How do we categorize conflicts?  How do we study them?  How do we know it is a conflict?  This course takes a threat-based approach to security capability development.  This course offers a taxonomy of conflicts using the Upsala Conflict Database and surveys extant conflicts and their causes.  This course reviews the current activities and western led security initiatives in West Africa.   Conflicts in the developing world often occur under neo patrimonial systems of governance that manipulate ethnic
identities.  In the twentieth century these conflicts were often about self-determination and sovereignty.  In the twenty-first century, control of natural resources appears to overlay issues of justice and fairness. Broadly, the course will be divided into four parts.  The first part will establish an understanding of the definition and trends in conflict and will provide an empirical basis for the study of conflicts. The second part is roving over a wide range of theories on the root causes and nature of the social conflict. It offers a set of tools for the analysis of various components to given conflicts.  The third part examines a threat-based approach to defense institution improvement.  The fourth part reviews the current activities and western led security initiatives in West Africa.