Week 1 (3/1): Course orientation 

Week 2 (3/8): Understanding War: Concepts and Security Dilemma

1. Levy, Jack S. and William R. Thompson (2010) ‘Introduction to the Study of War’, Causes of War, Ch. 1. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.


2. Vasquez, John A. (2009) ‘Conceptualizing War’, The War Puzzle Revisited, Ch. 1. Cambridge University Press.


3. Montgomery, Evan Braden (2006) ‘Breaking out of the Security Dilemma: Realism, Reassurance, and the Problem of Uncertainty’, International Security, 31: 2, pp. 151 - 185.

* Ref: CSS, Ch. 2.

Week 3 (3/15): Domestic Politics and Interstate War: The Democratic Peace

a.     Cederman, Lars-Erik (2001) ‘Back to Kant: Reinterpreting the Democratic Peace as a Macrohistorical Learning Process’, American Political Science Review, 95: 1, pp. 15-31.

b.     de Mesquita, Bruce Bueno (2006) ‘Game Theory, Political Economy, and the Evolving Study of War and Peace’, American Political Science Review, 100: 4, pp. 637-642.

c.     Rosato, Sebastian (2003) ‘The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory’, American Political Science Review, 97: 4, pp. 585-602.

* Ref: CSS, Ch. 3.

Week 4 (3/22): Norms, Culture, and Force

1. Wendt, Alexander (1992) ‘Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics’, International Organization, 46: 2, pp. 391-425.


2. Legro, Jeffrey W. (1994) ‘Military Culture and Inadvertent Escalation in World War II’, International Security, 18: 4, pp. 108-142.


3. Thomas, Ward (2000) ‘Norms and Security: The Case of International Assassination’, International Security, 25: 1, pp. 105-133.

* Ref: CSS, Ch. 7.

Week 5 (3/29): Gender and Security

*CSS, Ch. 9

1. Shepherd, Laura J. (2014) ‘The State of Feminist Security Studies: Continuing the Conversation’, International Studies Perspectives, 14: 4(SI), pp. 436-439.


2. Johansson-Nogues, Elisabeth (2013) ‘Gendering the Arab Spring? Rights and (In)security of Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan Women’, Security Dialogue, 44: 5-6(SI), pp. 393-409.

Week 6 (4/5): NO class - public holiday.

Week 7 (4/12): Economic Security

*CSS, Ch. 15

1. Mansfield, Edward D. and Brian M. Pollins (2001) ‘Interdependence and Conflict’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 45: 6, pp. 834-859.


2. Gartzke, Erik (2007) ‘The Capitalist Peace’, American Political Science Review, 51: 1, pp. 166-191.


3. Aydin, Aysegul (2008) ‘Choosing Sides: Economic Interdependence and Interstate Disputes’, Journal of Politics, 70: 4, pp. 1098-1108. 

Week 8 (4/19): Securitization

*CSS, Ch. 10

1. Waver, Ole (1995) ‘Securitization and desecuritization’, in Ronnie D. Lipschutz ed., On Security, Ch. 3, New York: Columbia UP.


2. Buzan, Barry and Ole Waver (2009) ‘Macrosecuritization and Security Constellations: Reconsidering Scale in Securitization Theory’, Review of International Studies, 35: 2, pp. 253-276.

Week 9 (4/26): Midterm exam.

Week 10 (5/3): Globalization, Development, and Security + Instructions for Research and Academic Writing

*CSS, Ch. 16

1. Hettne, Bjorn (2010) ‘Development and Security: Origins and Future’, Security Dialogue, 41: 1, pp. 31-52.


2. Humphreys, Macartan and Jeremy Weinstein (2008) ‘Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil War’, American Political Science Review, 52: 2, pp. 436-455.

Week 11 (5/10): Ethnic/Civil Conflicts

1. Fearon, James and David D. Laitin (2003) ‘Ethnicity, Insurgence, and Civil War’, American Political Science Review, 97: 1, pp. 75-90.


2. Snyder, Jack and Karen Ballentine (1996) ‘Nationalism and the Marketplace of Ideas’, International Security, 21: 2, pp. 5-40.


3. Mueller, John (2000) ‘The Banality of “Ethnic War”’, International Security, 25: 1, pp. 42-70.

Week 12 (5/17): Terrorism: old and new

*CSS, Ch. 19

1. Kydd, Andrew H. and Barbara F. Walter (2006) ‘The Strategies of Terrorism’, International Security, 31: 1, pp. 49-80.


2. Abrahms, Max (2006) ‘Why Terrorism Does Not Work’, International Security, 31: 2, pp. 42-78.

Week 13 (5/24): Child Soldiering 

*CSS, Ch. 26

Achvarina, Vera and Simon F. Reich (2006) ‘No Place to Hide: Refugees, Displaced Persons, and the Recruitment of Child Soldiers’, International Security, 31: 1, pp. 127-164.

Film: War Witch, 2012/Kim Nguyen/Canada/90”.

Week 14 (5/31): Humanitarian Intervention

*CSS, Ch. 20

1. Williams, John (2008) ‘Space, Scale and Just War: Meeting the Challenge of Humanitarian Intervention and Trans-national Terrorism’, Review of International Studies, 34: 4, pp. 581-600.


2. Fortna, Virginia Page (2004) ‘Does Peacekeeping Keep Peace? International Intervention and the Duration of Peace After Civil War’, International Studies Quarterly, 48: 2, pp. 269-292.

Week 15 (6/7): Energy Security

*CSS, Ch. 21

Colgan, Jeff D. (2013) ‘Fueling the Fire: Pathways from Oil to War’, International Security, 38: 2, pp. 147-180.

Week 16 (6/14): Health and Security

*CSS, Ch. 23

Enemark, Christian (2009) ‘Is Pandemic Flu a Security Threat?’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 51: 1, pp. 191-214.

Week 17 (6/21): Cyber-security

*CSS, Ch. 25

Kello, Lucas (2017) Virtual Weapon and International Order. Yale UP.

Borghard, Erica D. and Shawn W. Lonergan (2017) ‘The Logic of Coercion in Cyberspace,’ Security Studies, 26:3, 452-481.

Journal of Cybersecurity.

Week 18 (6/28): Wrapping up.

Midterm exam: 35%

Term paper (3,000 words): 35%

Class participation (including group presentations): 30%

Collins, Allen (ed.) (2013), Contemporary Security Studies (3^rd edition). Oxford University Press.