as the human condition as essential to understanding the phenomenon of collective violence. A complete course description:

War and Peace in the Modern Age (Identical to SSOC 1 and WPS 1).

Offered 13S and 14S 10A

This course is designed to acquaint students with the fundamentals of war and peace; that is, with the political uses of military power and the respective roles of military and civilian leaders in formulating and implementing foreign policy. We will also investigate how war affects civil society's social movements and how the characteristics of states' domestic politics arrangements affect or constrain the ways that leaders choose to execute their most preferred strategies. Finally, we will also try to come to an understanding of what war is actually like for those, both combatant and non-combatant, that must participate in war on a daily basis. Dist. SOC. D.G. Press.

Public Lectures and Discussions

Public panels have covered diverse and controversial issues. These have included nuclear proliferation, the rise of China, conflict prevention, transnational crime, citizen responsibilities in wartime, refugees, post-traumatic stress disorder, the use of torture, and U.S. policy in Iraq. The aim of these public programs is to spark open dialogue embracing a variety of view points on the major conflicts of our time.

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