BSS191 Contemporary Armed Conflicts

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Tomáš Šmíd, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. JUDr. PhDr. Miroslav Mareš, Ph.D.
Division of Security and Strategic Studies – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Timetable
Tue 16:00–17:40 P52
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 14 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course aims to introduce the most important contemporary armed conflicts, which have blown out after the end of the Cold War that mirror the changes in the character of armed conflicts, show the signs of assymetric threats or differ from the classic conception of war.
Syllabus
  • 1) Opening lesson 2) Nagorno-Karabakh war as an example of value-oriented ethnic conflict 3) War in Bosnia as an example of conflict on the background of the fall of Communist regime 4) The Chechnya-Russia wars as an example of assymetric war 5) War in DR Congo as an example of resource conflict 6) Afghanistan as an example of collapsed state 7) Conflict in Kosovo as an example of foreign military intervention 8) Conflict in Somalia as an example of collapsed post-colonial state 9) Easter Monday 10) Military activities of islamistic extremists as an example of subversive terrorist violence + MID-TERM TEST 11) Banditskaja vojna in the Russian federation as a variant of armed conflict between acteurs of organised crime 12) Conflict in Colombia as an arena of violent non-state acteurs and an example of weak state 13) Resource dimension of the conflicts in the Caucasus
Literature
  • ŠMÍD, Tomáš. Etnické konflikty v postkomunistickém prostoru (Ethnic conflicts in Post-Communist Area). In VAĎURA, Vladimír. Etnické konflikty v postkomunistickém prostoru. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2007, 278 pp. ISBN 978-80-7325-126-0. info
  • ZÜRCHER, Christoph. The post-Soviet wars : rebellion, ethnic conflict, and nationhood in the Caucasus. New York: New York University Press, 2007, xii, 289. ISBN 9780814797099. URL info
  • State failure and state weakness in a time of terror. Edited by Robert I. Rotberg. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003, viii, 354. ISBN 0815775733. info
Teaching methods
lecture
Assessment methods
The student is obliged to come to the written exam and eventually to the mid-term test. The final mark will be counted from the total sum of the maximum possible amount points of both tests. The mid-term test consists of 2 questions per 5 points. The written exam consists of 10 questions per 5 points. Thus the maximum is 60 points, the minimum for passing the exam is 36 points.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2010, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2010/BSS191