GEND 3207 The United Nations and R2P
Fall Term 2012
Tuesday 8:30-11:30
Room A242
Instructor: Dr. Rosemary Nagy
Office hours: Tuesday 12-2 or by appointment,
Room A335 or 474-3450 ext. 4156
rnagy@nipissingu.ca
Calendar Course Description:
How have the United Nations and other international
organizations fared in their “responsibility to protect” human beings from genocide, war crimes,
and crimes against humanity? Inquiring into the three main principles of the “responsibility to
protect”—to prevent, to react, and to rebuild—we examine intervention, justice, and peacebuilding
through an overview of the structure and functions of the United Nations, and an examination of its
record of protection in specific cases including gender-based violence.
My objectives (that which I, the Instructor, aim to do in this course):

To expose students to the workings of the United Nations and the core principles and pillars
of the Responsibility to Protect

To develop students’ critical inquiry into the possibilities and limits of intervention in
specific contexts

To develop students’ collaborative, analytical and research skills through the conflict
mapping project

To provide ample opportunity for student engagement in class, as well as an opportunity for
students to raise questions or concerns and seek additional help when needed

To assess student learning through a variety of means and with substantive feedback

To facilitate students’ self-understanding as globalized citizens and to encourage political
engagement with human rights issues
Learning Expectations (that which students will do and I will measure):
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Demonstrate pre-class preparation (reading and reflection) and comprehension of key
concepts and ideas during class discussions
Identify and explain the structure and organization of the United Nations
Identify and explain the evolution of R2P and its core principles and pillars, including
through as understanding of international relations of power
Compare traditional notions of (state) security with gendered concepts of human security
Investigate and evaluate gender mainstreaming in the responsibility to protect
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Differentiate the various responsibilities to protect and critically assess their effectiveness
and limitations
Select, evaluate and integrate information from various sources, including electronic and
print resources, in order to map the contours of a conflict
Determine the nature of a conflict including through the application of conflict mapping
questions/categories
Work collaboratively in a group and create a visual conflict map
Analyze the consequences of (non)intervention in a specific conflict and theorize the
implications this has for the United Nations and R2P
Clearly communicate ideas and argument in written and oral form
Course Evaluation
Conflict Mapping Project:
Group Work plan and annotated bibliography (due Oct. 2)
Group Presentation (November 26)
Individual R2P Report (10-15 pages; due Dec. 4 in class)
Formative Classroom Assessment
Final exam (regular exam period)
50%
(10%)
(15%)
(25%)
20%
30%
Conflict Mapping Project: see attached handout.
Formative Classroom Assessment: this provides for ongoing assessment of your course learning
(readings and lectures) through student participation and active learning activities such as pop
quizzes, minute papers, active review, readers’ digests, and classroom debate and discussion (for a
sample, see http://activelearning.uta.edu/FacStaff/ALtechniques.htm). Expect something every
week for 2% (there will be some grace for a missed class). Any remainder of the 20% will be
allocated to your general participation grade, where participation means active engagement with
course readings and discussions, as well as active engagement during your peers’ presentations.
Course Outcomes (what should result from successfully completing the course):

Develop research and communication skills

Appreciate the complexity of “humanitarian” intervention in intractable conflicts

Critically evaluate the structure and politics of the United Nations

Conceptually map complex conflicts, including through the integration of various sources

Explain to a layperson the principles and challenges of the Responsibility to Protect with
respect to specific conflicts

Understand and evaluate gender mainstreaming in the United Nations
Required Texts:
Julie A. Mertus, The United Nations and Human Rights, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2009). ISBN:
978-0-415-49140-2. (Available at Gulliver’s Books, 157 Main Street West)
Coursepack (available at Nipissing U bookstore)
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Useful websites:
Aljazeera www.aljazeera.com
Amnesty International www.amnesty.org
BBC news online www.bbc.co.uk
e-International Relations (academic sources but not peer reviewed) www.e-ir.info
Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect http://globalr2p.org/
Hirondelle News Agency (international justice reporting) http://www.hirondellenews.org
Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
International Crisis Group www.crisisgroup.org
International Committee of the Red Cross www.icrc.org
IRIN (humanitarian news and analysis) www.irinnews.org
Office of the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide
http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtml
PeaceWomen http://www.peacewomen.org/
Relief Web (fantastic news and analysis source, administered by UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs) www.reliefweb.int
Uppsala Conflict Data Program http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/
United Nations (esp. Peace and Security link) www.un.org
UNIFEM http://www.unwomen.org/
See also my website at www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/rnagy
We will be using Blackboard in the course. Please check each week for changes or additions to
readings and other communications.
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GEND 3207 Course Readings
*Supplemental readings are mainly for your interest, although I will sometimes draw on
supplemental readings in my lecture
1. September 11 – Introduction
Gareth Evans, “The Responsibility to Protect after Libya and Syria,” speech delivered to Annual
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Conference, Melbourne, 20 July 2012. Available at
http://globalr2p.org/media/pdf/The_Responsibility_to_Protect_After_Libya_and_Syria.pdf
(vimeo: http://vimeo.com/46417105)
Julie Mertus, ch. 1, “A Guide to the New UN Human Rights Practice”
2. September 18 –United Nations and Human Rights
Charter of the United Nations (find online)
Mertus, ch. 2-3 (focus on ch. 3)
United Nations Secretary General (2005) In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and
human rights for all, Executive Summary at
http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/summary.html.
3. September 25 –United Nations and Human Rights
Mertus, ch. 4-5.
“Kofi Annan attacks UN Security Council for ‘finger-pointing and name-calling,’” Telegraph News, 7
August 2012 at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9448021/Syria-KofiAnnan-attacks-UN-Security-Council-for-finger-pointing-and-name-calling.html
4. October 2 – Peace and Security*group workplan and annotated bibliography due in class
Karen A. Mingst and Margaret P. Karns. The United Nations in the 21st Century. Boulder, Co.:
Perseus, 2007. Ch. 4, “Peace and Security” pages 83-115. [coursepack]
Brandon, Hamber, Hillyard Paddy, Maguire Amy, McWilliams Monica, Robinson Gillian, Russell
David, and Ward Margaret. "Discourses in Transition: Re-Imagining Women's
Security." International Relations 20, no. 4 (2006): 487-502. Available at
http://brandonhamber.com/publications/Journal%20Discourses%20in%20Transition%2
0Womens%20Security.pdf
Peace Women’s overview of SCR 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960 at
http://www.peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325#SCR_1820_SCR_1888_SCR_1889
*Supplemental: *Supplemental: Commission on Human Security, “Outline of the Report of the
Commission on Human Security,” (New York: United Nations, 2003) available at
http://ochaonline.un.org/humansecurity/CHS/finalreport/index.html
* Cottey, Andrew. "Beyond humanitarian intervention: the new politics of peacekeeping and
intervention." Contemporary Politics 14, no. 4 (2008): 429-46. [refshare]
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5. October 9 – Reading Week
6. October 16 – Responsibility to Protect: Core Principles
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, The Responsibility to Protect,
Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2001 at
http://www.globalr2p.org/media/pdf/ICISS_Report.pdf. Synopsis and chapters 1-5.
*Supplemental: Des Forges, Allison. (1999) Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda. New
York: Human Rights Watch. http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/ .
In-class film: The Triumph of Evil (60 min.; 254466)
7. October 23 – Responsibility to Protect: Evolution of a Norm *second half for group work
Kofi Annan, “Two Concepts of Sovereignty,” The Economist, 16 September 1999 at
http://www.economist.com/node/324795.
Ramesh Thakur, ‘Iraq and the Responsibility to Protect’, Behind the Headlines (Canadian
International Council) 62:1-16 (October 2004), available at
http://www.opencanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/BTH_vol62_no1.pdf
Thomas G. Weiss, “Whither R2P?” (November 2011)at e-International Relations website , at
http://www.e-ir.info/2011/08/31/whither-r2p/.
United Nations. Implementing the Responsibility to Protect. Report of the Secretary-General.
A/63/677. 12 January 2009, http://globalr2p.org/pdf/SGR2PEng.pdf. pages 1-9.
*Supplemental: Aidan Hehir, “The Responsibility to Protect: ‘Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing’?”
International Relations, Jun2010, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p218-239. [refshare]
*United Nations, 2005 World Summit Outcome document at http://globalr2p.org/about/index.php.
8. October 30 – Darfur: “Test Case” for R2P *second half for group work
Jide Martyns Okeke, “Contextualising the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ in Darfur,” International Journal
of African Renaissance Studies (2010) 5, no. 1: 65-81[refshare].
Lanz, David. "Save Darfur: A Movement and its Discontents." African Affairs 108.433 (2009): 66977. [refshare]
*Supplemental: Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations
Secretary-General, 2005 at http://www.un.org/news/dh/sudan/com_inq_darfur.pdf.
*De Waal, Alex. "Darfur and the Failure of the Responsibility to Protect." International Affairs 83.6
(2007): 1039-54. [refshare]
*de Waal, Alex. 2007. The Wars of Sudan. The Nation 284, no. 11 (Mar 19): 16-20. [refshare]
*de Waal, Alex. (2005). "Defining Genocide," Index on Censorship, 34 (1): 6-13. [refshare]
*Flint, Julie. 2006. "Darfur: Dying for Peace." Review of African Political Economy 33, no. 108 (June) :
325-368. [refshare]
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*Human Rights First et al. (2008) "Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Situation in Darfur" at Human Rights
Watch http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/darfur1208.pdf.
9. November 6 – Conflict Mapping Project: Group Presentations
10. November 13 – Gender, Peacekeeping and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Higate, Paul (2007) "Peacekeepers, Masculinity, and Sexual Exploitation," Men and Masculinities
10(1):99-119. [refshare]
Simic, Olivera. "Does the Presence of Women Really Matter? Towards Combating Male Sexual
Violence in Peacekeeping Operations." International Peacekeeping 17, no. 2 (2010): 188-99.
[refshare]
Take a look at the UN website, “Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and Related
Personnel,” at http://www.un.org/en/pseataskforce/overview.shtml.
*Supplemental: Frédéric, Mégret. "Beyond the ‘Salvation’ Paradigm: Responsibility To Protect
(Others) vs the Power of Protecting Oneself." Security Dialogue 40, no. 6 (2009):575-595.
[refshare]
In-class film: Blue Helmets: Peace and Dishonour (267503) (CBC, 2007; 42 min)
11. November 20 – Gender Mainstreaming *submit individual report outlines or drafts
Myriam, Denov. "Wartime Sexual Violence: Assessing a Human Security Response to War-Affected
Girls in Sierra Leone." Security Dialogue 37, no. 3 (2006): 319-342. [refshare]
Cohn, Carol (2007) "Mainstreaming Gender in UN Security Policy: A Path to Political
Transformation?" in Shirin M. Rai and Georgina Waylen, eds., Global Governance. New York:
Palgrave. Pages 185-206. ISBN: 978-0-230-53705. [coursepack]
Review SCR 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960 at http://www.peacewomen.org/pages/about1325#SCR_1820_SCR_1888_SCR_1889
*Supplemental: Handrahan, Lori (2004) "Conflict, Gender, Ethnicity and Post-Conflict
Reconstruction," Security Dialogue 35(4):429-445. [refshare]
12. November 27 – International Justice and Gender-Based Violence
Chappell, Louise (2008) "The International Criminal Court: A New Arena for Transforming Gender
Justice?" in Shirin M. Rai and Georgina Waylen, eds., Global Governance. New York: Palgrave.
Pages 160-184. ISBN: 978-0-230-53705. [coursepack]
Buss, Doris. 2007. "The Curious Visibility of Wartime Rape: Gender and Ethnicity in International
Criminal Law." Windsor YB of Access to Justice 25:3-22. ISSN: 0710-0841. [ON RESERVE IN
LIBRARY]
13.
December 4 – Conclusions and Review *individual conflict mapping report due in class
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