War and Diplomacy

Tab Content: Programme Overview

Week 1

A series of deliberately wide-ranging opening sessions exploring the interwoven themes of war and diplomacy. The focus, as with the remainder of the course, will be on relatively contemporary history examples, but with glances into the deeper past in the context of analysing and understanding the morality of war and the philosophical underpinnings of rights and diplomacy. Consideration of ways of studying war and diplomacy; how does diplomacy fail or wars succeed; Complexity and the narratives and manipulations of war; Identity, religion, resources, and sectarianism.

Week 2

• War as a subject of history, the emergence (and re-emergence) of the nation state, globalisation, international bodies/supranational diplomacy;
• Freedom and Terror: the international consensus (or absence thereof) on constraints and action;
• The morality of war, and what does peace look like?

Week 3

• The history of diplomacy. Nuclear and environmental diplomacy;
• Failures of diplomacy – individual, national and supranational, NATO, BRICS, etc.;
• Conflicts in the contemporary arena and their witnessing and morality;
• The changing character of war – remoteness/proximity; the “diplomacy” of War Crimes.

Intercultural and social experience

Throughout the three weeks, you will be accompanied by Lancaster Student Ambassadors who will help you settle into Lancaster, showing you around campus, and answering your questions. They will also lead evening social activities and weekend trips, giving you plenty of chances to make new international friends.