War in the Twentieth Century (W20C)

Regents Professor Seymour E. Goodman, 302 Habersham, 5-1461, seymour.goodman@inta.gatech.edu, available before or after class or by appointment (easily made)

Spring 2020, TuTh afternoon,

W20C provides a historical foundation and understanding of the causes, conduct and consequences of modern war and aims to support informed discussion and analysis of contemporary crisis and conflict.

In a bit more detail, the primary storyline for this course:

At the beginning of the 20th Century, there were arguably nine (9) Great Powers who had largely divided up the rest of the world among themselves, most often in the form of colonies or territories. The military-technological gaps across the Great Powers were fairly small.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, there was one Superpower. The colonies and territories for the most part had become more than 100 independent countries. The military-technological lead of the one Superpower was huge, dwarfing the next few most advanced countries.

Much of this change was the result of three major wars (World War I, World War II and the Cold War), and a large number of smaller armed conflicts during the 20th Century.

This course is concerned with how this came about.

The one Superpower has now been mired in three wars for most of the young 21st Century (each has its own campaign medal). Each has lasted longer than any of its hot wars of the 20th Century. The military-technological and several other gaps between the Superpower and its enemies are greater than has been the case at any time in its nearly 250 year history. Why doesn’t the Superpower win any of these wars?