COVENANT UNIVERSITY,OTA
COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Programmes: International Relations/Policy and Strategy/ Political Science
Course Code: STS 415
Course Title: Contemporary Issues in Strategic Studies
Units: 3 Units
Course Lecturer: Dr Jide Ibietan
Semester: 2013/2014 Alpha Semester
Time:
Location:
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Course Overview
This course will introduce students to contemporary issues in strategic studies. It will deepen their understanding of modern warfare with emphasis on the changes in the techniques of contemporary warfare, especially after the cold war. It will examine the change in warfare,
East-West nuclear arms race to the age of nuclear proliferation; international as well as domestic armed conflicts and the use of small arms in such conflicts. In other words, it will adopt a historical and analytical perspective with a view to identifying the changing dynamics of global security issues, tagged in literature as ‘New Threats to Global Peace’.
The course will examine the underlining causes and consequences of these new threats on the economy, society, politics and culture. It will engage cross-cultural paradigm to the issues in global peace with a view to comparing social formations. More fundamentally, the course will address new techniques and methods in contemporary strategic thinking employed in meeting these emerging threats in the international system, and explore the possibility of
“domesticating” these new knowledge and information to our unique context. In the final analysis, it will adapt theory to concrete strategic realities in contemporary international politics, anchored on African perspective.
Course Objectives/Goals
The objective of the course is to deepen the understanding of students to new concepts in contemporary security issues and new strategies for meeting the emerging challenges. The underlining goal of the course is to situate Africa within the context of these new threats and examine the preparedness or otherwise of African countries to meet the challenges.
Teaching Method : Lectures shall focus on students participation and interaction. In addition, lecture notes shall be delivered to students to enhance their understanding of this subject.
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Teaching Aid : Overhead Projector/Multimedia Presentation
Course Outline
Module 1: INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF STUDY
Week One: Introduction; Conceptual Clarification of Concept- Contemporary Strategic
Issues; Understanding Strategy and Power in Contemporary International Politics.
Week Two: Arms Control and Limitation as Consequences of the Cold War.
Week Three: Changing Nature of Warfare: New Security Threats in Global Politics.
Module 2: AFRICA IN GLOBAL SECURITY ISSUES
Week Four: Politics, Causes and Consequences of Intra-state Conflicts in Africa.
Week Five: Proliferation of Conventional and Small Arms in the International System; Types and Efforts at Curbing the Phenomenon.
Week Six: The Fate of Women, Children and the Aged in Conflict Theatre of Contemporary
Africa: The Relevance, Politics, Legality and Morality of Humanitarian Intervention in
Africa.
Week Seven: Issues of Reparations and Africa’s Temporary Debt Burden- Revisiting
Slavery, colonialism and Neo-colonialism.
Week Eight: Mid-Semester Test.
Module 3: STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO GLOBAL SECURITY ISSUES
Week Nine: Development Assistance as Strategic Issue in Global Politics: The Imperatives and Challenges of Poverty Alleviation in Africa.
Week Ten: Origin, Politics and Dynamics of HIV/AIDS in International System-
Implications for Africa in Contemporary World Stage.
Module 4: CREATING A SYNERGY
Week Eleven: Capacity Building for Crisis Management in Africa.
Week Twelve: Revision and Tutorial
Structure of the Programme/Methods of Grading
The course is structured to deepen the students’ understanding of contemporary strategic issues. Hence, the grading method is organised as follows:
Total Continuous Assessment Marks : 30%
End of Semester Examination : 70%,Total Score:100%
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Ground Rules and Regulations
It is compulsory for registered students to attend all lectures and students must be seated 10 minutes before the commencement of lectures. It is mandatory for students to write tests and examinations and any student who is unable to do so must seek and present approvals from the appropriate authority of the University to qualify for retake of tests and examinations.
Topics for Term Papers/Assignment/Student Activities
Three weeks will be given to students to prepare and submit a term paper. Additionally, the lecturer will conduct a mid-semester examination as stipulated on the University Calendar and administer tests on randomly chosen dates in order to encourage students’ attendance at lectures.
Alignment with Covenant University Vision/Goals
The course is designed to enable the students understand and apply contemporary strategies in current security issues to their unique context. It will also equip them with relevant skills in future planning, projection and implementation of their stated policy/goals.
Contemporary Issues/Industry Relevance
It is a well documented fact that, the absence of strategy in the harnessing and utilisation of resources- human and material is the greatest bane of development in Nigeria and by extension, Africa. Therefore, the course addresses the perennial problem of underdevelopment in Africa with a view to exploring the best model/strategy that will position her for transformation in the 21 st
century.
Recommended Texts
Barry Buzan, (1987) Introduction to Strategic Studies: Military Technology and International
Relations . London: Macmillan.
Claude Ake, (1974) “Modernisation and Political Instability: A Theoretical Exploration” in
World Politics . No. 4 pp. 576-591
Colin S. Gray, (2007) War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic
History . Routledge: New York
Conway W. Henderson, (1996) International Relations: Conflict and Cooperation at the
Turn of the 21 st Century . McGraw-Hill
J.C. Johari, (2009) International Relations and Politics: Theoretical Perspectives in the Post-
Cold War Era . Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi: India.
Jide Owoeye, ed. (1993) Understanding the New World Order . College Press Ltd. Ibadan:
Oyo State.
John Garnett, (1972) Theories of Peace and Security: A Reader in Contemporary Strategic
Thought.
London: Macmillan Press.
John T. Rourke, (1966) International Politics on the World Stage. The Rush-kin Publishing
Group
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K.J. Holsti, (1995) International Politics: A Framework of Analysis . New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall
Karl W. Deutsch, (1989) The Analysis of International Relations.
New Delhi: Prentice Hall of
India.
Lila Ammons, (1996) “Consequences of War on African Countries’ Social and Economic
Development” in
African Studies Review . Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 67-82.
Michael Howard, (1983) The Causes of Wars and Other Essays . Unwin Paperbacks, London.
Norman D. Palmer, ed. (2007) International Relations: Third Revised Edition . A.I.T.B.S.
Publishers, India.
Robert J. Art & Robert Jervis, (2007) International Politics: Enduring Concepts and
Contemporary Issues.
Pearson Longman, New York: USA
Roger Beaumont, (1990) “Thinking the Unspeakable; On Cruelty in Small Wars” in
Small
Wars and Insurgencies.
Vol. 1 No. 1, Frank Case & Co. Ltd. London
Samuel P. Huntington, (1993) “The Clash of Civilisations” in
Foreign Affairs . Vol. 72, No. 3, pp. 22-49
Stephen Biddle, (1996) “Victory Misunderstood: What the Gulf War Tells Us about the
Future of Conflict” in International Security . Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 139-179
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