Module Identifier IP34220  
Module Title LAND OF GHOSTS? INTERNATIONAL POL IN THE BALKANS SINCE 1919  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Dr Patrick B Finney  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Lecture   16 Hours (16 x 1 hour)  
  Seminars / Tutorials   8 Hours (8 x 1 hour)  
Assessment Semester Exam   2 Hours   50%  
  Semester Assessment   Essay: 1 x 3,000 words   50%  
  Supplementary Exam   Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.    

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students should be able to:

- Critically assess the impact of the two world wars upon domestic and international politics in the Balkans
- Demonstrate an awareness of the nature and dynamics of Cold War confrontation in the region
- Describe and analyse the factors that caused the disintegration of Yugoslavia and consequent conflicts
- Discuss competing perspectives on the nature and significance of 'ethnic' and 'national' identities in the Balkans
- Discuss the range of political, economic, social and cultural factors that have shaped foreign policies in and towards the region
- Critically assess historiographical and other representations of warfare and violence in the region across the 20th century

Brief description

This module explores the course of international politics in the Balkans from the First World War through the Second World War and Cold War to the Yugoslav wars of succession.

Aims

The aim of this module is to explore the course of international politics in the Balkans from the First World War through the Second World War and Cold War to the Yugoslav wars of succession. It will examine relations between the Balkan states as well as the significance of the region in broader geopolitical contexts. It will offer a broadly chronological survey that will provide historical context for the in-depth analysis of the crises of the 1990s that constitutes the final third of the module.

Content

The module will explore the emergence of the modern nation state and territorial order in the Balkans in the early twentieth century before examining the impact of the First World War and the operation of the Versailles system there. It will then assess the origins, course and consequences of the Second World War and the nature and dynamics of Cold War confrontation in the region. The causes and consequences of the disintegration of Yugoslavia will be analysed in the final third of the module, with case studies on the war between Serbia and Croatia, the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the Macedonian question. Throughout the module attention will be drawn to the politicised nature of historiographical and other commentaries on warfare and violence in the region across the 20th century.

Transferable skills

Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of transferable skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas. Throughout the module, students should practice and develop their reading, comprehension and thinking skills, as well as self-management. In seminars students enhance and develop their analytical skills and practice listening, explaining and debating skills. Essay writing encourages students to practice independent research, writing and IT skills and the examination will test these skills under time constraint conditions.

Reading Lists

Books
M Mazower. (2000) The Balkans. London: Phoenix
R J Crampton. (2002) The Balkans Since the Second World War. London: Longman
M Glenny. (1999) The Balkans, 1804-1999. London: Granta