Diplomacy and Religion

The module involves the negotiation, design and delivery of a research project whose precise topic will be determined by you and your project supervisor.

The dissertation will be 20,000 words in length and is designed to provide you with the opportunity to both consolidate and enhance your existing knowledge and skills through engaging with an extended piece of project-orientated research and writing.

Diplomacy and Foreign Policy are central to the understanding of international politics. The structure of the international system induces a constant need for political dialogue and negotiations. Besides war, diplomacy is the common language states are using to interact on the world stage.

Complementing the first core module (Theory and Concepts in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy), this module aims to apply your theoretical understanding of diplomacy and foreign policy to contemporary diplomatic and negotiation issues and great power politics. Our teaching and learning strategy seeks to give you both a theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Where possible, academic teaching will be complemented by guest lectures (e.g. by a practitioner) and in-class activities such as mock negotiation exercises.

Topics covered vary each year but we often explore issues relating to the following areas: Nuclear weapons and foreign policy, Arms control and diplomacy, International climate negotiations, South-North relations and development, Diplomacy and terrorism, and Citizen protection.

This module aims to provide skills training for postgraduate students in religious studies from induction to completion of the master's dissertation. It seeks to support existing taught modules by introducing a variety of research methods from other disciplines and theoretical issues within religious studies. It also introduces cross-cultural and cross-religious examination of research topics in religious studies. The module will provide you with the opportunity to develop generic skills in library research, essay writing, and dissertation planning.

Topics covered may include:

• Induction in the study of religions: resources, essay planning and writing, seminar preparation and presentations
• Research methodologies: examples selected from philosophical, anthropological, sociological, psychological, and phenomenological approaches
• Theoretical approaches to the study of religion: examples selected from the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences
• Dissertation workshop: finding a topic and supervisor, completion plan, case studies.

Diplomacy and Foreign Policy are central to the understanding of international politics. The structure of the international system induces a constant need for political dialogue and negotiations. Besides war, diplomacy is the common language states are using to interact on the world stage.

This module introduces students to ways of conceptualizing diplomacy and foreign policy in the 21st century:

• Why do states rely on diplomacy?
• What are the current forms and features of diplomacy and foreign policy?
• Is diplomacy the only form of international dialogue besides war?
• How do states (and statesmen) negotiate?
• How has diplomacy evolved throughout history?
• Does ‘global governance’ exist?

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge of both theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Where appropriate, academic teaching may be complemented by lectures and in-class activities carried out by practitioners (diplomats, civil servants, etc).

This module serves to consolidate postgraduate research and learning support by enabling students to engage with theories, methods, and skills relevant to your studies. The module is core for all PPR PGT politics students and complements core subject and discipline-specific provision in religious studies and philosophy. Through this module we aim to equip you with the ability to reflect upon the processes and implications of research project planning, design and execution in Politics, Philosophy and/or Religion.

The first part of the module examines the principles of research, including different disciplinary traditions of knowledge production. It goes on to set out the process of structuring a research project and explores how to develop and apply theory. The second part of the module examines a range of methods for conducting research, including interviews, surveys, and case studies. The final section covers questions of ethics and goes through how to write up and present research. Through the module, students will design research projects, develop writing and critical evaluation skills, and have the opportunity to present their research ideas as part of the annual MA conference. The module involves a combination of lectures, small group discussion, and presentations covering the following areas:

• The academic research process.
• Project planning, design and process management.
• Ethics in postgraduate research.
• Resource identification and review processes.
• Data acquisition techniques and issues.
• Analytical and interpretative approaches.Academic conventions (e.g. making an argument, writing, referencing).

The course aims to explore a variety of approaches to conflict management in contemporary conflicts, by third parties and parties in conflict, and critically assesses their effectiveness and potential. The course draws its theoretical foundations from peace and conflict research but is aimed at enabling students to learn to assess the scope for conflict management and peace-building in practice. The module includes both academic literature as well as policy relevant papers.

The focus of the course is on analysing peace processes and practical problems of conflict prevention, conflict management and peace-building in a range of contemporary international, internal, ethnic, community and environmental conflicts.

Students will be divided up into groups of two or three, and each group will take responsibility for identifying and investigating a specific approach to conflict management in a conflict of their choice. The choice of cases will vary with the interest of students. In recent year topics included Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia, Kashmir, Kosovo, Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Liberia/Sierra Leone, Timor Elste, conflict prevention and the emergent global climate change negotiations, and peace-building in contemporary Africa and Asia.

The course is taught in 10 2-hour lecture seminars, with the first half devoted to the lecture and the second half dedicated to substantial presentations by the student / group.

Select Bibliography:

Barash, David P. & Webel, Charles P. (2008) Peace and Conflict Studies, London: Sage.Darby J & Mac Ginty, R, Contemporary Peacemaking (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)Eriksen, T. H., Ethnicity and Nationalism (Zed, 2010).Kaldor, M., New & Old Wars (Polity Press, 2006) Lyons, T. (2008) Conflict Management and African Conflicts – Ripeness, Bargaining and Mediation, London: Routledge, 2008)Misra, A. Afghanistan: The Labyrinth of Violence (Polity, 2004).Misra A., Politics of Civil Wars (Routledge 2008)Paris, R., At War’s End (Cambridge Univ. Press. 2005)Ramsbotham, O, Woodhouse T. & Miall, H, Contemporary Conflict Resolution – 3rd edition (Blackwell's, 2010)Rupesinghe, K, Civil Wars, Civil Peace (Pluto Press, 1998)Zartman, I.W., Peacemaking in International Conflict (USIP, 2005)European Centre for Conflict Prevention, People Building Peace (1999)Wallensteen, P., Understanding Conflict Resolution (Sage, 2006)

This module revolves around different aspects of Asian Security and looks at some of Asia’s trouble spots. The module will also examine the politics of intervention in these conflicts, and the attempts made to manage and prevent conflicts, and transform these conflict zones into more peaceful situations. The case studies that this module looks at include Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China.

We aim to provide you with an in-depth knowledge of the different facets of contemporary Asian conflicts and how international organisations and Western and Asian governments have attempted to deal with these challenges in recent times. Conceptually, the module seeks to examine the principles of state failure; terrorism, ‘New Wars’, the New Security Agenda, nationalism and sub nationalism, international conflict prevention; peace keeping; and global governance. We also cover topics like the rise of Islamism and Hindu nationalism in contemporary South Asia. This module aims to provide you with an overview of the key security concerns of South-Central Asia.

This module provides you with the opportunity to undertake a concentrated and focussed study of a topic, theme or subject which is of interest to you and for which appropriate supervisory coverage and academic resourcing are available. Your learning is facilitated by tutorial support.

During this module you will be expected to:

• clearly define a research problem based on a topic or subject of your interest
• produce a reading list of relevant literature
• produce the outline/early draft of an essay on the basis of the research for comments by the supervisor

The supervisor supporting you can:

• advise on whether your planned area of research is appropriate
• give guidance regarding the nature and format of the essay
• give guidance on the planning of the essay
• give feedback on a draft of the essay provided by the student

The final assessment is a 5,000 word essay.

This module aims to provide you with a broad understanding of the main areas of study within the field of international relations (IR). The introductory session seeks to address the general question as to what constitutes the study of IR. Subsequent sessions aim to examine the major approaches to the discipline (both mainstream and critical), focusing upon the distinctive insights and analyses that they have brought to bear.You will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the nature of the wide-ranging theoretical debates that have shaped the discipline and will also be encouraged to take a critical approach to these debates to consider the ways in which we study IR.

More particularly, you have the opportunity to:

• understand and critically assess the interpretation of the world and of IR put forward by each theory
• evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each theory
• apply the theoretical tools to the “facts out there” (linking theory with practice)

Immigration is one of the most controversial political issues across liberal democratic states. The issue dominates debate across the political spectrum and continues to be a top voting issue in many Western states including the UK. It is one of the most divisive, contested and important issues of our time.

The goal of this module is to unpack the politicisation of immigration, including how and why immigration is so contested, the actors that shape these debates and how immigration policy is made. The module aims to give you a rich understanding of the politics of immigration and immigration policies, including a comprehensive understanding of why immigration policies differ across countries, the critical debates at the heart of immigration policymaking, and ultimately why immigration is politicised. The module particularly considers European countries’ immigration policies and the political dynamics and processes that shape these policy outputs. By the end of the module, you will have had the opportunity to develop an understanding of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used by political scientists to analyse the politics of immigration, as well as acquiring a sound knowledge of political debates and policy trends across Europe. We also support you in developing the skills required to analyse the political dynamics of immigration policymaking.

This module will look at Indian source texts on politics and ethics. In particular, it will be looking at sources that explore the concept of dharma, a term that incorporates issues of justice, religion, ethics, duty, and law. The module will examine the sources of dharma both in their own historical and cultural contexts, as well as in the context of contemporary debates in political theory and ethics. The texts examined will include: the inscriptions of Ashoka, the Buddhist Nikayas, the Arthashastra, the Law Codes of Manu, the Mahabharata, and the Kamasutra. These sources are examined in connection with modern political figures, such as Gandhi and Savarkar, as well as in connection with recent debates in India about secularism, democracy and pluralism.

This module aims to provide you with the opportunity to advance the knowledge and skills needed to understand and analyse why conflict happens within and between religious groups, and to assess the positive and negative contributions that religions make to wider struggles – from local disputes through to global terrorism.

• When does religious encounter become conflict; when and why does religious conflict turn violent?
• Are some religions more prone to conflict and violence than others?
• Is global terrorism a religious matter?
• Are religious groups necessarily in tension with the secular state and secularism?
• Is conflict a necessary condition of religious and ethnic diversity?
• What resources do religions draw on for the resolution of conflict and peace-building?
• Do diplomacy and international relations have a role to play in resolving regional and cross-border religious disputes and violence?

The module is designed to introduce you to key concepts and issues in scholarship on religion and conflict: e.g. on the relationship between conflict and violence, religion and ethnicity, the ‘clash of civilizations’, intra-religious as well as inter-religious conflict, jihad and martyrdom. We also aim to explore the importance of context – historical, social, geographical and political. Analysis and debate about religion and conflict will be situated in particular cases and may include, the UK and Europe, the US, the Indian sub-continent and sub-Saharan Africa.

This module aims to examine the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical/ecological change. We will combine analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals - such as Zygmunt Bauman and Paul Virilio - that have examined how war has changed in the modern age.

You will be introduced to a range of concepts that are relevant to the debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, unrestricted warfare, the third offset strategy and the three block war.

While we ground the module in broader debates from social and political thought about war and modernity, you will also have the opportunity to explore a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing, for example: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity.