STATES, REBELS, AND WARLORDS
GO-251B
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
Fall 2014
Yelena Biberman-Ocakli
ybiberma@skidmore.edu
Class Meeting: MW 2:30-3:50PM
Class Location: Ladd 206
Office Hours: 5:30-7:00pm
& by appointment at Ladd 314
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines violent conflict in modern societies. It explores the role of the state as well
as non-state actors in causing, escalating, and mitigating violence. We will address major
questions underlying national and international security, such as: When does conflict turn
violent? Under what conditions do victims become perpetrators, and perpetrators become
victims? What are the causes of terrorism, and what is the state’s role in terrorist activity? Is
violence the only way to bring about major political change, or can nonviolent methods work?
Are private military contractors changing the way we fight?
Goals and Objectives:
The goal of this course is (1) to develop critical awareness of and (2) the analytical skills
necessary to evaluate the major security challenges facing countries around the world.
READINGS
All readings (except the books below) will be accessible through Blackboard. Students are
encouraged to obtain the recommended readings from the library and by using online search
engines such as scholar.google.com. As important current events unfold throughout the term, I
will post short newspaper articles and other links on Blackboard, and notify students about them
by email. Reading these articles is also a requirement of this course. The following books are
available for purchase:


Byman, Daniel. Deadly Connections: States That Sponsor Terrorism. New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Singer, P. W. Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry. Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press, 2007.
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REQUIREMENTS
The following are the main requirements of this course*:
Assignment
Description
% of final
grade
Due date
 Attendance is mandatory.
10
- See note (below) on class participation.
 2-4 pages, double-spaced.**
 Application of course material to an important
current issue.
 Involves developing a clear argument,
September 29
briefly evaluating the leading alternative
Op-ed paper
20
(due in class,
explanation(s), and supporting the argument
hard copy)
succinctly with evidence.
 Detailed instructions will be provided in
class; if you miss this class or have
questions, come to office hours.
 In class.
Midterm exam
20
October 22
 Covers lecture and reading materials from Week
1 through, and including, Week 7.
 Work in a group of 2-3 students on a case study
of topic covered the week of the presentation.
 25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A
 Assign and provide relevant readings one
week in advance (email readings to
instructor by Friday, one week before the
Case Study
15
Weeks 9-15
presentation, to be posted on Blackboard)
presentation
 September 17: Group members and date of
presentation selected.
 Sign up with instructor for office hours one
week in advance of your presentation to go
over presentation plan and each group
members’ contribution.
 Take-home.
 Cumulative: covers all lecture and reading
December 15
material.
Final exam
35
No later than
 December 3: Final exam distributed in
class.
5:00pm
 Since exam is distributed far in advance, no
extensions will be granted.
* This syllabus provides an approximate schedule for our course. The instructor reserves the right to
change assignments and due dates. Any such changes will be announced in class.
** Use Times New Roman font for all writing assignments.
Participation &
attendance
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CLASS PARTICIPATION
Part of your course grade will be based on your participation in class. Participation is not only
talking. It is being prepared for class, doing all the assigned readings before the class meets,
arriving on time, careful listening and note-taking, and engaging meaningfully in class
discussions and activities. In order to participate, you must be present, so attendance is required.
An attendance sheet will be circulated at the beginning of every class meeting. Unexcused
absences will impact your overall letter grade. Medical and athletic excuses must be
accompanied by a written note from your doctor, nurse, or coach.
MISSED EXAMS OR ASSIGNMENTS
Late assignments will be penalized, with the exception of bona fide medical or other emergency
as validated by appropriate documentation (e.g., a doctor or nurse’s note). For each day an
assignment is late, 10% of its total worth will be deducted. The midterm exam must be taken as it
is scheduled.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Students are expected to comply with the honor code.1 Because this class involves writing, it is
essential that students develop good habits of citation and scholarship. Plagiarism –
appropriating another person’s ideas or words (spoken or written) without attributing those
words or ideas to their true source – and cheating will not be tolerated. If you have any questions
about how or when to cite another's work, please consult the instructor. Academic Integrity
Handbook2 is also a good resource. Remember: it is better to err on the side of overly generous
citation.
WRITING SKILLS
In line with the requirements of a liberal education, the Government Department emphasizes the
importance of good writing skills. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with The
Writing Requirement in the Department of Government and the Checklist for Grading Writing
Assignments in Government. All papers will be graded according to the grammatical and
composition standards outlined in these documents.
Guidelines are available at: www.skidmore.edu/government/writing_guide/index.php
Students should familiarize themselves with the resources available at the Skidmore Writing
Center. In addition to the individualized assistance the Center provides to students throughout the
school year, it also runs regular workshops aimed at improving writing skills. The following is
the Fall 2014 workshop schedule:
1. Discovery, Part I: Gathering ideas and claims - Saturday, September 20, 1:00-2:00 pm /
Skidmore Writing Center (Library, 4th Floor)
1
2
www.skidmore.edu/student_handbook/honor-code.php
www.skidmore.edu/advising/documents/AcademicIntegrityHandbook_Web.pdf
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2. Mastering punctuation: Ten essential guidelines - Saturday, October 11, 1:00-2:00 pm /
Skidmore Writing Center (Library, 4th Floor)
3. Discovery, Part II: Assessing your writing process thus far - Saturday, October 25, 1:002:00 pm / Skidmore Writing Center (Library, 4th Floor)
4. Grammar: Why bother? Why not? An informal discussion - Saturday, November 15,
1:00-2:00 pm / Skidmore Writing Center (Library, 4th Floor)
5. A balancing act: Maintaining your own voice in an academic essay - Saturday, December
6, 1:00-2:00 pm / Skidmore Writing Center (Library, 4th Floor)
ACCOMMODATION
If you are a student with a disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.),
please contact the instructor so that your learning needs may be appropriately met (all
discussions will remain confidential). You must formally request accommodation from Meg
Hegener, Coordinator for Student Access Services. You will also need to provide documentation
which verifies the existence of a disability and supports your request. For further information,
please call 580-8150 or stop by the office of Student Academic Services in Starbuck Center.
USE OF LAPTOPS AND TABLETS IN CLASS
Laptop, tablet, and phone use in class is not allowed.
BLACKBOARD AND EMAIL
Students should check Blackboard regularly for announcements, links to assigned and
recommended texts, and links to websites and articles related to the course. Students should also
check their Skidmore email accounts regularly for emails from the instructor regarding the
course.
ASSESSMENT AND GRADING
Assessment and grading in this course follows the general guidelines identified in the Skidmore
College Catalogue. Grades are assigned on the following basis:
A+, A
A-, B+, B
B-, C+, C
C-, D+, D
F
Distinguished work
Superior work
Satisfactory work
Passing, poor-quality work
Failure, no credit earned
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A WORD OF ADVICE
Succeeding in this course is a function of your own effort. Here are some tips:
 Do the reading. The lectures are not a substitute for the readings. All assignments will
demand familiarity with material not covered in lecture but found in the readings.
 Come to class. Likewise, lectures may include material not in the readings and will help
you to build up critical thinking skills.
 Read critically. Focus on the big picture to glean the main arguments in the texts. Think
about the logic of the arguments and draw linkages and contrasts among the texts.
 Ask questions. Do not hesitate to ask questions or raise issues in class. Your comments
will enrich the course.
 Come to office hours. I am here to help and also invite you to share your responses and
reactions to the material.
 Follow relevant issues outside of class. Reading about current (or not so current) events
in important journals and newspapers will help you to assess and apply the concepts you
encounter in the course.
o Among the sources you may wish to consult are: The New York Times,
Washington Post, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Foreign Policy
(www.foreignpolicy.com), Foreign Affairs (www.foreignaffairs.com/), The
Economist (www.economist.com), Al Jazeera (english.aljazeera.net), and BBC
(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world).
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1: Introduction
Wednesday, September 3 – Introduction
 Review course syllabus
Week 2: Unpacking the Concepts
Monday, September 8 – Conflict, Violence, Peace, Security
 Michel Foucault, “The Body of the Condemned,” Discipline and Punish: The
Birth of the Modern Prison (New York: Vintage Books, 1977), pp. 3-31.
Wednesday, September 10 – Types of Violent Conflict and Actors Involved
 John Mueller, “The Banality of ‘Ethnic War’,” International Security 25, no. 1
(Summer 2000), pp. 42-70.
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Recommended:
 Ashutosh Varshney, “Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict,” in eds. Carles Boix and
Susan Carol Stokes, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2007).
 Stathis N. Kalyvas and Laia Balcells, “International System and Technologies
of Rebellion: How the End of the Cold War Shaped Internal Conflict,”
American Political Science Review 104, no. 3 (August 2010), pp. 415-429.
Week 3: States
Monday, September 15 – What is the State?
 Michael Mann, “The Autonomous Power of the State: Its Origins, Mechanisms,
and Results,” in States in History, ed. John A. Hall (B. Blackwall, 1986), pp. 109136.
Recommended:
 Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation,” in eds., H.H. Garth and C. Wright Mills,
Essays in Sociology (New York: Macmillian, 1946).
Wednesday, September 17 – How War Made the State and the State Made War
*** Students select group members and date of Case Study presentation
 Charles Tilly, Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1990
(Cambridge: Basil Blackwell, 1990), pp. 67-95 and 192-225.
Recommended:
 Jeffrey Herbst, “War and the State in Africa,” International Security 14, no. 4
(Spring 1990), pp. 117-39.
 Miguel Centeno, “Limited War and Limited States” in eds. Diane E. Davis
and Anthony W. Pereira. Irregular Armed Forces and Their Role in Politics
and State Formation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 8295.
 Youssef Cohen, Brian R. Brown, and A. F. K. Organski, “The Paradoxical
Nature of State Making: The Violent Creation of Order,” American Political
Science Review 75, no. 4 (December 1981), pp. 901-910.
Week 4: Rebels
Monday, September 22 – Roots of Rebellion
 Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, “Greed and Grievance in Civil War,” Oxford
Economic Papers 56, no. 4 (October 2004), pp. 563-595.
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 Mao Tse-tung, On Guerrilla Warfare (New York: Classic House Books, 2009),
pp. TBA.
Wednesday, September 24 – Mechanisms of Rebellion
 Jeremy M. Weinstein, “Resources and the Information Problem in Rebel
Recruitment,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 no. 4 (August 2005), pp. 598624.
Recommended:
 Zachariah Cherian Mampilly, Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and
Civilian Life During War (Cornell University Press, 2011).
 Jeremy M. Weinstein, Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence
(Cambridge University Press, 2007).
 James D. Fearon and David D. Laitin, “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.”
American Political Science Review 97, no. 1 (February 2003), pp. 75-90.
 Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, “Telling the Difference: Guerrillas and
Paramilitaries in the Colombian War,” Politics & Society 36, no. 3 (March
2008), pp. 3-34.
Week 5: Countering Rebellion
Monday, September 29 – Film Screening & Discussion: The Battle of Algiers (1966)
*** Op-ed paper due in class
Wednesday, October 1 – Countering Rebellion
 U.S. Department of the Army, Counterinsurgency, Field Manual 3-24 (December,
2006), Introduction and Chapter 1.
 Yelena Biberman-Ocakli, “Why States Turn Civilians and Militants into
Counterinsurgents: Lessons from India and Turkey,” Working Paper.
Week 6: Terrorists
Monday, October 6 – What is Terrorism? What are Its Causes and Consequences?
 Martha Crenshaw, “The Causes of Terrorism,” Comparative Politics 13, no. 4.
(July 1981), pp. 379-399.
 Andrew H. Kydd and Barbara F. Walter, “The Strategies of Terrorism,”
International Security 31, no. 1 (Summer 2006), pp. 49-80.
Wednesday, October 8 – State-Sponsored Terrorism
States, Rebels, and Warlords | 7
 Daniel Byman, Deadly Connections: States That Sponsor Terrorism (New York,
NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005), Chapters 1-3 and 9.
Week 7: Militias
Monday, October 13 – Varieties of Militias
 Yelena Biberman, “When States Outsource Violence: Domestic Nonstate Actors
in Pakistan and India’s Wars,” Working Paper.
 Ragnhild Nordås and Dara Kay Cohen, “Sexual Violence by Militias in African
Conflicts,” Centre for the Study of Civil War Policy Brief 1 (2012), pp. 1-4.
Recommended:
 Sabine C. Carey, Neil J. Mitchell, and Will Lowe, “States, the Security Sector,
and the Monopoly of Violence: A New Database on Pro-Government
Militias,” Journal of Peace Research 50, no. 2 (March 2013), pp. 249-258.
Wednesday, October 15 – Annual Conference on South Asia (no class)
Week 8: Review & Midterm
Monday, October 20 – Review
 Review course material and bring questions to class
Wednesday, October 22 – Midterm
Week 9: Warlords
Monday, October 27 – Warlords in Comparative and Historical Perspective
 Kimberly Marten, “Warlordism in Comparative Perspective,” International
Security 31, no. 3 (Winter 2006/7), pp. 41-73.
Wednesday, October 29 – Case Studies (Groups 1 & 2)
 TBA
Week 10: Private Military Contractors
Monday, November 3 – Warriors, Inc.
 P. W. Singer, Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry
(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007), Chapters 2-6, Skim Chapter 15.
States, Rebels, and Warlords | 8
Recommended:
 David Shearer, “Outsourcing War” Foreign Policy 112 (Autumn 1998), 68-81.
 Allison Stanger, One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American
Power and the Future of Foreign Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press,
2009), Preface, Chapters 1 and 3.
Wednesday, November 5 – Case Studies (Groups 3 & 4)
 TBA
Week 11: Has War Changed?
Monday, November 10 – New and Old Wars
 Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1999), pp. 1-10.
Wednesday, November 12 – Guest Speaker: Major Shawn L. Tabankin
Week 12: Victims
Monday, November 17 – Collateral Damage, Intended Consequences, and Self-Defense
 Jo Becker, “Child Soldiers: Changing a Culture of Violence,” Human Rights 32,
no. 1 (Winter 2005), pp. 16-18.
 Dara Kay Cohen, Ragnhild Nordås, and Elisabeth Wood, “Four Things Everyone
Should Know about Wartime Sexual Violence,” Washington Post, June 9, 2014.
 Corinna Jentzsch, “‘Sharpen your hoes and picks’: Peasant Mobilization for SelfDefense during Mozambique’s Post-Independence War, 1976-1992,” Working
Paper, September 8, 2013.
Wednesday, November 19 – Victims Case Studies (Groups 5 & 6)
 TBA
Week 13: Inside War
Monday, November 24 – Simulation Game [participation required, plan travel
accordingly]
Wednesday, November 26 – Thanksgiving Vacation (no classes)
Week 14: Agents of Nonviolence
Monday, December 1 – What is Nonviolent Resistance? Is It Effective?
States, Rebels, and Warlords | 9
 Erica Chenoweth, “Think Again: Nonviolent Resistance,” Foreign Policy (August
24, 2011), pp. 1-5.
 Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, “Drop Your Weapons: When and Why
Civil Resistance Works,” Foreign Affairs 93, Issue 4 (July-August 2014), pp. 94106.
Recommended:
 Maciej J. Bartkowski, Recovering Nonviolent History: Civil Resistance in
Liberation Struggles (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2013).
 Kurt Schock, “Nonviolent Action and Its Misconceptions: Insights for Social
Scientists,” Political Science and Politics 36 no. 4 (October 2003), pp. 705712.
 Gene Sharp, From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for
Liberation (New York: New Press, 2012), Chapters 1 and 5.
 Erica Chenoweth and Orion A. Lewis, “Unpacking Nonviolent Campaigns:
Introducing the NAVCO 2.0 Dataset,” Journal of Peace Research 50, no. 3
(2013), pp. 415-423.
Wednesday, December 3 – Case Studies (Groups 7 & 8)
 TBA
Week 15: Bandits and Criminals
Monday, December 8 – Criminal Behavior in Comparative and Historical Perspective
 Moises Naim, “The Five Wars of Globalization,” Foreign Policy (JanuaryFebruary 2003), pp. 29-36.
 Peter Andreas, “Illicit Globalization: Myths, Misconceptions, and Historical
Lessons,” Political Science Quarterly 126, no. 3 (Fall 2011), pp. 406-425.
Recommended:
 Karen Barkey, Bandits and Bureaucrats: The Ottoman Route to State
Centralization (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994).
Wednesday, December 10 – Case Study (Group 9) & Wrap up
 Case Study Readings TBA
 Daniel Kahneman and Jonathan Renshon, “Why Hawks Win,” Foreign Policy,
December 27, 2006.
States, Rebels, and Warlords | 10
Government Department
Policy on Civility and Comportment in the Classroom
The classroom experience is the heart of liberal education, and as such is the most important aspect of
your Skidmore College education. Presumably, if you did not agree you would not be attending
Skidmore. The faculty of the Government Department takes this understanding as the basis of our
educational efforts. It is in an attempt to honor the centrality of the classroom experience that we offer
this department policy on civility and comportment.
As is stated in the Student Handbook, your presence at Skidmore College is contingent upon your
acceptance of, and full adherence to, the Skidmore College Honor Code. This honor code is distinct from
the oath you take when writing a paper or taking an exam – it is in fact much more all-encompassing, and
much more demanding.
The Code includes the following statement: “I hereby accept membership in the Skidmore College
community and, with full realization of the responsibilities inherent in membership, do agree to adhere to
honesty and integrity in all relationships, to be considerate of the rights of others, and to abide by the
College regulations.” Elsewhere, the Code also calls all Skidmore students to “conform to high standards
of fair play, integrity, and honor.”
What does it mean to do act honestly, with integrity, and according to high standards of fair play,
particularly in the classroom? In our view, it includes, minimally, the following.
1. No student shall lessen the learning experience of others in the classroom by arriving late to class.
2. No student shall lessen the learning experience of others in the classroom by leaving the classroom
while class is in session, except for true medical emergencies.
3. Cell phones must be turned off during class.
4. No student shall disrupt the learning experience of others in the classroom by talking to a neighbor,
writing notes to other students, reviewing one’s mail, reading the newspaper, completing homework for
other classes, or playing with the laptop computer, while class is in session.
5. No student shall disrespect other Skidmore students, professors or the housekeeping staff by putting
feet on the desks or other furniture in the classroom, or by leaving trash, food, or recyclables in the room
at the end of the class session.
While we will hold all students to these minimal expectations, we also have some suggestions for those
who seek to go beyond the bare minimum of civil classroom comportment to become the type of mature,
responsible, active learners who are an asset to any classroom and society at large. These include the
following.
6. Every student should take copious and meaningful notes both on assigned readings and during
classroom sessions. Note taking is an important skill—if you do not already possess it, you should acquire
it.
States, Rebels, and Warlords | 11
7. Every student should take some time to review the notes that he or she has taken on the day’s assigned
reading before each class meeting. You will be amazed how much more invested and engaged in the class
you will feel if you go into the classroom well-prepared.
8. Disruptions in class can be a significant impediment to learning, and no member of the Skidmore
community—including faculty and students—should tolerate them. Thus every student should take
responsibility for holding his or her peers and classmates to both high academic standards and high
standards of civility. If people around you are chatting, passing notes or otherwise detracting from the
overall quality of YOUR classroom experience, don’t let them get away with it.
9. Individual faculty members in the Government Department will determine the level of sanctions for
disruptive behavior.
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