War and Diplomacy

About

Week 1

A series of deliberately wide-ranging opening sessions exploring the interwoven themes of war and diplomacy. The focus, as with the remainder of the course, will be on relatively contemporary history examples, but with glances into the deeper past in the context of analysing and understanding the morality of war and the philosophical underpinnings of rights and diplomacy. Consideration of ways of studying war and diplomacy will be explored; how does diplomacy fail or wars succeed; complexity and the narratives and manipulations of war; identity, religion, resources, and sectarianism.

Week 2

- War as a subject of history; the emergence (and re-emergence) of the nation state; globalisation; international bodies/supranational diplomacy
- Freedom and Terror: the international consensus (or absence thereof) on constraints and action
- The morality of war, and what does peace look like?

Week 3

- The history of diplomacy; and nuclear and environmental diplomacy
- Failures of diplomacy – individual, national, and supranational, NATO, BRICS, etc.
- Conflicts in the contemporary arena and their witnessing and morality
- The changing character of war – remoteness/proximity; the “diplomacy” of War Crimes

Intercultural and social experience

Throughout the three weeks, you will be accompanied by Lancaster Student Ambassadors who will help you settle into Lancaster, showing you around campus, and answering your questions. They will also lead evening social activities and weekend trips, giving you plenty of chances to make new international friends.

A two-night trip to London is also included in the programme.

For more details about Lancaster’s Global Summer Schools, including information on each programme, how to apply, entry requirements, etc. please visit our webpage.

Course leader

Lancaster’s Centre for War and Diplomacy (CWD)

Target group

To participate in one of our summer schools, you must meet the following criteria:

- Be at least 18 years old at the start of the programme.
- Where applicable, meet pre-requisites for the chosen programme. See the programme package for more details.
- Be in good academic standing and on track to pass year 1 of studies.
- If you come from a country where English is not an official language, you will need to provide proof of your language ability.

Course aim

You will explore the role played by individual, state and other actors in war and diplomacy in the specific learning environment provided by Lancaster’s Centre for War and Diplomacy (CWD).

Fee info