PSCI 302 - Conflict Theory

Credits: (3)
“Why War?” was raised by Einstein as he sought to engage Freud in discourse over the birth of the League of Nations almost a century ago. Could discourse replace war? Could rationality and intellect find ways of accommodation? Yet Homo Sapiens remains the only species that kills its own, and today we have civil wars, nuclear threats, and terrorism in the news daily. This course will examine a variety of theories seeking to explain conflict: from the anthropological to the neurological, the psychological to the social, concerns with inequalities and scarcity, power and dominance, and the demands of the nation-state and its role in the global power structure. It is required for CPSJ Majors.