Territorial Conflict
Territory is one of the most common issues that pushes states into war, and this MIT graduate seminar surveys the research that has grown up around that fact. The course asks three linked questions: why territorial disputes arise between states, why some escalate into full-scale violence, and why others get settled peacefully instead. Readings pull from political geography and diplomatic history as well as both qualitative case studies and quantitative political science, giving students a sense of how different methods approach the same puzzle. As a seminar, the course centers on discussion of assigned readings rather than lectures, with students expected to engage directly with the scholarly literature on borders, sovereignty claims, and interstate rivalry. Materials are published through MIT OpenCourseWare, including the syllabus and reading list, under MIT's open license, and the course carries no cost since OpenCourseWare offers no certificate at all, only the course content itself.