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This course examines violence of varying types and scales that occurs mainly within the territory of nominally sovereign states. The main objective is to survey and critically examine the most important developments in the literature on armed conflict over the past two decades. Why do armed conflicts begin? Why do nonviolent conflicts escalate? Why do armed actors kill some civilians and not others? Why does violence “work” to solve political problems in some instances but "fail" in others? Why do armed actors resort to particular forms of violence (e.g. torture) in some contexts but not others? In general, the focus will be on the causes and dynamics of violence, rather than on the origins or historical development of the social and political conflicts in which violence is embedded. This course has no explicit regional focus and no formal prerequisites. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>