Module POL2082 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2082: Changing Character of Warfare
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
Without shying away from the conceptual and political challenges of thinking about armed conflict, this module will aim to:
- Introduce you to the practical and operational realities faced by decision-makers and actors that have dealt with the conventional and sub-conventional warfare challenges since the end of the Cold War;
- Enable you to analyse, by looking at earlier or more current conflicts, how state and non-state actors have gone about fighting in them;
- Enable you to examine how various militaries have adopted new modes of operational thinking, structures, and postures often as result of their military culture, organizational biases, and societal pressures and also as a reaction to the asymmetric challenges that they have increasingly confronted as a result of their conventional military superiority;
- Enable you to explore the problems and challenges stemming from military intervention in international relations.
- Provide you with a basis for further graduate study and post-graduate study in defence and security, or for a career in government, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, media, or the security forces.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate knowledge of the nature of warfare and its evolving characteristics; 2. demonstrate knowledge of the evolving nature of civil-military and military-societal relations in various global examples; 3. demonstrate knowledge of the developing attributes of the Western way of warfare and their effect on those challenging the Western way of warfare thinking and praxis; 4. demonstrate knowledge of the asymmetric challenges facing state militaries and the way that states have reacted to such challenges from the societal, operational and organizational perspectives. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 5. examine secondary and primary source material in the field of war and conflict studies; 6. demonstrate awareness of the key concepts and debates relating to the study of war and its changing character; 7. evaluate competing conceptions and theories of warfare. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. study independently and manage time and assessment deadlines effectively; 9. communicate effectively in speech and writing; 10. demonstrate analytical skills through tutorial discussions and module assessments; 11. demonstrate proficiency in the use of the internet, online journal databases and other IT resources for the purposes of tutorial and assessment preparation; 12. work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- What is War?
- The Causes of Warfare
- Interstate versus Intrastate Warfare
- The Military and the Nature of Civil-Military Relations
- Change and Continuity in Warfare
- The ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ and ‘Transformation’ Agendas
- Outsourcing War: the Rise of Private Military Companies
- Asymmetric Challenges I: Terrorism
- Asymmetric Challenges II: Insurgency and Guerrilla Warfare
- Military Adaptation and Innovation
- Summation, Revision, and Student Module Evaluation
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 26.5 | 123.5 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activity | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hour lectures |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activity | 10 | 10 x 1 hour tutorials |
| Guided Independent Study | 40 | Tutorial preparation |
| Guided Independent Study | 83.5 | Assessment preparation and completion |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
- Complex Terrain Laboratory: http://www.terraplexic.org/
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: http://www.sipri.org/
- Combating Terrorism Centre (Westpoint): http://ctc.usma.edu/sentinel/
- UK Defence Academy: http://www.da.mod.uk/podcasts
- ‘MERLIN’ US National Defence University: http://merln.ndu.edu/
- US Institute of Peace: http://www.usip.org/
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting: http://www.iwpr.org
- US Army War College: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/
- International Studies Association web resources: http://www.isanet.org/links/
- US Naval Postgraduate School: http://www.nps.edu/
- US Homeland Security: http://www.inhomelandsecurity.com/
- UK Resilience (Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat):
- http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience.aspx
- RAND Corps: http://www.rand.org/
- Center for Strategic and International Studies: http://csis.org/
- Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies: http://www.rusi.org
- Chatham House (Royal Institute for International Affairs): http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk
- International Institute for Strategic Studies: http://www.iiss.org
- Brookings Institute: http://www.brookings.edu/
- Arms Control Resources: http://www.armscontrol.org/
- Bitter Lemons: http://www.bitterlemons.org/
- Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies: http://www.ciss.ca/
- Centre for Defence Information: http://www.cdi.org/
- CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
- Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/
- International Crisis Group: http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm
- Rand Corporation: http://www.rand.org/
Other Learning Resources
Other materials and resources will be identified by the module convener in lectures and via ELE and by tutors in tutorials.
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay outline | 500 words | 1-11 | Verbal |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time-limited essays | 50 | 2 x 750-words; 7 days to complete from release date of questions | 1-12 | Written |
| Essay | 50 | 2,000 words | 1-11 | Written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time-limited essays | 2 x 750-words; 7 days to complete from release date of questions | 1-12 | August/September re-assessment period |
| Essay | Essay (2,000 words) | 1-11 | August/September re-assessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Barkawi, T. Globalization and War (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006).
Beckett, I. Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies: Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750 (Routledge, 2001).
Buzan, B, Waever, O & de Wilde, J, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Lynne Rienner, 1998).
Caforio, G. Handbook of the Sociology of the Military (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2006).
Cordell, K. & Wolff, S. Ethnic conflict: causes, consequences, and responses (Cambridge: Polity, 2009/2010).
Farrell, T. The Norms of War: Cultural Beliefs and Modern Conflict (Lynne Rienner, 2005).
Farrell, T. and Terriff, T. The Sources of Military Change: Culture, Politics, Technology (Lynne Rienner, 2002).
Gray, C.S. Modern strategy (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Kaldor, M. New Wars and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (Polity, 2006).
Kinsey, C. and Patterson, M.H. Contractors and War: The Transformation of United States' Expeditionary Operations (Stanford University Press, 2012).
Lebow, R.N. Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Porter, P. Military Orientalism: Eastern War through Western Eyes (Hurst, 2009).
Rabi, U. International intervention in local conflicts: crisis management and conflict resolution since the Cold War (London: Tauris, 2010.)
Shaw, M. The New Western Way of War: Risk-Transfer War and its Crisis in Iraq (Polity, 2005).
Smith, R. The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World (Allen Lane, 2005).
Strachan, H. and Schiepers, S. (eds.), The Changing Character of War (Oxford University Press, 2011).
Townshend, C. (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern War (Oxford University Press, 2005).
Von Clausewitz, C. On War. Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. (Princeton University Press, 1976).
Whittaker, D. J. (ed.), The Terrorism Reader 3rd edition (London: Routledge 2007).
