By the end of the course, students should be :

• Familiar with the signature characteristics of fragile and conflict affected states and current peacebuilding approaches being applied. Through detailed case studies of two very different scenarios, students will gain a realistic understanding of the effects and impact of peacebuilding interventions.
• Understand the complex drivers that create a fragile state, the role conflict plays as part of a broader security and development axis therein, and the real impact of peacebuilding policies, frameworks and programmes. Using this to link the more practical issues facing conflict/post-conflict and fragile states, with the involvement of external actors and western policies, realist and complexity theories in IR, from which general lessons can be drawn and applied elsewhere within IR and Development streams.
• Able to identify patterns and draw from the failures and successes in Afghanistan and Mali, and apply them as generalisable lessons to international relations, economic, security and geo-political theory and further case studies.