Ancient Greeks found civil war worse than conventional war as much as conventional war worse than peace. In fact, Aristotle, Thucydides, Polybius, and other ancient thinkers left detailed deliberations on the causes and dynamics of civil war. The ideas of philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on preserving civil order will also be discussed before moving on to modern scholarship revolving around the “greed vs. grievances vs. state capacity” debates, including the proxy character of civil wars. Throughout the course, students will discuss and write papers comparing case studies ranging from the civil war in the ancient Greek polis of Korkyra, to the civil wars of the Roman Empire, the English and American Civil Wars, and the civil wars of the 20th century: Russia, China, and the communist-fascist-capitalist triangle. Lastly, civil wars in Yugoslavia, Ukraine, and Syria will be highlighted, with a focus on these events’ relevance in the current international system. In the last intellectual exercise for this course, each student will write a paper outlining and detailing a scenario of how a civil war would play out in their respective neighborhood, town, region and country. Papers will be presented to the class for an open discussion. Learning outcomes: students will become familiar with civil war in historical perspective; they will learn basic theories concerning causes of civil wars’ onset, dynamics, and ending, and decide which one makes most sense to them; they will be able to distinguish between various types of civil wars; and, lastly, students will learn how to zoom out of solely domestic causes of civil wars and recognize the international drivers behind seemingly internal war. Students will leave the class with the increased sensitivity to signs of relevant social fracturing and conditions that might escalate into civil war “back home”. (Lecturer: Mladen Mrdalj)
