Elke Zuern

The Council on Foreign Relations has succinctly noted: “The future is African.” This course offers a comprehensive introduction to international politics from the perspective of African states and societies. We will consider how states on the continent are shifting global politics from economic relations and consumer trends to humanitarian interventions and international justice. We will begin our exploration by considering the dramatic changes that African societies have experienced from colonialism to decolonization and the present. We will engage key questions regarding postcolonial governance and popular demands for democracy. How have Africans engaged their governments to call for reform or revolution? Where has this led to effective democracies? Why have some states experienced civil wars? What role have external influences, from Western aid to the expansion of Chinese influence, played on the continent? We will consider the demands of protesters and the causes for rebellion and seek to understand both pressure for and resistance to reform. At the end of the fall semester, students will simulate the US President’s National Security Council to debate a US response to an imagined political crisis on the African continent. In the second semester, we will consider cases of humanitarian crises and conflict. What are the appropriate responses to widespread human-rights violations as they are occurring? Are there cases in which military intervention is warranted? If so, who should intervene? What else can be done? Once the violence has subsided, what actions should the international community take to support peace and justice? We will explore critical ethical, legal, and political questions by considering key cases of intervention and nonintervention, including Rwanda, Darfur, and Libya. Finally, we will evaluate different pathways in pursuing truth, justice, and reconciliation in the aftermath of gross violations of human rights. Cases include the domestic processes established by South Africa’s pioneering Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Rwanda’s Gacaca, as well as the ongoing work of the International Criminal Court. Toward the end of the second semester, students will conduct a UN Security Council simulation to debate possible actions in a simulated humanitarian crisis. Finally, we will end the academic year with an exploration of what an “African future” will mean not just for Africans but also for societies across the globe. During the year, students will engage ideas, readings, and debates in class conversations, in short posts to the class, and in papers. Students will also conduct research projects both on their own and with a partner.

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to African politics, challenging common assumptions and misunderstandings of the continent. We will investigate persistent political institutions, as well as mechanisms of political and economic change. Key questions include: How are postcolonial African states distinctive from other postcolonial states? How do the politics of patronage, prevalent in many African states and societies, affect processes of political and economic change such as democratization and the implementation of structural adjustment and poverty alleviation programs? What role have external influences, from colonialism to current forms of European and North American influence, played on the continent? What impact has China’s rising role (alongside other Asian states) had? What choices and trade-offs have Africa’s postcolonial leaders and citizens faced? This course will not investigate the experiences of all African states but will address these questions by drawing upon the experiences of a few countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. The course will begin with an in-depth analysis of the colonial experience, decolonization, and the legacy of colonialism. We will then move on to address key questions regarding postcolonial governance, concerning: the nature of the postcolonial African state, the role of violence in governance, the nature of popular demands for democracy, and popular rebellion and elite resistance. The final section will build upon the first two by investigating approaches to, and ideals of, economic development—including structural reforms, aid, trade, debt, private investment, and social programs—to unearth the contradictions and promises of those processes.

This course will engage key questions in international relations, development studies, and politics from the perspectives and experiences of African states and societies. We will begin with the African continent’s introduction to international politics and economics through trade in goods and slaves to imperialism and colonialism. We ask not just what Europeans wanted but also how Africans responded and resisted. We will also investigate present-day campaigns to address colonial-era human-rights violations. With the end of colonial rule, independent African states became full, but subordinate, members of the international system. As the Cold War reached new heights, states were pressed to choose between capitalism and communism, to ally with the West or the Soviet Union. We will explore the forms of economic and political development that states and social actors pursued. What sorts of aid did they receive? What conditions were attached to that aid? What room was there for democracy? What role did institutions like the World Bank play in aggravating or alleviating conditions of poverty? We will bring our discussion of international aid and development up to the present by discussing China’s dramatically expanded role on the continent, providing loans, building infrastructure, and engaging in trade. We will conclude the fall semester by considering the extent to which China presents a different model of development and international politics or just an updated version of earlier models.

This class combines Sarah Lawrence students and students from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility; all class sessions will take place at Bedford. Consequently, all students must be at least 21 years of age.

The course provides a unique opportunity for SLC students to investigate key questions of international humanitarian intervention and justice while also considering US support for human rights at home. The class will consider: What are the appropriate responses to widespread human-rights violations in another country as they are occurring? Are there cases in which military humanitarian intervention is warranted? If so, who should intervene? What else can be done short of military intervention? Once the violence has subsided, what actions should the international community take to support peace and justice? This course will explore critical ethical, legal, and political questions. We will consider key cases of intervention and nonintervention since the end of the Cold War, from Somalia to Kosovo and Libya. The class will employ lessons from those cases to consider the challenges to addressing humanitarian crises in Syria and Ukraine. Finally, we will evaluate different pathways to pursuing truth, justice, and reconciliation in the aftermath of gross violations of human rights. Cases include the International Criminal Tribunal and domestic courts established in postgenocide Rwanda, South Africa’s pioneering Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the ongoing work of the International Criminal Court. This class will conclude with a UN Security Council simulation in which each student will represent a country currently on the Council to debate possible actions in a simulated humanitarian crisis.

This course will engage key questions in development studies, international relations, and politics from the perspectives and experiences of African states and societies. We will begin with the African continent’s introduction to international politics and economics through trade in goods and slaves to imperialism and colonialism. We ask not just what Europeans wanted but also how Africans responded and resisted. We will also investigate present-day campaigns to address colonial-era human-rights violations. With the end of colonial rule, independent African states became full, but subordinate, members of the international system. As the Cold War reached new heights, states were pressed to choose between capitalism and communism, to ally with the West or the Soviet Union. We will explore the forms of economic and political development that states and social actors pursued. What sorts of aid did they receive? What conditions were attached to that aid? What room was there for democracy? What role did institutions like the World Bank play in aggravating or alleviating conditions of poverty? We will bring our discussion of international aid and development up to the present by discussing China’s dramatically expanded role on the African continent by providing loans, building infrastructure, and engaging in trade. We will conclude the fall semester by considering to what extent China presents either a different model of development and international politics or just an updated version of earlier models. During the second semester, we will focus on war, interventions, justice, and peace. With the end of the Cold War, African states experienced a dramatic increase in civil and interstate wars. We will investigate the central causes of key conflicts, as well as interventions by non-African states. Key questions include: Under what circumstances did Western states engage in humanitarian or other forms of intervention in response to conflict? Why did the international community withdraw during the Rwandan genocide? What institutions did the international community establish in order to support human rights, and how effective have they been? We will consider the various forms of justice pursued after the Rwandan genocide, as well as the charge that the International Criminal Court is targeting African states. Finally, we will use what we have learned to consider the impact of the United States’s Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) on US and other military actions on the African continent. The United States has dramatically increased its military presence on the continent in the last decade, as members of the US military have engaged in dramatic firefights with militants in East Africa and the Sahel. US-armed drones have killed significant numbers. We will consider how those interventions impact the prospects for short-term and long-term peace and development. This course will not provide any easy answers but will equip students to ask better questions, to effectively support their arguments, and to engage in in-depth research. Conference meetings will largely be one-on-one, but we will also schedule a few small group conferences during the year. There is also the possibility of full group outings, depending upon local events.

What are the appropriate responses to widespread human-rights violations in another country as they are occurring? Are there cases in which military humanitarian intervention is warranted? If so, who should intervene? What else can be done short of military intervention? Once the violence has subsided, what actions should the international community take to support peace and justice? This course will explore critical ethical, legal, and political questions. We will consider key cases of intervention and nonintervention since the end of the Cold War, from Somalia to Kosovo and Libya. The class will employ lessons from those cases to consider the challenges to addressing humanitarian crises in Syria and Ukraine. Finally, we will evaluate different pathways to pursuing truth, justice, and reconciliation in the aftermath of gross violations of human rights. Cases include the International Criminal Tribunal and domestic courts established in post-genocide Rwanda, South Africa’s pioneering Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the ongoing work of the International Criminal Court. This class will conclude with a UN Security Council simulation, in which each student will represent a country currently on the Council to debate possible actions in a simulated humanitarian crisis.

At the end of the Cold War, many Western writers wrote triumphantly about the global victory of democracy and capitalism. Today, we are bombarded with news stories of autocrats, both at home and abroad, undermining democracy. We hear that democracy is dying while markets and inequality reach new heights. This seminar will address the connections between liberal democracy and market capitalism as they have reinforced and contradicted one another. We will explore the role of social movements in bringing about change and the alternative ideals they have offered. To understand the challenges that individual states face, we begin with the wave of democratization from the late 1980s and consider the ways in which economic conditions contributed to pressure for change and economic policy limited possible outcomes. We will also consider Latin American and African state experiments with social democracy and redistributing wealth. The class will study the interaction between democracy and the market to focus on the last decade in the United States and globally and to ask: Is democracy in decline? We will investigate how populist leaders and extreme income inequality threaten ideals of democracy. We also explore the role of recent popular uprisings, from Occupy and the Arab Spring in 2011 to Algeria and Sudan in 2019. The class will consider the role of social media in propelling protest and the rise of surveillance capitalism in tracking our movements. As we evaluate the present, we will consider a range of popular responses to these challenges, as well as alternative frameworks for the future.

The events of September 11, 2001, unleashed a bitter and contentious debate regarding not just how states and societies might best respond to the threat of violence but also, fundamentally, what qualifies as terrorism. Just nine days later, and without resolving any of these difficult issues, the United States announced its response: The Global War on Terrorism. Almost two decades later, we are no closer to consensus concerning these politically and emotionally charged debates. This course will investigate the use of violence by state and nonstate actors to assert their authority and to inspire fear. The modern state, as it was formed in Western Europe, was born of war. In Charles Tilly’s often-quoted phrase: “War makes states, and states make war.” The ability to control violence within a territory has long been a key part of the definition of a functioning state. The presence of armed groups on a state’s territory, which the state does not or cannot effectively control, is therefore a direct challenge to a state’s authority and has the potential to undermine its recognition as an international actor. After briefly discussing the historical development of modern states, we will investigate the evolution of the terminology of terror and terrorism from the French Revolution to today. We will explore acts of state terror and their consequences and consider the use of the term ”terrorism” in the popular press, in political rhetoric, and in policymaking by states and international organizations. We will investigate a number of nonstate actors that employed violence—including South Africa’s ANC, Sri Lanka’s LTTE, and Al Qaeda, among others—and consider the impact this had both for their popular support and for the local and transnational communities impacted by their struggle. Finally, we will consider how various forms of violence have been either memorialized or publicly forgotten.

The events of September 11, 2001, unleashed a bitter and contentious debate regarding not just how states and societies might best respond to the threat of violence but also, fundamentally, what qualifies as terrorism. Just nine days later, and without resolving any of those difficult issues, the United States announced its response: The Global War on Terrorism. Two decades later, we are no closer to consensus concerning those politically and emotionally charged debates. This course will investigate the use of violence by both state and nonstate actors to assert their authority and to inspire fear. The modern state, as it was formed in Western Europe, was born of war. In Charles Tilly’s often-quoted phrase: “War makes states, and states make war,” the ability to control violence within a territory has long been a key part of the definition of a functioning state. The presence of armed groups on a state’s territory, which the state does not or cannot effectively control, is therefore a direct challenge to a state’s authority and has the potential to undermine its recognition as an international actor. After briefly discussing the historical development of modern states, we will investigate the evolution of the terminology of terror and terrorism from the French Revolution to the present. We will explore acts of state terror and their consequences and consider the use of the term ”terrorism” in the popular press, in political rhetoric, and in policy-making by states and international organizations. We will investigate a number of nonstate actors that have employed violence—including South Africa’s ANC, Sri Lanka’s LTTE, ISIS, and white nationalists in the United States, among others—and consider the impact that violence had both for their popular support and for local and transnational communities. As part of our discussion of US foreign policy, the class will conduct one Model Diplomacy simulation in which students will assume the roles of the various members of the US National Security Council.

This course will investigate how states and societies address the past from official forgetting to remembrance, apology, repatriation, and reparation. What is the best course of action in the aftermath of gross violations of human rights? Which responses are feasible in a particular context, and how might this shift over time? What impact might apologies have? Why have reparations been won in some cases but not others? Our discussions will consider the needs of victims, as well as the interests of states and the possible contradictions between the two. We will focus on the role of power in the international system and international law, as well as the ways in which seemingly less powerful groups have engaged and challenged prominent international actors. Case studies will include, but are not limited to, Native American demands for the repatriation of remains, Jewish struggles for restitution in the aftermath of The Holocaust, Japanese-American demands for redress, postcolonial demands for reparations from former colonizing states, and Black reparations in the United States. We will also consider the role of narratives and memorials in expanding the discussion concerning reparations for slavery and the ways in which demands for justice gain traction among the general public.