IR5822 The American Way of War

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Curricular information may be subject to change

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

Thu 1pm - 3pm

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr R D Mobley

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Daniel Mobley

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module will examine how the United States has entered, fought and then left the many wars in which it has been involved. The hope is not to come up with some overarching theory of how the US conducts itself, but to understand the different choices that it has faced and how it went about answering them. All three of these areas have been the subject of great debate. American entry into war has been examined from the point of view of economic interest, security concerns, high political decision-making and even public opinion. The way that the USA has fought wars has been even more controversial. One idea is that the country has been too reliant on equipment/technology/firepower, and has regularly lost its way politically. Finally, how the USA has ended up leaving its wars has been debated. There is a discussion over whether/how/if public opinion compels an administration to pull the USA out of war at different times, and just how 'victory' or 'defeat' should be defined

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

3-hour Written Examination = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

2-hour seminars

Scheduled learning hours

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

276

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.