Writing about Complex Issues

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course will challenge students to engage critical questions of human security in the context of three contemporary case studies that have come to represent "policy quagmires" at the international level: international stabilization efforts in the Sahel region of Africa; the US-led "War on Drugs" in Latin America and the Caribbean; and the migration "crisis" in Europe. Students will be required to think critically about existing policy approaches pursued by various actors in these settings. Drawing from a range of sources and disciplines, students will learn how to analyze these issues, write persuasively in a variety of formats, and come away better equipped to research and write about other complex international crises. In all three case studies, the prevailing development-security nexus, promoted and financed by the international community and national governments, has proved insufficient as a framework for meeting respective challenges. Meanwhile, non-state actors, including criminal networks, armed groups, civil society organizations, NGOs, and humanitarian agencies compete and collaborate with state actors and each other to shape security and governance outcomes according to their own interests and ideologies. Students will submit written assignments on each of the three case studies. A key component of this course will be editing and analyzing the work of their peers.