Call for Applications: MA in Conflict, Security & Development

Jun 26, 2014 | King's College

Development and security are inextricably linked, yet all too often both academics and policy-makers address them separately. The MA in Conflict, Security, and Development is a unique globally-recognized programme that brings together these interrelated areas of study, acknowledging that conflict, insecurity, and underdevelopment interact in dynamic ways and that a full understanding of them requires a holistic approach. The programme exposes students to a variety of complex transnational issues, taking a multidisciplinary approach to some of the key questions facing policy-makers and scholars today. It is designed to enhance students’ analytical, research, and critical thinking skills, to provide them with detailed practical knowledge of conflict, security, and development around the world, and to prepare them to become leaders in the public and private sectors, government, and academia.

Optional Module: Natural Resources & Conflict:

Aims
The aim of the module is to discuss all the ramifications of natural resource conflicts in developing societies and to situate these within the nexus of security and development. The module is conceived against the increasing importance of natural resources in developing societies and the implications of the attendant conflicts to global peace. The module defines natural resources as all non-artificial products situated on or beneath the soil or rivers, which can be extracted, harvested or used and whose extraction, harvest or usage generate income or serve other functional purposes in benefiting mankind. The conflicts covered under the course include those between and within nations. Among others, the module focuses on the causes and nature of resource conflicts, their connection with local and global governance, the clash between local claims and national interest in resource politics, the link between international demand and pressures on local communities, the activities of warlords, the involvement of the international community in addressing these conflicts and the impact of globalisation on resource conflicts. The module also discusses all the contending debates on natural-resource conflicts and takes examples from across the world to illuminate the different manifestations and complexities of these conflicts. 

Learning outcomes:
At the end of the module, it is expected that students will be in a position to understand:

• the academic issues surrounding natural resource conflicts, especially the local and international issues that determine their causes and manifestations;
• the policy issues raised by these conflicts, especially the efforts by the international community like the Kimberley Process;
• Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and a host of others; andhow natural resource conflicts have stunted development and affected security in developing societies

Outline:

(a) Contextualising "Natural resources" and "Conflict"

(b) The conflicts over land

(c) Mineral Resources and Conflict

(d) Water, Water resources and Conflict

(e) Governance and Conflicts over natural resources

(f) Globalization and Natural Resource Conflicts