PUBP 650-001 - George Mason University

George Mason University
FALL 2011
PUBP 650-001
THEORY OF PEACE OPERATIONS
Mondays, 4:30-7:10 p.m.
Arlington Campus (Founders Hall), Room TBA
Draft dated July 20, 2011
Professor: James Narel, Ph.D.
Office: Arlington Campus, Room 656
Mailing Address: 3351 Fairfax Drive, MS 3B1
George Mason University, Arlington, VA 22201-4498
Phone (cell): 703.618.5154
E-mail: jnarel@gmu.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Overview
This course examines the challenges and responsibilities facing professionals engaged in the
planning, conduct, and evaluation of peace operations. We will investigate the historical use of
intervention in the international arena, numerous names associated with this type of activity,
frameworks describing the component/functional parts of an operation, and where we find ourselves
in developing a “theory” of peace operations.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to identify and discuss use of international intervention for the promotion of
peace, stability, and post-conflict reconstruction; and humanitarian and disaster response, since the
1800s. As a subset, students will be conversant in major U.S. foreign and national security policy
themes related to these types of operations. Further, students will be able to identify and discuss
seminal texts and frameworks that address the successful performance of peace, stability, postconflict
reconstruction, and humanitarian and disaster assistance operations.
Required Readings
Bellamy, Alex J., Paul Williams, and Stuart Griffin. 2010. Understanding peacekeeping, 2d ed.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Covey, Jock, Michael J. Dziedzic, and Leonard R. Hawley. 2005. The quest for viable peace:
International intervention and strategies for conflict transformation. Washington, D.C.:
United States Institute of Peace Press.
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Durch, William J., and Madeline L. England. 2009. The purposes of peace operations.
http://www.cic.nyu.edu/Lead%20Page%20PDF/purposesofpeace.pdf (accessed August 24,
2010).
Fetherston, A.B. 2000. Peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peacebuilding: A reconsideration of
theoretical frameworks. International Peacekeeping 7, no. 1 (Spring) : 190-218.
_______. 1994. Putting the peace back into peacekeeping: Theory must inform practice.
International Peacekeeping 1, no. 1 (Spring) : 3-29.
Lacher, Wolfram. 2007. Iraq: Exception to, or epitome of contemporary post-conflict
reconstruction? International Peacekeeping 14, no. 2 (April) : 237-250.
Pugh, Michael. 2003. Peacekeeping and IR theory: Phantom of the opera? International
Peacekeeping 10, no. 4 (Winter) : 104-112.
Correspondence Course
This semester we will be including a correspondence course from the Peace Operations Training
Institute as part of the requirements. History of UN Peacekeeping 1945-1987, by Sunil Ram, may
be obtained via http://edu.peaceopstraining.org/ and will cost approximately $50. The course must
be completed and a photocopy of the graded certificate turned in no later than November 28, 2011.
The follow-on history courses are required in Peace Operations II. Please make sure you are using
the reduced discount for “university student” page provided above, otherwise it costs about $75
more for all three courses!! If the website is asking you for an “eligibility code” it means a
“student”-based question or two may have been answered incorrectly—call the Registrar at
757.253.6933 and indicate you are a Peace Ops student with us and they can fix it in their computer
system.
Course Requirements
Attendance:
The course will be conducted as a seminar rather than in a lecture format. Thus each week’s
assignment must be read before class discussions each week. Active participation in class
discussions is mandatory. Professionals in public policy must be able to speak effectively in small
groups and to make presentations of their work. The only way to learn these skills is to practice, so
students are expected to contribute to discussions and will be required to present summaries of
course readings and their own writing. It is expected that students will keep up with developments
in matters relating to this course.
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Grading:
• Class Participation: (10%)
• Exams: two in-class exams at 10% each (20%)
• Completion of Peace Operations Training Institute correspondence course (20%)
• Weekly monitoring of an active peace operation, either UN or non-UN: This monitoring will
include a written update circulated to the entire class by e-mail each week (by noon the Sunday
before class) and the possibility of providing short in-class updates (20%)
• Group Project: 20-25 double-spaced pages with references. Proposal due October 17 and
presentation December 12, 2010 (30%)
Course Outline
8/29
Introduction to the course
Mission assignments
Video: Peacekeepers
9/5—LABOR DAY
9/12
Video: Peacekeepers
9/19
Readings:
• Bellamy, Williams and Griffin (2010): Intro and Chapters Two-Five
1 st Mission Report: History of the Presence of your Mission (Sunday)
9/26
Readings:
• Conflict-based theories: Fetherston (1994) [e-mailed to you]; Fetherston (2000) [available
through InformaWorld library database]; and Last (1995): Chapter Two and Six
[http://www.dtic.mil/cgibin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA299303&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf]
• Conflict frameworks: SPITCEROW, Conflict Assessment Framework, SPIP
• IR-based theory: Pugh (2003) [InformaWorld]
• Post-conflict reconstruction theory: Lacher (2007) [InformaWorld]
10/3
Readings:
• Bellamy, Williams and Griffin (2010): Chapter One
• Durch and England (2009)
[http://www.cic.nyu.edu/Lead%20Page%20PDF/purposesofpeace.pdf]
Frameworks Discussion—CMPO, CSIS, MPICE, etc. [e-mailed to you]
2 nd Mission Report: SPIP Overview (Sunday)
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10/11 (TUESDAY)
Readings:
• Bellamy, Williams and Griffin (2010): Chapters Six-Twelve
3 rd Mission Report: Overview of Military, Police, and Security Aspects for your Mission (Sunday)
10/17
Readings:
• Bellamy, Williams and Griffin (2010): Part IV and Conclusion
4 th Mission Report: Economic Matters (Sunday)
Due: Group Project Proposal
10/24—Exam #1
10/31—Comp Time
11/7
Readings:
• Covey, Dzidedzic, and Hawley: Chapters 1, 2 and 3
5 th Mission Report: Human Rights Issues and Displaced People (Sunday)
11/14
Readings:
• Covey, Dzidedzic, and Hawley: Chapters 4 and 5
6th Mission Report: Diplomatic Efforts (Sunday)
11/21
Readings:
• Covey, Dzidedzic, and Hawley: Chapters 6 and 7
7 th Mission Report: Governance and Rule of Law Aspects of your Mission (Sunday)
11/28
Readings:
• Covey, Dzidedzic, and Hawley: Chapters 8 and 9
8 th Mission Report: Recommendations (Sunday)
Due: Copies of correspondence course certificates
12/5—Exam #2
12/12—Group Projects Due—Presentations
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Written Assignments:
Each of your written assignments must be submitted by electronic copy. They may be checked
through the School’s database service that surveys published and nonpublished papers, articles, and
books for possible plagiarism.
Plagiarism:
The profession of scholarship and the intellectual life of a university as well as the field of public
policy inquiry depend fundamentally on a foundation of trust. Thus any act of plagiarism strikes at
the heart of the meaning of the university and the purpose of the School of Public Policy. It
constitutes a serious breach of professional ethics and it is unacceptable. Plagiarism is the use of
another’s words or ideas presented as one’s own. It includes, among other things, the use of
specific words, ideas, or frameworks that are the product of another’s work. Honesty and
thoroughness in citing sources is essential to professional accountability and personal responsibility.
Appropriate citation is necessary so that arguments, evidence, and claims can be critically
examined. Plagiarism is wrong because of the injustice it does to the person whose ideas are stolen.
But it is also wrong because it constitutes lying to one’s professional colleagues. From a prudential
perspective, it is shortsighted and self-defeating, and it can ruin a professional career. The faculty
of the School of Public Policy takes plagiarism seriously and has adopted a zero tolerance policy.
Any plagiarized assignment will receive an automatic grade of “F.” This may lead to failure for the
course, resulting in dismissal from the University. This dismissal will be noted on the student’s
transcript. For foreign students who are on a university-sponsored visa (e.g. F-1, J-1 or J-2),
dismissal also results in the revocation of their visa. To help enforce the SPP policy on plagiarism,
all written work submitted in partial fulfillment of course or degree requirements must be available
in electronic form so that it can be compared with electronic databases, as well as submitted to
commercial services to which the School subscribes. Faculty may at any time submit student’s
work without prior permission from the student. Individual instructors may require that written
work be submitted in electronic as well as printed form. The SPP policy on plagiarism is
supplementary to the George Mason University Honor Code; it is not intended to replace it or
substitute for it. (http://www.gmu.edu/facstaff/handbook/aD.html)
Citations for Research Papers
The purposes of scholarly citations are several:
1) To show the source for a direct quote or fact not commonly known.
2) To give credit for an idea to the author of a work
3) To show the reader that you are familiar with other scholarship on your topic or to indicate where
further information or analysis can be found.
4) You may also use endnotes to explain something in the text or comment on the source.
The intention is to give the reader enough information to find the source you are using so that he or
she can see if you have quoted it correctly, interpreted it soundly, done justice to the author cited, or
do further research on the topic in question themselves.
Format: Use the standard Chicago Manual of Style “author-date” format, also known as “Turabian.”
If you are not familiar with Chicago, please print off a copy of the “Common References Guide” at:
http://popp.gmu.edu
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Special Needs of Students
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and
contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 703.993.2474. All academic accommodations
must be arranged through the DRC.
“New Voices in Public Policy”
I will consider nominating the very best papers in this course for publication in New Voices in
Public Policy. New Voices is a student- and faculty-reviewed journal that shares SPP’s finest
student work with the rest of the world.
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