EPOKA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE INFORMATIONCourse Title: HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTIONS |
| Code | Course Type | Regular Semester | Theory | Practice | Lab | Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIR 443 | B | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) | NA |
| Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | Islam Jusufi , . Please request appointment by email: ijusufi@epoka.edu.al (Room: E-101) or try to talk to teaching assistant Ms. Ajsela Toci, atoci14@epoka.edu.al (Room: E-320). |
| Second Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | NA |
| Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours: | NA |
| Language: | English |
| Compulsory/Elective: | Elective |
| Classroom and Meeting Time: | E211, Thursdays, 1800 hours. |
| Course Description: | The course explores the concepts of humanitarian interventions and human rights, and various critiques of these concepts. It explores the foundations, origins and contemporary challenges in the interplay between human rights and humanitarian action. The course will seek to understand the tensions and dilemmas between the protection of state sovereignty and international humanitarian interventions and the promotion of human rights. The choice to intervene in the affairs of other sovereign states remains the most controversial cases in the field of international relations. The first part of the course introduces students to classical and contemporary approaches towards the relationship between human rights and humanitarian action. The second part of the course examines underlying principles, concepts, practices and methods of protection. The third and the last part of the course uses case studies to examine specific interventions, case by case. |
| Course Objectives: | The course explores the concepts of humanitarian interventions and human rights, and various critiques of these concepts. It explores the foundations, origins and contemporary challenges in the interplay between human rights and humanitarian action. The course will seek to understand the tensions and dilemmas between the protection of state sovereignty and international humanitarian interventions and the promotion of human rights. The choice to intervene in the affairs of other sovereign states remains the most controversial cases in the field of international relations. The first part of the course introduces students to classical and contemporary approaches towards the relationship between human rights and humanitarian action. The second part of the course examines underlying principles, concepts, practices and methods of protection. The third and the last part of the course uses case studies to examine specific interventions, case by case. The course aims to introduce the students to the current academic and political debate about humanitarian intervention in the context of evolving notions of human rights, and to provide the students with an understanding of basic concepts such as human rights, humanitarian intervention, and responsibility to protect. It further aims to encourage the students to think critically and analytically, to improve students’ verbal and nonverbal skills and to introduce them to the sector that offers a lot of employment opportunities for the graduates of the international relations. |
|
COURSE OUTLINE
|
| Week | Topics |
| 1 | a. Course introduction, overview of texts, and expectations; b. Practice of criticizing human rights records of countries. |
| 2 | "Introduction to Human Rights and Humanitarian Interventions". Must readings: Donnelly: pages: 7-23. Holzgrefe: pages: 15-52. |
| 3 | "History and Politics of Humanitarianism and its relationship with human rights". Must readings: Donnelly: pages: 254-273. Barnett (Humanitarianism Transformed). |
| 4 | "Human Rights and Humanitarian Movements: individual actors and NGOs". Must readings: Palmieri (An institution standing the test of time). Bugnion (André Durand). Chandler (The Road to Military Humanitarianism). |
| 5 | "Human Rights and International Relations: institutional foundations of the humanitarian system". Must readings: Forsythe: pages: 3-49. |
| 6 | "Key Interveners and Their Policy Preferences". Must readings: Stedman (The New Interventionists). Clark (Iraq Has Wrecked Our Case for Humanitarian Wars). Krasner (An Orienting Principle for Foreign Policy). |
| 7 | "Preventive Diplomacy, Early Warning, and Media". Must readings: Livingston (Clarifying the CNN Effect). Strobel (The CNN Effect). United Nations Charter. Chapters VI and VII. |
| 8 | "Strategy and Intervention". Must readings: Betts (The Delusion of Impartial Intervention). Fearon (Neo-Trusteeships and the Problem of Weak States). |
| 9 | MID-TERM EXAM |
| 10 | "The Responsibility to Protect". Must readings: Stahn (Responsibility to Protect). Kersten (Does Russia have a ‘responsibility to protect’ Ukraine?). Mamdani (Responsibility to Protect or Right to Punish). |
| 11 | "Seminar I: The case of Bosnia". Must readings: Srebrenica Report. 1999. Optional: Watch: Srebrenica. A Cry from the Grave. Youtube. Watch: While America Watched: The Bosnia Tragedy. Vimeo. |
| 12 | "Seminar II: The case of Kosovo". Must readings: Roberts (NATO's 'Humanitarian War' Over Kosovo). Posen (The War for Kosovo: Serbia's Political-Military Strategy). Optional: Watch: Kosovo – War in Europe. Youtube. Watch: The Death of Yugoslavia. Youtube. |
| 13 | "Seminar III: The cases of Somalia and Congo". Must readings: Klarevas (Trends: The United States Peace Operation in Somalia). Optional: PBS (Ambush in Mogadishu). Watch: Somalia. Good Intentions, Deadly Results. Youtube. Watch: Ambush in Mogadishu. Youtube. |
| 14 | "Seminar IV: The cases of Ukraine, Crimea, South Ossetia, Syria". Must readings: Trenin (The Ukraine crisis). |
| Prerequisite(s): | Class attendance and participation; Essay; and seminars. |
| Textbook: | Must readings: Barnett, M. 2005. Humanitarianism Transformed. (Available online). Betts, R. K. 1994. “The Delusion of Impartial Intervention”. Foreign Affairs 6: 20-33. (Available online). Bugnion, F. 2008. André Durand: the life of a traveller for the Red Cross, 1912-2008. (Available online). Chandler, D. 2001. “The Road to Military Humanitarianism: How the Human Rights NGOs Shaped A New Humanitarian Agenda”. Human Rights Quarterly 23: 678-700. (Available online). Clark, D. 2003. Iraq Has Wrecked Our Case for Humanitarian Wars. Guardian. (Available online). Donnelly, J. 2013. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Cornell University Press: Ithaca. pages: 7-23; 254-273. (Available online). Fearon, J. and Laitin, D. 2004. “Neo-Trusteeships and the Problem of Weak States.” International Security, Spring: 5-43. (Available online). Forsythe, D. P. 2003. Human rights in International Relations. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. pages: 3-49. (Available in the Library of the Epoka University). (Also, available online). Holzgrefe, J. L. and Keohane, R.O. 2003. Humanitarian intervention: Ethical, Legal, and Political Dilemmas. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. pages: 1-52. (Available in the Library of the Epoka University). (Also, available online). Kersten, M. 2014. ‘Does Russia have a ‘responsibility to protect’ Ukraine? Don’t buy it’. The Globe and Mail. (Available online). Klarevas, L. J. 2000. Trends: The United States Peace Operation in Somalia. The Public Opinion Quarterly 4: 523-540. (Available online). Krasner, S. 2010. “An Orienting Principle for Foreign Policy”. Stanford Policy Review. (Available online). Livingston, S. 1997. Clarifying the CNN Effect. (Available online). Mamdani, M. 2009. ‘Responsibility to Protect or Right to Punish?’. (Available online). Palmieri, D. 2013. “An institution standing the test of time? A review of 150 years of the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross”. International Review of the Red Cross 889: 1-26. (Available online). Posen, B. R. 2000. “The War for Kosovo: Serbia's Political-Military Strategy.” International Security 4: 39-84. (Available online). Roberts, A. 1999. “NATO's 'Humanitarian War' Over Kosovo,” Survival 3: 102-123. (Available online). Ryniker, A. 2001. “The ICRC’s Position on ‘Humanitarian Intervention,” International Review of the Red Cross 842: 527-532. (Available online). Srebrenica Report. 1999. Report to the Secretary General Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 53/35. (Available online). Stahn, C. 2007. ‘Responsibility to Protect: Political Rhetoric or Emerging Legal Norm?’, American Journal of International Law 101: 99-120. (Available online). Stedman, S. J. 1993. "The New Interventionists." Foreign Affairs 72: 1-16. (Available online). Strobel, W. 1996. “The CNN Effect.” American Journalism Review. (Available online). Trenin, D. 2014. The Ukraine crisis and the resumption of great-power rivalry. Carnegie Moscow Centre. (Available online). United Nations Charter. Chapters VI and VII. (Available online). Optional readings: Barnett, M. 2001. “Humanitarianism with a Sovereign Face: UNHCR in the Global Undertow”. International Migration Review 35: 244-277. (Available online). Betts, R. 1980-81. “Surprise Despite Warning: Why Sudden Attacks Succeed,” Political Science Quarterly 4: 551-572. (Available online). Borgen, C. 2014. ‘Kosovo, South Ossetia, and Crimea: the Legal Rhetoric of Intervention, Recognition, and Annexation’. Opinio Juris. (Available online). Borgen, C. 2009. ‘The Language of Law and the Practice of Politics: Great Powers, Small States, and the Rhetoric of Self- Determination in the Cases of Kosovo and South Ossetia’, Chicago Journal of International Law 10: 1 – 33. (Available online). Bowden, M. 2001. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. New American Library, NY. (Available online). Coupland, R. 2001. “Humanity: What is it and how does it Influence International Law?”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 83: 969-989. (Available online). Finnemore, M. and Sikkink, K. 1998. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.” International Organization 4: 887-917. (Available online). ICISS. 2001. The Responsibility to Protect. Pages: 11-76. (Available online). Kaufman, C. 1996. “Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars.” International Security, Spring: 136-175. (Available online). Kennedy, D. “Reassessing International Humanitarianism: The Dark Sides”. (Available online). Koh, H. 2013. Syria and the Law of Humanitarian Intervention. Part II: International Law and the Way Forward. (Available online). Krauthammer, C. 2003. To go to Liberia or not to go. Washington Post. (Available online). Macleod, C. 2010. “Towards a Philosophical Account of Crimes Against Humanity”, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 21: 281-302. (Available online). Morgenthau, H. J. 1948. “The Twilight of International Morality”. Ethics 2: 79-99. (Available online). Orford, A. 1999. ‘Muscular Humanitarianism: Reading the Narratives of the New Interventionism’. European Journal of International Law 10: 679 – 711. (Available online). OSCE. 1999. Kosovo/Kosova: As Seen, As Told: An analysis of the human rights findings of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission October 1998 to June 1999. (Available online). PBS. 2001. Ambush in Mogadishu. (Available online). Posen, B. R. 1996. “Military Responses to Refugee Disasters,” International Security 1: 72-111. (Available online). Thürer, D. 2007. “Dunant's Pyramid: Thoughts on Humanitarian Space”. International Review of the Red Cross 865: 47-61. (Available online). UN Secretary-General. 2009. Implementing the Responsibility to Protect. (Available online). de Waal, A. and Omaar, R. Can Military Intervention Be "Humanitarian"?. MER187. (Available online). de Waal, A. 2007. No Such Thing as Humanitarian Intervention. Harvard International Review. (Available online). de Waal, A. 2012. How to End Mass Atrocities. New York Times. (Available online). Walter, B. 1997. “The Critical Barrier to Civil War Settlement,” International Organization 1: 335-364. (Available online). Watch: Ambush in Mogadishu. Youtube. (Available online). Watch: Death of Yugoslavia. Youtube. (Available online). Watch: Kosovo – War in Europe. Youtube. (Available online). Watch: Somalia. Good Intentions, Deadly Results. Youtube. (Available online). Watch: Srebrenica. A Cry from the Grave. Youtube. (Available online). Watch: While America Watched: The Bosnia Tragedy. Vimeo. (Available online). - References in Albanian and on Albania: Biberaj, Elez. Shqiperia dhe Shqipetaret ne udhen e rimekembjes. AIIS Library. Tirana. Rakipi, Albert. Weak States and Security. Koha Library. Tirana. |
| Other References: | |
| Laboratory Work: | |
| Computer Usage: | |
| Others: | No |
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COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
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| 1 | To demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between humanitarian and human rights norms. |
| 2 | To demonstrate ability to critically assess the legal, moral and political arguments for and against humanitarian interventions. |
| 3 | To demonstrate ability to provide an overview of the history, issues, dilemmas and actors in humanitarian intervention. |
| 4 | To demonstrate ability to reflect on key cases in the field of humanitarian interventions. |
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COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
(Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution) |
| No | Program Competencies | Cont. |
| Professional Master in Political Science and International Relations Program | ||
| 1 | Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources. | 5 |
| 2 | Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches. | 5 |
| 3 | Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects. | 4 |
| 4 | Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions. | 5 |
| 5 | Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations. | 3 |
| 6 | Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently. | 5 |
| 7 | Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena. | 5 |
| 8 | Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones. | 3 |
| 9 | Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles. | 4 |
| 10 | Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge. | 1 |
| 11 | Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments. | 5 |
| 12 | Having consciousness about human rights and environment. | 5 |
| 13 | Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning. | 4 |
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COURSE EVALUATION METHOD
|
| Method | Quantity | Percentage |
| Midterm Exam(s) |
1
|
30
|
| Presentation |
1
|
10
|
| Project |
1
|
15
|
| Case Study |
1
|
|
| Final Exam |
1
|
35
|
| Attendance |
10
|
|
| Total Percent: | 100% |
|
ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)
|
| Activities | Quantity | Duration(Hours) | Total Workload(Hours) |
| Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Mid-terms | 23 | 1 | 23 |
| Assignments | 27 | 1 | 27 |
| Final examination | 23 | 1 | 23 |
| Other | 18.5 | 1 | 18.5 |
|
Total Work Load:
|
187.5 | ||
|
Total Work Load/25(h):
|
7.5 | ||
|
ECTS Credit of the Course:
|
7.5 | ||