In this course we examine one of the world’s oldest political institutions: militaries. Armed forces are created primarily to defend states and their interests against other states and threatening actors, yet they can also play an important role in the domestic political affairs of the states that they are created to defend. The course intends to improve students’ understanding of military actors and the various ways in which they are related to both international and domestic politics. Because an all-encompassing treatment of military affairs is impossible within the context of a single semester, this course emphasizes the role played by people (soldiers, officers and their civilian leaders) rather than machines (tanks, artillery pieces, small arms, etc.). Counts as an advanced course in International Relations.
