War, peace and intervention

We may think we know what peace is. It’s when the fighting stops, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Notwithstanding the impact of the First and Second World Wars, and the more recent war in Ukraine, most recent conflicts have been civil wars with complex causes. So even well-meaning interventions can just make matters worse. This course will explore what lies behind violent conflict, the different ways people understand ‘peace’ and the factors that come into play when outsiders intervene, allowing us to question whether the most powerful outsiders are the right actors to bring lasting peace, or even the more elusive reconciliation. This is a 10-session course and must be taken with W210Pm01 in Week 2.