The aim of CPS is to promote an understanding of the driving forces behind armed conflicts, including civil wars, riots, and communal conflicts, which have become a major obstacle to development. It situates these within the global political economy, particularly within the neo-liberal politics of the last few decades, as well as within concepts of post-colonial state building. Security is conceptualised broadly as not just national/international security but also as the right to security of individuals, including women and children, as well as civilian men. Gender is an important analytical lens here, used not as a proxy for women but as a vitally important component of global militarism, particularly as regards the part played by hegemonic masculinist concepts and ways in which masculinisms play out in specific conflict settings. Peace is conceptualised not just as the situation that breaks out after the signing of a peace treaty but also in relation to post-conflict levels of direct and structural violence that affect individuals and groups of citizens, including women and children at the domestic as well as other levels. Humanitarian agendas are discussed along with their effects on conflict as well as the politics of the UN, and conflicts arising out of competition over natural resources. Students who have taken this module should be able to situate the causes of conflict within the global political economy and understand how conflicts relate to the wider regional and international contexts.