Civil Wars and International Responses – with a focus on violence against civilians

DIGITALE LEHRVERANSTALTUNG

What explains violence against civilians and how can the international community respond? These are questions we will examine in this seminar. We will start by exploring the causes of violence against civilians in the context of civil wars and continue with investigating the responses of the international community. While we will concentrate on violence in the context of civil wars, we will also analyze how the international community responds to political violence and genocide. Furthermore, we will examine how the international community reacts to civil wars in order to determine to what extent a particular type of response impacts the duration and conflict intensity, among others. This will enable us to comprehensively understand and evaluate the tools the international community possesses, ranging from diplomatic efforts to economic and military interventions. Empirical in-depth analyses will be applied to explore how international organizations, regional organizations, NGOs as well as individual states and coalitions of states have dealt with civil wars, and with violence against civilians in particular.