MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Course Summary

INSTRUCTORS:
Roy Gutman
Ellen Shearer 202-661-0102

Over the past decade, small, faraway wars have generated a series of international crises that proved to be the major turning points of our era. Seemingly obscure conflicts have proved to be a cover for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; they have furnished the nutrients for terrorism and spurred the drug trade. Most significantly, so-called small wars have led, with surprising frequency, to big wars, and as Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq demonstrated, to U.S. military intervention. This seminar, built around the assumption that few reporters nowadays have any formal military training, will provide a comprehensive introduction to covering both small wars as well as the American style of war fighting.

This course is intended to interest not only field reporters but also any journalist seeking a better understanding of the forces underlying contemporary conflict. There will be a nuts-and-bolts introduction to basic concepts and terms, a focus on acquiring the analytical tools needed to grasp the dynamics behind war, and a strong emphasis on practical knowledge. We will, wherever possible, engage speakers from the U.S. military services and war colleges as well as leading experts on the small wars that can lead to future threats to regional or global security. A special feature will be a two-day course in dangerous environments given by Centurion Risk Assessment Services Ltd., one of the world's leading training firms.

Among the points of focus:

• Main trends in modern warfare.
• Thinking like the military. Basics of warfare (strategy, tactics, mission, doctrine, order of battle, command and control, rank and insignia).
• Case studies, including evolution in the American way of war fighting and what to expect in a typical Third-World conflict.
• Force and foreign policy, including diplomacy without force; force without diplomacy; covert operations and national policy.
• Rules of war and the moral compass. Legal operations, illegal operations, and war crimes. Differentiating violations of the laws and customs of war from crimes against humanity and genocide. U.S. target selection and the law.
• Managing risks as a unilateral. In addition to the Centurion weekend course, likely in mid-October, we will bring in experienced journalists from different fields including photography to discuss near-misses and how to avoid them.
• Winning the peace. The lessons of the 1990s on nation-building after conflict and how they are being currently relearned.

For more information:
Contact Assistant Dean Ellen Shearer at 202-661-0102 or go to http://www.medillnewsdc.com.