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War in the 21st Century

Module description

Leon Trotsky was famously reputed to have said, ‘You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you’.  In the early twenty-first century, this statement seems to be more relevant than ever. Civil wars have spread or intensified across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Great power competition has returned and inter-state wars such as Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine have occurred. This course examines the transformation of war and the armed forces, which have done the fighting, in the twenty-first century. War in the 21^st Century is an interdisciplinary course, drawing on sociology, anthropology, politics, IR, and security studies. It is a third-year course so presumes the students have mastered basic academic skills. Some knowledge of security issues might be useful and the Politics course Changing Character of War is relevant, but there are no specific pre-requisites or co-requisites.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This course examines the causes, character and consequences of war in the 21^st century and military transformation. It introduces students to contemporary debates about war and the armed forces. It will define the distinctive character of warfare and the armed forces in the 21^st century through the investigation of a selection of critical contemporary themes.

By the end of this course students should be able to:

• Display a wide empirical knowledge of contemporary war and the armed forces.
• Have a critical understanding of key themes on war and the armed forces in the 21^st century.
• Understand the key literature thereon.
• Be able to critically assess the evidence about war and the literature thereon in writing and verbally.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a good knowledge of the causes and character of war in 21st century
• 2. Demonstrate a good knowledge of selected case studies of war century
• 3. Demonstrate an understanding of a range of methodological approaches and theoretical orientations to war
• 4. Demonstrate a good knowledge of military transformations in 21 century

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Evaluate a range of social and political scientific literature
• 6. Describe key concepts, theories and methods
• 7. Demonstrate a good ability to evaluate your own political assumptions and those of a range of established social researchers

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Plan and execute work independently, within supportive guidelines, to achieve acceptable outcome
• 9. Discuss ideas and interpretations with others in a clear and reasoned way
• 10. Demonstrate the capacity for structured argumentation both in writing and orally

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:

• History of war
• Theory of war
• Case studies in 21^st century war
• Privatization of war
• Proxy warfare
• Special Operations Forces
• Small unit cohesion
• AI and other technologies
• Commemoration

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Kaldor, M. 1999. New and Old Wars: organized violence in the global era. (Cambridge: Polity).
• Ford, M and Hoskins, A. 2022. Radical War (London: Hurst and Company) 
• Gonzalez, R, 2022. War Virtually (Oakland, CA: University of Oakland).
• King, A. 2013. TheCombat Soldier: infantry tactics and cohesion in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
• King, A. 2021. Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge: Polity)
• Payne, K. 2021, I, Warbot (London: Hurst).

Key words search

War, Conflict, States, Armed Forces, Military Transformation