Seminar "Forgotten Conflicts" Sommersemester 2023

Forgotten Conflicts: Different Perspectives of International and Regional International Law

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the atrocities committed by Russian forces against the civilian population, the widespread destruction of entire regions and cities in Ukraine as well as resulting consequences for the entire world leave painful images and it appears that this war is unparalleled. But alongside this interstate war, which not solely threw Europe's security out of balance, conflicts are taking place all over the world, on different continents, of varying intensity and causes. These are conflicts that seem to be far away and often only receive scarce media attention. However, these conflicts which are sometimes called “forgotten conflicts” should not be neglected in international relations.

Accordingly, this seminar will deal with a selection of conflicts from different perspectives of international law considering three main aspects: ius ad/contra bellum and ius in bello as well as the role and limits of regional and international organizations in conflict management; including questions of how regional international law relates to universal international law. The fundamental idea of this seminar is not only to draw on conventional approaches to international law for the legal analyses of the specific conflicts; considerations will also be given to, inter alia, TWAIL, feminist views as well as postcolonial critique and are intended to complement the more classical approaches to international law analysis, and should be included in the discussion of the main topics to the extent possible. In addition to the conventional classification of various areas of conflicts from different perspectives and how these are to be considered in the context of international law, specific issues of international law will be addressed under different and critical perspectives.

After a brief introduction to the different and critical approaches to certain areas of international law such as interventions, armed conflicts, and the role of International and Regional Organizations, questions we aim to answer, more generally, are: What legal justifications have Turkey or Iran put forward for their military interventions in Kurdistan? How does international humanitarian law apply in the case of non-international armed conflicts and what are the legal implications for the conflicting parties? What is the role of international courts in interstate conflicts and what are the regional mechanisms for the settlement of internal conflicts? Subsequently, critical and different perspectives of international law considering the people’s right to self-determination, the international community´s failure not to intervene in mass atrocities in the Global South as well as humanitarian interventions are at stake and should be put in relation to Western perceptions.

The seminar is open to all interested students who are willing to thoroughly engage with the topics and actively participate in the discussions.

Note: The seminar will take place from July 7-9. A preliminary meeting (via zoom-link) will take place on March 30, from 10 am to 10.45 am (https://tu-dresden.zoom.us/j/61209538457?pwd=MkxWL0F1eEtmM0hkbDM0bFQyQVkvZz09) . Only after the meeting will it be possible to choose your topic. The seminar will be held in English.

Die Prüfungsleistung besteht aus einer Seminararbeit und der mündlichen Präsentation dazu. Die mündliche Präsentation sollte 20 Minuten umfassen. Die anschließende Diskussion beträgt ca. 30 Minuten,
Das Seminar ist für das Modul MA-IB-IO-IR anrechenbar. Bei Bedarf ist auch eine Anrechnung für die Vertiefung im Profilbereich (MA-IB-IO-WP-V) möglich.

Abgabe der Seminararbeit bis spätestens Freitag, 23. Juni 2023 als pdf-Dabei beim jeweiligen Betreuer und ebenfalls als pdf-Datei bei Frau Börner (katrin.boerner@tu-dresden.de).

Termin des Seminars: Freitag, 7. Juli 2023

Ort: GER/050