Lahore University of Management Sciences

POL 315 Politics of Civil War

Fall 2016

Instructor Shahab Ud Din Ahmad

Room No. 112 HSS wing, ground floor
Office Hours
Email shahab.ahmad@lums.edu.pk
Telephone
Secretary/TA
TA Office
Hours

COURSE BASICS
Credit Hours 4
Lecture(s) 2 Per Week Duration 1:50 hours
Recitation/Lab (per None Duration
week)
Tutorial (per week) None Duration

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the concepts of civil war and political violence. Since
1945 civil wars and insurgencies have become the dominant form of warfare as opposed to inter-state wars. As
a result, it is important to understand what factors cause civil wars, how they play out and how they end. The
course poses questions about how violent political resistance challenges existing orders and pursues
alternatives to them. We examine a broad array of questions, including why actors organize in particular ways
and pursue particular strategies in the context of contentious politics. The course begins by discussing some of
the conceptual issues associated with defining and conceptualizing civil wars. It then discusses various themes
regarding the conduct of civil wars. It concludes with an exploration of how civil wars may be resolved and
how further conflict can be prevented. There has been a deliberate attempt to provide students with a
combination of classical and contemporary texts on the topic.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The ability to synthesize scholarly literature and discuss it critically, articulately and confidently.
Enable students to engage in a systemic comparison of the causes, conduct and consequences of war
Develop a deeper understanding of why civil wars begin and how they unfold
Guide students in their research, and in structuring and writing essays. With a particular emphasis on
research methodology.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING
Course Pre-requisite: Pol 100 (Intro to Pol Sci) + Pol 131 (Intro to IR)
Class Attendance 5%
Class Participation 10%
Response Papers 15%
 Presentation 10%

Conflict Study 20%

Research Essay: i) Proposal 10% ii) Essay 30%

Students are expected to actively participate in class discussion (CP is 10%). The readings are extensive and
in order to have a fruitful discussion, it is essential that students complete the assigned readings before
they come to class.

Students are encouraged to discuss all written work with the instructor well before announced due dates.

Readings: Required readings should be completed by the date corresponding with the topic as indicated on this
syllabus. All readings are available in the reading package. Any changes that are made to the syllabus will be
announced in class. Readings with an * before them are recommended, but not required.

Attendance (5%): Regular class attendance is essential for this course. Given that there may be times that you
are unable to attend class, you may miss three classes over the course of the semester without incurring any
penalty. After the third absence, one point will be deducted off your attendance grade for each additional
absence.

Participation (10%): This will be evaluated on the basis of quality contributions to the discussion.

Conflict Study (20%): Given that the course approaches civil wars from a theoretical angle while using a
multitude of case studies to supplement the discussion, the conflict study module allows the students to engage
with one conflict (of their choice) in greater depth. Students are free to choose any one of the following texts:

1. Silber, Laura, and Allan Little. The Death of Yugoslavia. London: Penguin, 1995. Print
2. Blanford, Nicholas. Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-year Struggle against Israel. New York:
Random House, 2011. Print
3. Dorronsoro, Gilles. Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present. New York: Columbia UP in
Association with the Centre D'etudes Et De Recherches Internationales, Paris, 2005. Print.
4. Keen, David. Conflict & Collusion in Sierra Leone. Oxford: James Currey, 2005. Print.
5. Stearns, Jason K. Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of
Africa. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. Print.
Students are expected to have completed reading their chosen text by Session 18. The corresponding assignment
will be a take-home exam that will aim to test students on their ability to use the theories they are studying in
class to expand upon their chosen conflict study. The submission date and further details regarding the
assessment will be communicated later.

Presentation (10%):
Students will be asked to make one presentation during the course of the semester as part of a group (depending
on enrollment numbers). They will be assigned a specific civil war and will need to present a basic case study to
introduce the class to the conflict. The focus of the presentation should be the narrative of the conflict
(main events, important actors, dates etc.) *See outline section for cases. Cases are subject to change at the
instructors discretion.
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Essay Proposal (10%):
The proposal is meant to be an outline of your research essay. It should be 2-3 pages long, and must include a
question, a thesis statement or hypothesis, an explanation of why the question the student wishes to address is
interesting and/or relevant, and what theories and/or cases will be used in the essay. Students must also attach a
bibliography of relevant works, drawing on at least 2 readings from the course outline.

The proposal will be due in Session 23.

Research Essay (30%):

The purpose of the essay is to provide students with the opportunity to use the material covered in the course
and apply it to an issue or region of their interest. In keeping with the discipline, the essay must involve a
comparison of either theories or cases. The essay must draw on multiple sessions of the course in order to
demonstrate a thorough understanding of concepts. The word limit for the essay is 5000 words, and students
are expected to come up with a well-reasoned, relevant, methodologically sound, thoroughly researched, and
concise piece of writing.

The Essay must have the following sections: Introduction, Methodology, Literature Review, Discussion, and a
Conclusion.

Literature Review:
The Literature Review should be no more than 1800 words. The objective is to write a short section that shows
clearly that you have understood and absorbed the readings relevant to your research question; that you can
critically engage with the arguments made by the authors; that you can analytically convey what you think of
the readings. The literature review is, therefore, not supposed to be a regurgitated summary of the readings but
instead an exercise in analysis and synthesis.

Discussion:
This section takes the theories and analyses expounded upon in the Literature Review and applies them to a
specific case or cases. The discussion section should not be a collection of quotes from existing literature, but
the students own work. Students are encouraged to discuss their essays with the instructor well before the
proposal and essay deadlines, and to start writing the paper early on in the semester so that they may space out
their workload. The due date for the Essay will be announced during the semester.

Response Papers (15%):

Students will have to attempt 4 (unannounced) response papers during the course of the semester. Each
assignment will be worth 5 %. Students will be required to write a brief overview of the corresponding
readings for the session before class begins. An n-1 policy might be instituted.

Cheating and Plagiarism

Written work must be properly cited in accordance with the Harvard/MLA style. If you take an idea from the
text, another book, newspaper, or any other source, you must give the author credit. Furthermore, changing one
or
 Lahore University of Management Sciences
two words in a sentence is not an acceptable substitution for not using quotation marks. It is expected that all
assignments represent original work not previously or simultaneously handed in for credit in another. Cheating,
plagiarism, or any other violations of the honor code will be dealt with according to LUMS policy.
COURSE OUTLINE
Session 1: Introduction to the course

Course outline, readings, rules, assignments, plagiarism

Section 1: Introduction and Definitions

Session 2: Why are civil wars the predominant form of warfare today?

Cramer, C. 2006. Civil War is Not a Stupid Thing: Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries.
London: Hurst & Co. pp 49-57

Holsti, K. J. 1996. The State, War, and the State of War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-18

Session 3: What are civil wars?

Cramer, C. 2006. Civil War is Not a Stupid Thing: Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries.
London: Hurst & Co. pp. 57-86

Sambanis, N. 2004. What Is Civil War? Conceptual and Empirical Complexities of an Operational Definition
Department of Political Science, Yale University, Journal of Conflict Resolution December 2004 vol. 48 no. 6
814-858

Session 4: New and Old Civil Wars

Kaldor, M. 2006. New and Old Civil Wars. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp.1-14

Kalyvas, S. N. 2001. New And Old Civil Wars A Valid Distinction? World Politics, 54:1, pp. 99-118

Section 2: Causes of Civil War

Session 5: Greed and/or Grievance I

Collier, P. And Hoeffler, A. 2001. Greed and Grievance in Civil War. Washington DC: World Bank

Boix, C. 2008. Civil wars and guerrilla warfare in the contemporary world: toward a joint theory of
motivations and opportunities. In Kalyvas, S. N., Shapiro, I., and Masoud, T. (eds.) Order, Conflict, and
Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 197-218.

Session 6: Greed and/or Grievance II

Presentation 1: Sierra Leone

Cederman, L. Weidmann and Gleditsch 2001. Horizontal Inequalities and Ethnonationalist Civil War:
A Global Comparison. American Political Science Review / Volume 105 / Issue 03 / August 2011, pp 478-495

Keen, David (2002) Since I am a dog, beware my fangs: beyond a rational violence framework in the
Sierra Leonean war. Crisis States Research Centre. Crisis States Research Centre, London School of
Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

Session 7: Ethnicity and Civil War I

Presentation 2: Yugoslavia

Posen, B. 1993. 'The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict'. Survival, 35:1, pp. 27-47.

James D. Fearon, Commitment Problems and the Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in The
International Spread of Ethnic Conflict: Fear, Diffusion, and Escalation, ed. David Lake and
Donald Rothchild (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998), 107-126 (e-res)

Silber, Laura, and Allan Little. The Death of Yugoslavia. London: Penguin, 1995. Print. (Selected pages)

Session 8: Ethnicity and Civil War II

Presentation 3: Srilanka

Bormann, N.-C., L.-E. Cederman, and M. Vogt. "Language, Religion, and Ethnic Civil War." Journal of
Conflict Resolution (2015): n. pag. Web.

Fearon, James D., and David D. Laitin. "Sons of the Soil, Migrants, and Civil War." World Development 39.2
(2011): 199-211. Web.

*McGilvray, Dennis B. "Sharika Thiranagama, In My Mother's House: Civil War in Sri Lanka." Asian
Ethnology 73 (2014): 348+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Feb. 2016. (Selected pages)

Session 9: States, State-ness and Statelessness

Presentation 4: Somalia

Menkhaus, K. "State Failure, State-Building, and Prospects for a "Functional Failed State" in Somalia." The
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 656.1 (2014): 154-72. Web.

Ahmed, Ismail I. "The Heritage of War and State Collapse in Somalia and Somaliland: Local-level Effects,
External Interventions and Reconstruction." Third World Quarterly 20.1 (1999): 113-27. Web.
*Menkhaus, Ken. "Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of
Coping." International Security 31.3 (2007): 74-106. Web.

Session 10: Democratization and Civil War

Presentation 5: Algeria

Hegre, H., Ellingsen, T., Gates, S., and Gleditsch, N. P. 2001. Toward A Democratic Civil Peace? Democracy,
Political Change, and Civil War 1816-1992. American Political Science Review, 95:1, pp. 33-48

Testas, A. 2002. 'Political Repression, Democratization and Civil Conflict-Post Independence Algeria'.
Democratization, 9:4, pp.106-121.

*Volpi, F. 2006. Algeria: Pseudo-democratic politics: lessons for democratization in the Middle East.
Democratization, 13:3, pp. 442-455.

Section 3: Conduct of Civil War

Session 11: Violence I

Presentation 6: Violence in Iraq

Kalyvas, Stathis N. The Logic of Violence in Civil War. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. Print. (Selected
pages)

Hultman, Lisa. "Battle Losses and Rebel Violence: Raising the Costs for Fighting." Terrorism and Political
Violence 19.2 (2007): 205-22. Web.

*Kalyvas, Stathis N. "The Logic of Violence in the Islamic States War." Washington Post. The Washington
Post, 2014. Web. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/07/07/the-logic-of-violence-
in-islamic-states-war/>.

Session 12: Violence II

Presentation 7: Rwanda and the Congo

Weinstein, Jeremy M. Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.
Print. (p.1-24, 198-259).

Session 13: Gendered Violence in Civil Wars

No Presentation

Wood, Elisabeth Jean. "Sexual Violence during War: Toward an Understanding of Variation." Order, Conflict,
and Violence. 321-51. Web.
Wood, E. J. "Armed Groups and Sexual Violence: When Is Wartime Rape Rare?" Politics & Society 37.1
(2009): 131-61. Web

"Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War." HRW Report 5.9. Human Rights Watch. Web.
<https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA935.PDF>.

*English, Joseph. "Understanding Sexual Warfare in Kashmir: Prevalence, Consequences, and a Feminist
Critique." The Yale Review of International Studies. 2015. Web. <http://yris.yira.org/essays/1568>.

Session 14: The State and Civil War

No Presentation

Staniland, Paul. "States, Insurgents, and Wartime Political Orders." Perspectives on Politics 10.02 (2012):
243-64. Web.

Herbst, J. 1990. War and the State in Africa. International Security, 14:4, pp. 117-139

* Long, Austin. "The Anbar Awakening." Survival 50.2 (2008): 67-94. Web.

Session 15: Participation: Who participates in armed rebellion and why?

Presentation 8: Lebanon

Parkinson, Sarah Elizabeth. "Organizing Rebellion: Rethinking High-Risk Mobilization and Social Networks
in War." American Political Science Review 107.03 (2013): 418-32. Web.

Kalyvas, Stathis N., and Matthew Adam Kocher. "How Free Is Free Riding in Civil Wars? Violence,
Insurgency, and the Collective Action Problem." World Pol. World Politics 59.02 (2007): 177-216. Web.

* Pearlman, Wendy. "Emotions and the Microfoundations of the Arab Uprisings." Perspectives on Politics
11.02 (2013): 387-409. Web.

Session 16: Recruitment: How do rebel groups recruit?

Presentation 9: Uganda & Mozambique

Weinstein, Jeremy M. Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.
Print. (p.96-125)

Eck, Kristine. "Coercion in Rebel Recruitment." Security Studies 23.2 (2014): 364-98. Web.

Session 17: Rebel Governance I: Power vacuums and rebel governance

Presentation 10: Colombia

Arjona, A. "Wartime Institutions: A Research Agenda." Journal of Conflict Resolution 58.8 (2014): 1360-389.
Web.

Mampilly, Zachariah Cherian. Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life during War. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell UP, 2011. Print. (selected pages)

* Mampilly, Zachariah. "Rebel Governance and the Syrian War." Project on Middle East Political Science,
2014. Web. <http://pomeps.org/2014/02/12/rebel-governance-and-the-syrian-war/>.

Session 18: Rebel Governance II: Comparative approaches to rebel governance

No Presentation

Mampilly, Zachariah Cherian. Stationary Bandits: Understanding Rebel Governance. 2007. Print. (Selected
pages)

Session 19: Inter-Rebel Relations: Rebel Group Cohesion, Fragmentation and Infighting

No Presentation

Bakke, Kristin M., Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, and Lee J. M. Seymour. "A Plague of Initials:
Fragmentation, Cohesion, and Infighting in Civil Wars." Perspectives on Politics 10.02 (2012): 265-83. Web.

Fjelde, H., and D. Nilsson. "Rebels against Rebels: Explaining Violence between Rebel Groups." Journal of
Conflict Resolution 56.4 (2012): 604-28. Web.

Session 20: Rebel Groups: Alliance Formation and Side-switching I

Presentation 11: Afghanistan

Christia, Fotini. Alliance Formation in Civil Wars. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2012. Print. (Selected pages)

Furtado, Christina S. Inter-rebel Group Dynamics: Cooperation or Competition the Case of South Asia. 2007.
Print. (Selected pages)

Kalyvas, S. N. "Ethnic Defection in Civil War." Comparative Political Studies 41.8 (2008): 143-168. Web.

Session 21: Rebel Groups: Alliance Formation and Side-switching II

Presentation 12: Sudan

Seymour, Lee J.M. "Why Factions Switch Sides in Civil Wars: Rivalry, Patronage, and Realignment in
Sudan." International Security 39.2 (2014): 92-131. Web.

Oppenheim, B., A. Steele, J. F. Vargas, and M. Weintraub. "True Believers, Deserters, and Traitors: Who
Leaves Insurgent Groups and Why." Journal of Conflict Resolution 59.5 (2015): 794-823. Web.
*Tanner, Victor, and Jerome Tubiana. Divided They Fall: The Fragmentation of Darfur's Rebel Groups.
Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2007. Print.

Session 22: External Sources of Internal Conflict

No Presentation

Salehyan, Idean, Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, and David E. Cunningham. "Explaining External Support for
Insurgent Groups." International Organization 65.04 (2011): 709-44. Web.

Salehyan, Idean. "Transnational Rebels: Neighboring States as Sanctuary for Rebel Groups." World Politics
59.02 (2007): 217-42. Web

Section 4: Civil War Termination, Duration and Outcome

Session 23: International Intervention and Peacemaking

No Presentation

Autesserre, Sverine. "Hobbes and the Congo: Frames, Local Violence, and International Intervention."
International Organization 63.02 (2009): 249. Web.

Fortna, Virginia."Does Peacekeeping Work? Shaping Belligerents' Choices after Civil War" Political Science
Quarterly 124.2 (2009): 352. Web.

*Kuperman, Alan J. "The Moral Hazard of Humanitarian Intervention: Lessons from the Balkans."
International Studies Quarterly 52.1 (2008): 49-80. Web.

Session 24: Civil War Duration

No Presentation

Fearon, James D. "Why Do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer than Others?" Journal of Peace Research
41.3 (2004): 275-301. Web.

Cunningham, David E. "Veto Players and Civil War Duration." American Journal of Political Science 50.4
(2006): 875-92. Web.

Session 25: Post-Conflict Reconstruction

No Presentation

Brinkerhoff, Derek W. Rebuilding Governance in Failed States and Post-conflict Societies. Chichester: Wiley
Inter Science, 2005. Print. (Selected Pages)

Muggah, Robert. Security and Post-conflict Reconstruction: Dealing with Fighters in the Aftermath of War.
London: Routledge, 2009. Print. (Selected Chapters)
* Hamre, John J., and Gordon R. Sullivan. "Toward Post conflict Reconstruction." The Washington Quarterly
25.4 (2002): 83-96. Web.

*"How to Rebuild a Broken State." Ashraf Ghani:. TED Global, 2005. Web.

Session 26: Civil War Outcomes

No Presentation

Licklider, R. 1995. The Consequences of Negotiated Settlements in Civil Wars, 1945-1993. The American
Political Science Review, 89:3, 681-690

Walter, Barbara F. "The Critical Barrier to Civil War Settlement." International Organization 51.3 (1997): 335-
64. Web.

*Hartzell, Caroline, Matthew Hoddie, and Donald Rothchild. "Stabilizing the Peace After Civil War: An
Investigation of Some Key Variables." International Organization 55.1 (2001): 183-208. Web.

Session 27: Civil War, Violence and its Consequences

No Presentation

Wood, Elisabeth Jean. "The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks."
Annual Review of Political Science 11.1 (2008): 539-61. Web

Ghobarah, Hazem Adam, Paul Huth, and Bruce Russett. "Civil Wars Kill and Maim PeopleLong After the
Shooting Stops." American Political Science Review. 97.02 (2003). Web.

Session 28: Revision Session/Class discussion on research papers