BOSTON UNIVERSITY GENEVA PROGRAM

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1 BOSTON UNIVERSITY GENEVA PROGRAM Summer 2009 CAS IR562 Conflict Resolution Concepts and Institutions Dr Djacoba L. Tehindrazanarivelo, Adjunct Professor Boston University Geneva Program 30, rue des Vollandes 1207 Geneva Switzerland Calendar Duration: May 19, 2009 June 6, 2009 Tuesday May 19: Arrival in Geneva Wednesday May 20: Orientation Thursday May 21: Start of teaching 1. Course Content and Teaching In this three week, 4 credit course, students will be given an overview of the history and theory of conflict resolution and will visit a range of UN agencies and NGOs working on these issues in Geneva. There will be at least 40 hours of teaching, consisting of morning lectures in the BU classroom and afternoon visits to international organizations, including but not limited to the UN, UNHCR, and ICRC as well as many smaller agencies working on humanitarian and security issues. The teaching will be lead by the local coordinator, Dr Djacoba Liva Tehindrazanarivelo, with the contribution of specialized guest lecturers from international organizations. Required readings for each course, about 30 pages per session, will be compiled in a reading brick distributed to students at the beginning of the course. As the first module of a joint summer course between Geneva and London BU programs, this course is a prerequisite for the registration to the London module, which concentrates on case studies and workshop. 2. Course assessment The course will be assessed by two quizzes and one final exam, scheduled and graded as follows: Wednesday May 27, 2009 (in the middle of week 2): one hour 1 st quiz on material covered in classes 1 to 4, and will count for 30% of the final grade; Monday June 1, 2009 (beginning of week 3): one hour 2 nd quiz on material covered in classes 5 to 7, 30% of the final grade; 1

2 Friday June 5, 2009 (last day of class): two hour final exam on the whole course, which is worth 40% of the final grade. 3. Course schedule The courses schedule will usually include lectures in the morning followed by afternoon field trips. Each lecture will last about 2 hours, with the fieldtrips varying from 2 hours to half a day depending on traveling time. In the two days where quizzes are scheduled, the morning classes will last 3 hours. WEEK ONE (May 2122) Thursday, May 21 Friday, May 22 Introduction to the course: definition, models, techniques, and actors of conflict resolution Field Trip: The UN Office at Geneva, Touval, S., The study of conflict resolution: is there unity in diversity?, 8 Negotiation Journal (1992) 2, [3 p.] T. Weber, Ghandian philosophy, conflict resolution theory, and practical approaches to negotiation, 36 Journal of Peace Research (2001) 3, [20 p.] S. Byrne & J. Senehi, Introduction to the Field: Conflict Analysis and Resolution as a Multidiscipline: A Work in Progress, in Sandole, Dennis J. D. (ed.), Handbook of conflict analysis and resolution, New York, NY: Routledge, 2009, 576 p. [hereafter Handbook] [Handbook worth buying, in hard copy for 100 at publisher s website: Resolutionisbn , or in ebook format (PDF+DRM) for , see Part 3 of the Handbook could also be useful for the London module. Evolution and history of the resolutions of war and conflict in international relations Field Trip: The Red Cross Museum, Charting the Roads to Peace: Facts, Figures and Trends in Conflict Resolution, Geneva: HD, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2007 [24 p., available online in pdf file] WEEK TWO (May 2529) Monday, May 25 Patterns of contemporary international conflict: from interstate conflicts to internal conflicts and the war on terror Field Trip: The US Mission to the UN, with speakers on multilateral diplomacy, terrorism and disarmament, 2

3 Tuesday, May 26 Moises Naim, The Five Wars of Globalization, Foreign Policy, January/February 2003 [5 p.] A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, Executive Summary and Synopsis, Report of the HighLevel Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (UN Doc. A/59/656, 2 Dec. 2004) [9 p.] E. Newman, New Wars Debate: A Historical Perspective Is Needed, 35 Security Dialogue (2004) 2, [17 p.] Neutrality and Small States: The Swiss Example Field Trip: The Villa Rosa, a camouflaged Swiss military bunker, led by a Swiss army officer D. Möckli, The Long Road to Membership: Switzerland and the United Nations, in Gabriale, J. Martin, and Th. Fischer, Swiss Foreign Policy , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, 4657 & 6267 [18 p. in total] Wednesday, May 27 Quiz on material covered classes 1 to 4 Preventing violent conflict: international organizations and evolution of methods and policies Field Trip: Geneva Call or Small Arms Survey, two security NGOs dealing with nonstate actors V. Lowe (ed.), The United Nations Security Council and War: the evolution of thought and practice since 1945, Oxford University Press, 2008 [chap. tbd] M. Gallant, Law and Legal Processes in Resolving International Conflicts, in Handbook, chap. 29. Thursday, May 28 Friday, May 29 Containing violent conflict: peacemaking and peacekeeping Geneva Centre for Security Policy, E. C. Gürkaynak, B. Dayton & T. Paffenholz, Evaluation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, in Handbook, chap. 20, The development of legal frameworks regarding civilians from the Geneva Conventions to the Responsibility to Protect Field Trip: International Committee of the Red Cross, or MSF (Doctors without Borders), D. Schindler, International Humanitarian Law: Its Remarkable Development and its Persistent Violation, 5 Journal of the History of International Law (2003) 2, [13 p.] 3

4 Monday, June 1 R. J. Hamilton, The Responsibility to Protect: From Document to Doctrine But What of Implementation?, 19 Harvard Human Rights Journal (2006), [8 p.] WEEK THREE (June 17) Quiz on material covered in classes 5 to 7 Conflict resolution and human rights: protecting human rights in peace agreements Field trip: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ch. Bell, Peace Agreements: their Nature and Legal Status, 100 American Journal of International Law (2006), [39 p.] Tuesday, June 2 Wednesday, June 3 Thursday, June 4 Humanitarian challenges in the conflict zones: the protection of IDPs and refugees, and the resettlement issue Field Trip: UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Refugees, Conflict & Conflict Resolution 9 Track Two (2000) 3, in Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, United Nations, 1998 Protecting Internally Displaced Persons in the OSCE Area: A Neglected Commitment, Geneva: Norwegian Refugee Council, Global IDP Project, 2003 [36 p., available online] Post conflict resolutions: truth and reconciliation Field Trip: World Council of Churches, Paul Arthur, MemoryRetrieval and TruthRecovery, in Handbook, chap. 27. R. I. Rotberg, Truth Commissions and the Provision of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation, in R. Rotberg & D. Thompson (eds.), Truth v. Justice: the Morality of Truth Commissions, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, Chap. I, pp Post conflict reconciliation: reparations and fight against impunity Field Trip: TRIAL, a Genevabased NGO, Carla del Ponte, Madame Prosecutor: Confrontations with Humanity s Worst Criminals and the Culture of Impunity: A Memoir, New York: Other Press, 2008 [chaps. tbd upon acquisition by Geneva Library Network] A. Woolford and R.S. Ratner, Mediation Frames/Justice Games, in Handbook, chap

5 Friday, June 5 Saturday, June 6 Roleplay exercise on negotiating demining, run by a professional trainer Final exam on the whole course Group flight to London accompanied by the program director 5