Listed in: Political Science, as POSC-344
Eleonora Mattiacci (Section 01)
How does technology change the ways in which we fight wars? Can innovations such as computerized systems, drones, or even social media make wars less deadly? Or do these technologies increase instead the probability that states will fight? To tackle these questions, this course will adopt a chronological structure and we will study some of the major military innovations in the past seventy years. Topics include important moments such as the aerial power revolution, nuclear weapons and the MAD strategy, the “CNN Revolution” in the 1990s, the spread of social media as a tool of public diplomacy for insurgents, the drones’ “war of precision,” and also the recent debate over cybersecurity. Throughout the course, we will parse out two types of technology advancements: those that change the most fundamental aspects of war (such as leaders’ objectives in the conflict and their cost/benefit calculations on whether to become involved or not) and those that merely alter the way the war is fought.
Limited to 20 students. Fall semester. Professor Mattiacci.
Section 01
W 02:00 PM - 04:45 PM MORG 110
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| War and Chance: Assessing Uncertainty in International Politics | Oxford University Press | Jeffrey Friedman | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Small Wars, Big Data: The Information Revolution in Modern Conflict | Princeton University Press | Eli Berman,Joseph H. Felter, and Jacob Shapiro | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.