SOCY1092 · Sociology

Peace or War

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

Offered every semester. We analyze issues of war and peace before and after the Cold War, focusing on U.S. wars, largely in the Third World but also new conflicts with Russia and China, especially in the explosive 2022 conflict in Ukraine. In the first part of the course, we explore core theories of the roots of war and the changing international positions of Super-powers such as the US, Russia and China. In the second part, we focus on the 20thcentury Cold War era, examining Vietnam, El Salvador, and other U.S. conflicts. In the third part, we focus on more recent wars: Iraq, Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the "war on terrorism," as well as genocidal conflicts such as Rwanda and Sudan, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The fourth section explores the United Nations, social activism among students, and other routes to peace.Satisfies Core requirement for: Social Science