The course examines violence that occurs mainly within the territory of sovereign states. We focus on violence as an object of study in its own right. For the most part, we look at violence as a dependent variable, though in some instances it functioned as an independent variable, a mechanism, or an equilibrium. We ask why violence happens, how it “works” or fails to work, why it takes place in some locations and not others, why violence takes specific forms (e.g., insurgency, terrorism, mass killing), what explains its magnitude (the number of victims), and what explains targeting (the type or identity of victims). Special attention to connecting theoretical literatures in the social sciences with policy-relevant debates in government and nongovernmental service.