F1IS 4480 - Conventional Arms Markets and Trade

The different topics covered during the course are:

the specificities of armament programs. The conventional arms world market ;

the different actors in the conventional armament trade and their motivations. Government’s armament export control and government’s export support. The financial mechanisms for armament export support. Other supporting operators;

positioning of France on the global armament market. What is the war economy? The European Union as a regional actor and the challenges faced ahead;

ethics related to armaments and arms trade. Ethics and treaties. Law of war. Corruption and the compliance issues of international partners.

Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge of the main specificities of the Conventional Arms Market and Trade.

Searching, analyzing, reporting and briefing on related topics (Group work and individually).

Writing a policy paper for high-ranking officials.

Professional Skills:

The proposed methodological course focuses on the skills – analytical, managerial and political – that conventional arms trade analysis or management-related positions in the defense industry may require. It mainly develops policies, technologies and administrative processes relevant to real-life cases. The lens will be both national and international.

Applicants should have a basic knowledge of conventional arms trade treaties and export control regimes, as those topics will not be discussed in detail during the conferences but are necessary to a comprehensive understanding of the global dynamics of the conventional arms market and trade.

There will be qualitative oral live-feedbacks all along the semester and the sessions. The objectives of these feedbacks are individual and collective improvements.

The interactions with the professor are encouraged all along the semester.

There will be no individual quantitative grading for the different production provided before the end of the semester. The objectives of such a policy are fairness and coherence of the whole class grading.

Before each session, a comprehensive presentation (slides on technology, policy, administrative processes aspects) will be forwarded, a few days in advance: it will support discussions and debates during the course and provide professional basic knowledge for future positions related to the conventional arms market analysis or in the defense industry. Students will be supposed to have read it carefully before the lecture which will be a summary (key points, clarification as needed) and comments. Students are encouraged to visit dedicated blogs and read weekly on news related to conventional arms market and trade issues.

During this course, all students are expected:

to individually write a policy paper on one of the proposed topics and to provide recommendations for addressing it (25% of final mark);

to individually prepare and deliver a 10 min. briefing on one of the proposed topics (25%);

to contribute to the elaboration of a weekly newsletter and deliver a 10 min briefing on it (20%);

to prepare and develop a strategy during the table-top exercise and interact with other actors and to submit individually a short-written feed-back after the TTX (20%);

to actively participate during the coursework 10%

In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester

Online learning activities: none

Reading and Preparation for Class: 0,5 hours a week / 6 hours a semester

Research and Preparation for Group Work: min 10 hours a semester

Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: min 60 hours a semester