Civil war is by far the most common form of armed conflict in the contemporary world. Internal wars, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, are also central to the major foreign policy debates in the United States and the United Nations. The first half of this course addresses the question of when and where civil wars occur and what their effects are domestically and internationally. The second half of the class examines external actors role in civil war, such as financial support to governments or insurgents, armed interventions, and peacekeeping missions. Students will be evaluated based on two midterms and a final.
