Civil War. Grading: Discussant sessions: 20% Class participation: 30% Final seminar paper: 50%

Transcription

1 Civil War Fall 2014 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Political Science Thursday 3:00-5:00 pm Room: E Fotini Christia Associate Professor, Political Science Office: E Phone: Office Hours: By Appointment Course Overview This course is a general overview of the recent political science literature on civil war. It aims to address questions of definition, operationalization of variables, and general methodological issues relevant to conducting research in the area of civil war or violent conflict. In that regard, the course looks at issues pertaining to civil war onset, process and duration and civil war termination and its aftermath. The course introduces the basic variables as well as the theoretical and empirical findings in the literature and discusses cases of civil war in a variety of regions. It also examines the role of ethnicity in civil war, the individual incentives for participation, and the various manifestations of violence, as well as a discussion on counterinsurgency practices. Requirements: This class will be run as a seminar and students are expected to do all readings and take part in class discussions. Apart from class attendance and participation, students will be expected to serve as discussants once or twice during the semester depending on class size. In the week that they are assigned to be class discussants, students would have to critically review the assigned readings, write a 5-page memo and give a 15-minute presentation of the general points made by the authors, highlighting the related as well as conflicting arguments, and underlying the respective works analytical strengths and weaknesses. Discussant assignments will be made the first week of class. Students will also have to write a 30-page paper due on December 19. The paper can be a research design paper or a first draft of a paper intended for publication. If it is the latter, it should contain a theoretical argument and an empirical test of that argument. Paper topics must be based on one of the main themes of the course and approved by the instructor. A one-page description of the paper topic will be due on October 23. Grading: Discussant sessions: 20% Class participation: 30% Final seminar paper: 50% 1

2 Eligibility for Enrollment: Graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Readings Week 1: Introduction Week 2: What is Civil War? Stathis Kalyvas New and Old Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction? World Politics 54: Nicholas Sambanis What is a Civil War? Conceptual and Empirical Complexities of an Operational Definition, Journal of Conflict Resolution 48 (6): Christopher Blattman and Edward Miguel Civil War, Journal of Economic Literature 48(1): Robert Bates The Industrial Organization of Violence. Week 3: Ethnicity and Conflict Barry Posen The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict, Survival 35 (1): John Mueller The Banality of Ethnic War, International Security 25 (1): Stathis N. Kalyvas and Matthew Adam Kocher Ethnic Cleavages and Irregular War: Iraq and Vietnam, Politics and Society 35(2): James Fearon, Kimuli Kasara, David Laitin Ethnic Minority Rule and Civil War Onset, American Political Science Review 101(1): Lars-Erik Cederman, Andreas Wimmer, and Brian Min Why Do Ethnic Groups Rebel? New Data and Analysis, World Politics 62 (1): Jason Lyall Are Co-Ethnics More Effective Counter-Insurgents? Evidence from the Second Chechen War, American Political Science Review 104(1): Week 4: Political Economy of Civil War James Fearon and David Laitin, Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War, American Political Science Review 97 (2003): Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler Greed and Grievance in Civil War, Oxford Economic Papers 56(4):

3 Edward Miguel, Shanker Satyanah and Ernest Sergenti Economic Shocks and Civil Confllict: An Instrumental Variables Approach, Journal of Political Economy 112(4): Oeindrila Dube and Juan Vargas, "Commodity Price Shocks and Civil Conflict: Evidence from Colombia." Review of Economic Studies. Christopher Blattman and Jeannie Annan Can Employment Reduce Lawlessness and Rebellion? A Field Experiment with High-Risk Men in a Fragile State, SSRN Working Paper. Week 5: Participation and Rebel Recruitment Roger Petersen Resistance and Rebellion: Lessons from Eastern Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press), Introduction and Theoretical Chapter. Jeremy Weinstein Resources and the Information Problem in Rebel Recruitment, Journal of Conflict Resolution 49(4): Stathis N. Kalyvas and Matthew Adam Kocher How Free is Free Riding in Civil Wars? Violence, Insurgency, and the Collective Action Problem, World Politics 59(2): Macartan Humphreys and Jeremy Weinstein Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil War, American Journal of Political Science 52 (2): Graeme Blair, C. Christine Fair, Neil Malhotra, and Jacob Shapiro Poverty and Support for Militant Politics: Evidence from Pakistan. American Journal of Political Science 57 (1): Bernd Beber and Christopher Blattman The Logic of Child Soldiering and Coercion, International Organization 67(1): Week 6: Duration and International Dimensions of Civil War James D. Fearon Why Do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer Than Others? Journal of Peace Research 41 (3): David Cunningham Veto Players and Civil War Duration, American Journal of Political Science 50(4): Lars-Erik Cederman, Luc Girardin, and Kristian Skrede Gleditsch Ethno-Nationalist Triads: Assessing the Influence of Kin Groups on Civil Wars, World Politics 61(3):

4 Stathis Kalyvas and Laia Balcells International System and Technologies of Rebellion: How the End of the Cold War Shaped Internal Conflict, American Political Science Review 104(3): Noel Anderson, MIT Working Paper. Week 7: Natural and Technological Resources in Civil War Michael Ross How Do Natural Resources Influence Civil War? Evidence from Thirteen Cases, International Organization 58(1): James Fearon Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War, Journal of Conflict Resolution 49(4): Macartan Humphreys Natural Resources, Conflict, and Conflict Resolution: Uncovering the Mechanisms, Journal of Conflict Resolution 49(4): Paul Staniland Organizing Insurgency: Networks, Resources, and Rebellion in South Asia, International Security 37(1): Jan Pierskalla and Florian Hollenbach Technology and Collective Action: The Effect of Cell Phone Coverage on Political Violence in Africa," American Political Science Review 107 (2): Jake Shapiro and Nils B. Weidmann "Is the Phone Mightier than the Sword? Cell Phones and Insurgent Violence in Iraq," International Organization. Week 8: Violence Roger Petersen Understanding Ethnic Violence: Fear, Hatred, and Resentment in Twentieth- Century Eastern Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press), Chapters 2-4. Stathis Kalyvas The Logic of Violence in Civil War (New York: Cambridge University Press), Introduction and Theoretical chapter. Macartan Humphreys and Jeremy Weinstein Handling and Manhandling Civilians in Civil War, American Political Science Review 100(3): Jason Lyall Does Indiscriminate Violence Incite Insurgent Attacks? Evidence from Chechnya. Journal of Conflict Resolution 53(3): Dara Kay Cohen "Explaining Rape During Civil War: Cross-National Evidence ( )." American Political Science Review 107:

5 Lyall J, Blair G, Imai K Explaining support for combatants in wartime: A survey experiment in Afghanistan. American Political Science Review 107: Week 9: Counterinsurgency I Stephen Biddle The New U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual as Political Science and Political Praxis, Review Symposium, Perspectives on Politics 6(2): Stathis Kalyvas The New U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual as Political Science and Political Praxis, Review Symposium, Perspectives on Politics 6(2): Jason Lyall and Lt. Colonel Isaiah Wilson III Rage Against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars, International Organization 63(1): Yuri M. Zhukov Peace Through Resettlement: Theory and Evidence from the NKVD Archives, Harvard-MIT-Yale Political Violence Conference Working Paper. Jason Lyall Dynamic Coercion in Civil War: Evidence from Air Operations in Afghanistan, Working Paper. Week 10: Counterinsurgency II Andrew Beath, Fotini Christia, Ruben Enikolopov, Winning Hearts and Minds through Development Aid: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan, Working Paper. Eli Berman, Jacob Shapiro, and Joseph Felter Can Hearts and Minds Be Bought? The Economics of Counterinsurgency in Iraq, Journal of Political Economy 119(4). Stephen Biddle, Jeffrey Friedman, and Jacob Shapiro Testing the Surge: Why Did Violence Decline in Iraq in 2007? International Security 37(1): Crost, Benjamin, Felter, Joseph H., and Patrick B. Johnston (2011) Aid Under Fire: Development Projects and Civil Conflict, Working paper. Nathan Nunn and Nancy Quian, Aiding Conflict: The Impact of U.S. Food Aid on Civil War, The American Economic Review, 104(6), 2014 June. Week 11: Partition and Borders Chaim Kaufmann Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars, International Security 20(4):

6 Nicholas Sambanis Partition as a Solution to Ethnic War: An Empirical Critique of the Theoretical Literature, World Politics 52(4): Sambanis, Nicholas and Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl What s in a Line? Is Partition a Solution to Civil War? International Security 34(2): Stelios Michalopoulos and Elias Papaioannou The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa NBER Working Paper Jeremy Ferwerda and Nicholas L. Miller. Resistance to Foreign Rule: Evidence from a Natural Experiment forthcoming in APSR Elissa Berwick, MIT Working Paper Week 12: Alliances, Collaboration, and Defection Fotini Christia, The Closest of Enemies: Alliance Formation in the Afghan and Bosnian Civil Wars, Book Manuscript, Select Chapters Stathis N. Kalyvas Ethnic Defection in Civil Wars, Comparative Political Studies, 41(8): Paul Staniland States, Insurgents, and Wartime Political Orders, Perspectives on Politics 10 (2): Paul Staniland Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Insurgent Fratricide, Ethnic Defection, and the Rise of Pro-State Paramilitaries, Journal of Conflict Resolution 56(1): Jason Lyall, Yuki Shiraito, Kosuke Imai Coethnic Bias and Wartime Informing, SSRN Working Paper. Week 13: Termination and Aftermath Barbara Walter The Critical Barrier to Civil War Settlement. International Organization 51 (3): Michael Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis International Peacebuilding: A Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis, American Political Science Review 94(4): James D. Fearon, Testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, September 15, 2006, (On U.S. strategy in Iraq and implications of withdrawal.) 6

7 Macartan Humphreys and Jeremy Weinstein Demobilization and Reintegration, Journal of Conflict Resolution 51(4): James D. Fearon, Macartan Humphreys, and Jeremy M. Weinstein Can Development Aid Contribute to Social Cohesion after Civil War? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Post-Conflict Liberia, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 99(2): Christopher Blattman From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda, American Political Science Review 103(2): Samii, Cyrus. (2013). "Perils or Promise of Ethnic Integration: Evidence from a Hard Case in Burundi." American Political Science Review 107(3):