PLSC 451 - Fragile and Collapsed States

2023-2024 Catalog Year

Credit(s): 3
Lecture: 3
Non-Lecture: 0

Fragile and collapsed states create serious problems for their citizens and the international community. They often generate human rights abuses and destabilizing refugee flows, contribute to regional instability, damage prospects for economic development, and can become harbors for terrorists and other international criminal organizations. This course surveys the literature on state formation and collapse, with particular emphasis on causes and consequences, detailed examinations of individual cases, and the international community’s response. By examining the various social and political processes at work in fragile and collapsed states, the international response, and the tools for reconstruction, we will draw conclusions regarding the potential for appropriate policy responses.

Prerequisite(s): PLSC 120, PLSC 140 or permission of the instructor.
Offered: Not on a Regular Basis