Peacebuilding and Development

Full course description

The third course of the specialization of Global Governance for Development introduces the mechanisms and instruments developed by International Organizations with regional, state-level, and local actors to establish peace conditions for development. Throughout the course we examine violent conflicts from an institutional, governance and development perspective.

Conflicts and violence are the main barrier for development. The first week focuses on onsets and development consequences of conflicts. We explore various causes of wars through the political perspectives. We also use case studies to explore how a conflict trap is formed and sustained. Tutorials will introduce the systems approach to map different actors and structural conditions to address the complexity of war. GIS will be used to teach students the basics of spatial data visualisation and conduct elementary spatial analysis.

The next two weeks focus on UN peacebuilding paradigms driving international efforts of conflict resolution and peacekeeping. We look at the legal foundation of UN peacekeeping operations and its evolution. We also examine how peacekeeping operations and other instruments contribute to the reduction and termination of violent conflicts. Students will learn how to build a policy assessment framework to evaluate the success of a peacekeeping operation. Students will also learn how to conduct qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to identify conditions that lead to the success and failure of peacekeeping using the programme language R.

Throughout the course, students will acquire various skills and tools for policy and academic research.