This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

AZA3703 - The global politics of arms control and disarmament

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

South Africa School of Social Sciences

Coordinator(s)

Dr Anna-Mart van Wyk

Offered

South Africa

Second semester 2016 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit examines policies that have been developed to facilitate the emergence of a less militarised form of world politics. Three themes are addressed. First - general issues involved in efforts to manage and stop the arms race are introduced. Second - attempts to restrain the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, biological weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons are outlined analysed. The role of South Africa as a world leader in nuclear non-proliferation efforts will be highlighted, as well as the position of Africa in the global nuclear regime. Third - the prospects for various degrees of demilitarisation are discussed in the light of contemporary developments in world politics. Here, specific emphasis will be placed on the challenges of disarmament in Africa.

Outcomes

The unit has the following objectives:

to provide a sense of the conceptual and historical context required for understanding developments in international arms control;
to introduce students to key international arms control agreements, with specific emphasis on the role of South Africa in promoting arms control;
to introduce students to the unique challenges of disarmament in Africa; and
to enhance the ability of students to engage in critical reflection and produce reasoned, soundly structured and well presented debate on the place of arms control in the international system.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Anna-Mart van Wyk

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

International studies - South Africa

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of second-year Arts units.

Prohibitions

AZA2703, ATS2703, ATS3703