FSS:BSS164 United Nations Peacekeeping - Course Information

BSS164 UN Peacekeeping

Extent and Intensity

1/1. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

Mgr. Oldřich Bureš, M.A., PhD. (lecturer), prof. JUDr. PhDr. Miroslav Mareš, Ph.D. (deputy)

Guaranteed by

prof. JUDr. PhDr. Miroslav Mareš, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ivona Tolarová

Timetable

Fri 3. 3. 10:00–15:40 U41, Fri 31. 3. 10:00–15:40 U41, Fri 21. 4. 10:00–15:40 U41, Fri 12. 5. 10:00–15:40 U41

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 22 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/22, only registered: 0/22, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/22

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

The course covers the problematic of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKOs), one of the hottest topics in international politics of the post-Cold War era. Peacekeeping operations have always placed high on the UN agenda and in the last decade, they have become the most visible of all UN activities. We will cover the following topics: definitions, taxonomies, history, principles and legal framework of UN PKOs, principal critiques of UN PKOs in the post-cold war era, research and analysis of the success of UN PKOs operations in resolving contemporary conflicts, current and future trends in UN PKOs, other Conflict Resolution methods available to the United Nations, and non-United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Syllabus

• Meeting no. I Friday March 3, 2006 (You should do all of the required readings for topics 1, 2, and 3) 1. Introduction, organization, miscellaneous 2. Conceptualizing UN peacekeeping: Definitions, taxonomies and basic principles 3. Launching, running, financing a UN PKO 4. UN PKOs in the cold war era Required: 5. UN PKOs in the post-cold war era 6. Group Presentations of Selected Case studies UN PKOs in Rwanda, Namibia, East Timor 7. Principle critiques and lessons learned Required: 8. Principle critiques and lessons learned II 9. Researching, analyzing, evaluating UN PKOs 10. Regional peacekeeping: To complement and enhance, or rival and replace UN PKOs? 11. Private military companies: A second best peacekeeping option? 12. UN Peacekeeping in the 21st century 13. Written take-home final exam

Literature

• Literatura bude dostupná z readeru, který bude studentům a studentkám zapůjčen.

Assessment methods (in Czech)

Final grade will be assigned based on: Active and competent class participation: maximum of 30 points; Group presentation: maximum of 30 points; Written take-home final exam: maximum 40 points. The grading standard will be as follows: A: 93-100 points B: 86-92 points C: 78-85 points D: 70-77 points E: 65-69 points F (=Failed, no Credit Course Unit earned): 0-64 points Important Note: You can not pass the course unless you complete all of the assignments listed above. You can not pass the course if (for example) you have A's on all your assignments and then skip the final exam. Failure to complete the major paper(s), presentation(s) and the exam(s) is grounds for failure in the course, regardless of the percentage weights of each assignment. Attendance to all classes is mandatory. If more than two classes are missed by a student without a prior excuse, Credit Course Unit will not be signed and no grade will be given. Students are responsible for reading the assigned literature before coming to class. Prior to every class meeting, each student is required to prepare two written questions and/or comments about the issues that he/she found interesting, controversial, and/or thought provoking in the required literature. These questions and comments should be succinct (5-10 sentences long, preferably computer typed) and may be collected at the beginning of any class. Failure to turn in properly written questions & comments will be penalized by a deduction of up to three points from the final class participation grade. Active and competent student participation is an essential part of this course! Personal Integrity Policy: This instructor believes academic honesty is the foundation of the entire enterprise of a university. The personal integrity policy works for both students and teachers. Students can expect that the instructor will treat them in a fair, honest, and impartial manner. The instructor also expects students to deal with him and with one another honestly. Plagiarism* and cheating are violations of academic honesty because they steal from the original creator of the work. In addition, they violate the relationship of honesty between student and teacher as the student attempts to pass off work as his or her own which was produced by another. Further, plagiarism and cheating violate the bond of honesty among students themselves. Students who produce their assignments through long, hard work are being violated by those taking a shortcut through the misappropriation of anothers work or knowledge. Most sadly, students who violate academic honesty cheat themselves of the chance to learn. Only in an environment of honesty can genuine learning occur and good citizenship be fostered. Because academic honesty is treated as a serious matter, the course policy is one of zero tolerance for academic dishonesty. Cheating and plagiarism* will not be tolerated. If you are caught cheating at any point during the course, you will automatically fail the course. *PLAGIARISM The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as ones own original work. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd ed. (New York: Random House, 1993). Small group presentation guidelines: You are a member of a small group of UN peacekeeping experts. Together with 3-4 colleagues, you are going to attend an EU-sponsored conference entitled Peacekeeping: Lessons Learned from the Field. You are a specialist on one of the post-Cold War UN peacekeeping operations (you will be assigned one of the three listed below in the syllabus). Your task is to brief the other attending delegations on the following themes: 1. Background of the conflict in the country where your peacekeeping operation (PKO) took place? Who are/were were the major factions in the conflict? What was the conflict about? How has the conflict evolved over time and at what point in the conflict did the UN PKO force arrive? 2. What was the mandate of your PKO? Has it changed over time? Did it address all major issues in the conflict? 3. Was the UN force the only intervening force in the area? Who else intervened in the conflict? How well did the interveners cooperate? 4. How big was your mission? Who contributed troops? Was there a civilian component to the UN PKO force? How much did the mission cost? 5. How did the UN mission go? How long did last? Was the mandate fulfilled? If not, why? What were some of the biggest challenges that the Blue Helmets faced in your PKO? 6. What was the attitude of the local parties towards your PKO? How successful was the mission in terms of facilitating conflict resolution between the local parties? Would you say your mission was a success? Why yes? Why not? 7. What lessons can be learned from your PKO? What worked best? What did not work? Why? The conference will take place on March 31, 2005, during our regular meeting time. It is your responsibility to meet as a group before this date and decide who will present what. It is necessary for ALL members of the group to present at the conference and ALL group members should actively participate in the preparation of a presentation in the MS PowerPoint format. Each group will have 20-25 minutes to present. After your presentation, other conference participants will be invited to ask intriguing questions. Literature for small group presentations: At the very minimum, you must read the articles listed for your country in the course syllabus. If you want a good grade for your presentations, however, you need to do some extra research on your own. I especially recommend browsing the web-page of your operation and checking the university librarys e-journal resources for scholarly articles on your operation.

Language of instruction

English

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course is taught annually.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2006, recent)
  
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