Conflict: Root Causes, Consequences and Solutions for the Future

Undergraduate / Graduate

The goals of this course are to introduce you to key concepts in the study of conflict, and to help you develop the analytical skills you need to understand and assess key arguments advanced in this arena. Drawing primarily on economics and political science, as well as psychology, we will seek to understand: Why do human beings engage in acts of violence? How can armed groups compel atrocities? How do we prevent cycles of violence, and aid countries recovering from war? Specifically: We will examine the role of economic shocks and ethnic divisions on civil war. We will also discern whether similar factors explain the rise of terrorism. In addition, we will study the consequences of conflict on socio-economic development, and examine the role of foreign aid and post-conflict reconciliation in helping countries recover from conflict. The class will examine these questions while focusing on analytical skills needed to understand cutting edge research in this area. Thus a major emphasis of the course is on learning how to think critically about empirical evidence, and learning the methods used in quantitative empirical analysis, such as fixed effects models, differences-in-differences research designs, and instrumental variables estimation. It is ideal for students who want to learn substantively about conflict while developing an understanding of the methodology used to produce key empirical findings.