security policy in the seven kingdoms of Westeros

This fall, I have been studying the A course of peace and conflict studies at Uppsala University. When I’ve not been busy reading articles about American foreign policy and writing papers about the wars in Darfur, Libya and Syria, I’ve been reading fantasy. And not just any fantasy. George R. R. Martin. His A Song of Ice and Fire series, to be exact. Or, the books that Game of Thrones is based on, for those of you who are more TV show oriented.

The thing is, they kind of clash. Or rather, they have created a surreal bubble around me this fall. A bubble of imagined and theorized war. On the one hand, we have the cold calculations of realist conflict theory and on the other the highly passionate wars of revenge in A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve spent my evenings sitting curled up on my couch reading, not being able to keep from thinking that the weakening of the Targaryen house led to an imbalance in the system of the kingdoms that make out the realm of Westeros, a condition that first led to the first rebellion and then to the eventual war of the five kings. A pretty good example of the balance of power theory. Or should a theory about hegemony be used instead? And how about the people? Is the reason why the five new kings could gather up their armies and rise against King’s Landing because no real Westerosian identity had been created, that people identified more with their old kingdoms and their lords, like the Starks in the North, the Tullys in the Riverlands and the Greyjoys of the Iron Islands, than with the king far away in King’s Landing. What if – –

You see! This is terrible! This fall has brainwashed me with war and to be honest, I feel sick and tired of it. Because, wouldn’t it be much more fun to muse about what kind of atmospheric system, planet and solar system that can create such distinct, irregular and comparatively short periods of climate change instead. Winters that last fifteen years! Our ice ages last considerably longer than that, and arrive much slower.

Or, even better, just read for the pure enjoyment of the story.

Naah. This fall has been odd. Luckily, Christmas is almost here.