Cowlishaw, Gillian. "Dissapointing Indigenous People: Violence and the Refusal of Help." Public Culture 15, no. 1 (2003): 103-125.

Hage, Ghassan. "Comes a Time we are all Enthusiasm: Understanding Palestinian Suicide Bombers in Times of Exighophobia." Popular Culture 15, no. 1 (2003): 65-89.

Discussion Points

Can/Should conflict analysis and particularly conflict resolution accept that violence can be “a tangible, radical political analysis and response – a refusal to accept the promises of liberal progress?” (Cowlishaw, 2003: 105)

How can “we” (broadly as western-trained academics and “experts”) avoid finding answers to problems we have defined about others?

Bell, Colleen. "Civilianising Warfare: Ways of War and Peace in Modern Counterinsurgency." Journal of International Relations and Development 14, no. 3 (2011): 309-332

Discussion Points:

Is there a “deepening entwinement between contemporary modes of peace and those of war” in the application of modern counterinsurgency practices?

Does counterinsurgency, as a mode of warfare, help build peace and promote liberal economic governance?  At what cost?

Crescenzi, Mark J. C. and Andrew J. Enterline. "Ripples from the Waves? A Systemic, Time Series Analysis of Democracy, Democratization and Interstate War." Journal of Peace Research 36, no. 1 (1999): 75-94.

Discussion Points:

- why does democracy snowball on a regional level?
-what is driving this snowball effect?
- can cultural difference be the main contributing factor to why it doesn't seem to spread in the Middle East and Asia like it has in Africa?

McLaughlin Mitchell, Sara, S. Gates, and H. Hegre. "Evolution in Democracy-War Dynamics." Journal Conflict Resolution 43, no. 6 (1999): 771-792.

Discussion points:

- which way does the causality of war and democracy go? is war a positive or negative force for democracy?
- why does democracies win wars more often than non democracies
- what other/ are there factors that could be determining this relationship?

Wednesday 15th February 2012, 5pm, Keynes Senior Common Room

Dr Neophytos Loizides

Desrosier, Marie-Eve. "Reframing Frame Analysis: Key Contributions to Conflict Studies." Ethnopolitics (iFirst Online, 2011): 1-23.

Kaufman, Stuart. "Symbols, Frames, and Violence: Studying Ethnic War in the Philippines." International Studies Quarterly 55, (2011): 937-958.

Wednesday 29th February 2012, 5pm, Keynes Senior Common Room

Levke Kelm

Johnson, Carter. 'Partitioning to Peace: Sovereignty, Demography, and Ethnic Civil Wars.' In International Security 32, no. 4 (2008): 140-170.

Tir, Jaroslav. 'Keeping the Peace after Secession: Territorial Conflicts between Rump and Secessionist States.' In The Journal of Conflict Resolution 49, no. 5 (2005): 713-741.

Wednesday 14th March 2012, 5pm, Keynes Senior Common Room

Paul Ashby

Carlo Delgado-Ramos, Gian and Silvina María Romano. "Political-Economic Factors in U.S. Foreign Policy : The Colombia Plan, the Mérida Initiative and the Obama Administration." Latin American Perspectives 38, no. 93 (2011).

Mercille, Julien. "Violent Narco-Cartels Or US Hegemony? the Political Economy of the ‘war on Drugs’ in Mexico." Third World Quarterly 32, no. 9 (2011).

Discussion questions:

Does the Mexican drug war present a perfect circle for the US? Is it significantly generated by neoliberalism in Mexico, yet also provides the excuse for the US to protect neoliberalism by force and intervention, and even channels profits into the financial system?

Do US goals remain in guaranteeing access to Mexican raw materials, training Mexican forces along US lines, and in encouraging an open investment climate, even in the context of spiraling drug violence?

Is there a relationship between NAFTA/neoliberal reform, democratization and the end of PRI monopoly, and spiking drug violence?
Thank you very much

Wednesday 28th March 2012, 5pm, Keynes Senior Common Room

Juuso Miettunen

Arjona, Ana and Stathis Kalyvas. "Mobilisation for Political Violence what do we Know?" Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity A CRISE Workshop Paper (March 17-18, 2009).

Horton, Lynn. "Constructing Conservative Identity: Peasant Mobilization Against Revolution in Nicaragua." Mobilization 9, no. 2 (2004): 167-180.

Dr Philip Cunliffe has very kindly nominated the following book to be discussed during the summer term:

Pinker, Steven.  The Better Angels of our Nature. New York: Viking, 2011.

Pinker’s grand idea on the historical decline of violence has provoked many debates and is currently being discussed across disciplines.  This widely acclaimed book will undoubtedly inspire excellent discussion for the final CARC reading group meeting of the academic year.