The course is a survey of theories of war from an International Relations perspective: a study of societies in relation to warfare, how and why they waged it, how it affected them, how they have chosen to view war. It is organized as a general overview using case studies, of the ways in which war has been organized, fought, explained and justified. Major events and periods in Western military history are used as a repertory of case studies to address some of the most challenging questions surrounding war. Although it examines war from the Ancient World to the present, the course is thematic rather than chronological; it literally uses History to single out Theory, providing a survey of the main concepts involved in studying war and its representations.

*Course content subject to change