Conflict, security and development

This unit aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the security and development challenges facing conflict-affected environments and how those challenges can be addressed. The unit begins by considering some of the causes of conflict, and ways in which conflict can be prevented, managed and resolved, paying particular attention to the security-development nexus and the concept of human security. The substance of the unit considers the challenges facing countries in the immediate aftermath of conflict, and how to rebuild security and pave the way for longer-term development. This includes looking at the activities and actors engaged in peace-building and critically assessing the impact of their engagement. The security needs of women, children and marginalized groups are attended to, alongside ways in which peace-building efforts can be more inclusive.

Unit also aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the broader international security risks and development challenges posed by conflict-vulnerable and conflict-affected environments, to include environmental degradation; large-scale population movements; transnational organized crime, including the trafficking of people, weapons and drugs; piracy; and terrorism. The unit will consider the ways in which these challenges - and the way they are understood and responded to - impact conflict-vulnerable and conflict-affected environments as well as broader international peace and security.