United Nations: International Peace and Security Advanced Humanities & Social Sciences Program Fall 2016 Semester - Barcelona

The aim of this course is threefold: first, to introduce students to the United Nations (aims, institutions, history) and its critical role in contemporary international society; second, to focus on the analysis of mechanisms in place at the UN architecture to achieve one of its main goals: maintaining international peace and security; and third, to provide a systematic toolkit which helps students out in critically analyzing the performance of the UN Peace Operation missions, by identifying strengths and weaknesses of different historical operations in the field.

The course is structured in two blocks. The first one introduces the United Nations, its goals, its main bodies and its decision-making process as a starting point. It then focuses on the UN architecture as a decisive international actor regarding international peace and security by analyzing: the UN institutional framework that deals with these issues (the UN Security Council, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Political Affairs, etc.); relevant aspects of the UN Charter in relation to this topic (Chapters VI and VII); and the historical evolution of how the UN has coped with peace and security issues. The second block explores one of the main tools the United Nations applies to maintain peace and security: the UN Peace Operations. This is done by focusing on theoretical debates that have shaped the missions over the time, by examining their evolution in nature and scope and by grasping historical examples (Sierra Leone, Haiti, Burundi, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, etc...).