07223 - Strategic Studies

Learning outcomes

The course provides the students with a basic understanding of war, from the modern age to the contemporary world.

Course contents

The course is divided into two part. The first part focuses on military history and the evolution of strategic thought. The second part deals with the main causes of war.

Readings/Bibliography

Parte I: Guerra e strategia dalle origini dell'età moderna al XXI secolo

1. La «rivoluzione militare»

G. Rothenberg, «Maurice of Nassau, Gustavus Adolphus, Raimondo Montecuccoli and the "Military Revolution" of the Seventeenth Century, in P. Paret (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 32-63.

R. Palmer, «Frederick the Great, Guibert, Bülow: From Dynastic to National War», ibid., pp. 91-119.

2. Napoleone e Clausewitz

P. Paret, «Napoleon and the Revolution of War»,in P. Paret, ed. Makers of Modern Strategy, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 123-142.

P. Paret, «Clausewitz», ibid., pp. 186-213.

C. von Clausewitz, Della guerra, qualsiasi edizione, Libro I e VIII.

3. Strategia e geopolitica nei secoli XIX e XX

A. T. Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1890, pp. 1-12, 25-59, 60-81, 82-89.

H. J. Mackinder, «The Geographical Pivot of History» (1904), in H. J. Mackinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality, New York: Norton, 1962, 241-264.

4. La prima guerra mondiale

G. Rothenberg, «Moltke, Schlieffen, and the Doctrine of Strategic Envelopment», in P. Paret (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 296-325.

M. Howard, «Men against Fire: The Doctrine of the Offensive in 1914», ibid., pp. 510-526.

M. Geyer, «German Strategy in the Age of Machine Warfare, 1914-1945», ibid., pp. 527-597

5. La seconda guerra mondiale

M. Geyer, «German Strategy in the Age of Machine Warfare, 1914-1945», in P. Paret (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 527-597.

B. Bond and M. Alexander, «Liddell Hart and de Gaulle: The Doctrine of Limited Liability and Mobile Defense», ibid., pp. 598-623.

D. MacIsaac, «Voices from the Central Blue: The Air Power Theorists», ibid., pp. 624-647.

6. Strategia nucleare e controllo degli armamenti durante la guerra fredda

L. Freedman, «The First Two Generations of Nuclear Strategists», in P. Paret, ed. Makers of Modern Strategy, Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 735-778.

K. N. Waltz, «Nuclear Myths and Political Realities», American Political Science Review, LXXXIV, 3, 1990, pp. 731-745.

T. C. Schelling, «An Astonishing Sixty Years: the Legacy of Hiroshima», Nobel Prize Lecture, Dec. 8, 2005

7. La guerra rivoluzionaria e la guerriglia

G. Chaliand, Revolution in the Third World, rev. ed., London: Penguin, 1989, pp. 33-50, 69-74.

A. Mack, «Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars», World Politics, 27, 2, 1975, pp. 175-200.

P. Paret and J. Shy, «Guerrilla Warfare and US Military Policy», in T. N. Greene (ed.), The Guerrilla – and How to Fight Him, New York: Praeger, 1962, pp. 37-53.

8. La guerra nel sistema unipolare

Robert A. Pape, «The Limits of Precision-Guided Air Power», Security Studies, 7, 2, 1997-98, pp. 93-114.

John A. Warden III, «Success in Modern War. A Response to Robert Pape's Bombing to Win», Security Studies, 7, 2, 1997-98, pp. 172-190.

S. Burg, «Coercive Diplomacy in the Balkans», in R. J. Art and K. N. Waltz (eds.), The Use of Force. Military Power and International Politics, New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004 (6th ed.), pp. 247-269.

M. O'Hanlon, «The Afghan War: A Flawed Masterpiece», ibid., pp. 270-280.

9. Guerra asimmetrica, ibrida e Cyber-Warfare

D. Kilcullen, Counterinsurgency, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 1-13, 165-227.

T. E. Ricks, Fiasco. The American Military Adventure in Iraq, New York: The Penguin Press, 2006, scorrere pp. 149-188, studiare pp. 189-202.

L. Kello, «The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution», International Security, 38, 2, 2013, pp. 7-40.

E. Gartzke, «The Myth of Cyberwar», International Security, 38, 2, 2013, pp. 41-73.

F. Hoffman, «Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars», Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, 2007, pp. 11-59.

10. La proliferazione nucleare

V. Utgoff, «Missile Defence and American Ambitions», in R. J. Art e K. N. Waltz (eds.), The Use of Force. Military Power and International Politics, New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004 (6th ed.), pp. 333-346.

K. N. Waltz, «Missile Defence and the Multiplication of Nuclear Weapons», ibid., pp. 347-352.

B. Posen, «What If Iraq Had Nuclear Weapons?», ibid., pp. 353-369.

S. Sagan, «Nuclear Instability in South Asia», ibid., pp. 370-381.

K. N. Waltz, «Nuclear Stability in South Asia», ibid., pp. 382-393.

11. L'obsolescenza della guerra?

J. Mueller, «The Obsolescence of Major War», Bulletin of Peace Proposals, 21, 3, 1990, pp. 321-328.

K. Kaysen, «Is War Obsolete? A Review Essay», International Security, 14, 4, 1990, pp. 42-64.

M. Mandelbaum, «Is Major War Obsolete?», Survival, 40, 4, 1998-99, pp. 20-38.

E. Luttwak, «Toward Post-Heroic Warfare», Foreign Affairs, 74, 3, 1995, pp. 109-122.

E. Luttwak, «Where Are the Great Powers? At Home with the Kids», Foreign Affairs, 73, 4, 1994, pp. 23-28.

J. Orme, «The Utility of Force in a World of Scarcity», International Security, 22, 3, 1997/98, pp. 138-167.

Parte II: Le cause della guerra

12. Come si decide una guerra: leaders e consiglieri

R. Jervis, «War and Misperception», Journal of Interdisciplinary History, XVIII, 4, 1988, pp. 675-698.

Y. Khong, «Vietnam, the Gulf, and US Choices: A Comparison», Security Studies, II, 1, 1992, pp. 74-95.

I. Janis, Groupthink, Houghton Mifflin, 1982, pp. 2-13; 72-96; 174-197.

13. Come si decide una guerra: attori razionali, organizzazioni e burocrazie

B. Bueno de Mesquita, «The Contribution of Expected Utility Theory to the Study of International Conflict», Journal of Interdisciplinary History, XVIII, 4, 1988, pp. 629-652.

G. Allison, «Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis», American Political Science Review, LXIII, 3, 1969, pp. 689-718.

J. Monten e A. Bennett, «Models of Crisis Decision Making and the 1990-91 Gulf War», Security Studies, XIX, 3, 2010, pp. 486-520.

14. Istituzioni politiche, pubblica opinione e guerra

J. Owen, «How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace», International Security, XIX, 2, 1994, pp. 87-125.

S. Rosato, «The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory», American Political Science Review, XCVII, 4, 2003, pp. 585-602.

A. Gat, «The Democratic Peace Theory Reframed: The Impact of Modernity», World Politics, LVIII, 1, 2005, pp. 73-100.

15. La teoria della «diversione»

R. Hendrickson, «Clinton's Military Strikes in 1998: Diversionary Uses of Force?», Armed Forces and Society, XXVIII, 2, 2002, pp. 309-332.

M. Fravel, «The Limits of Diversion: Rethinking Internal and External Conflict», Security Studies, XIX, 2, 2010, pp. 307-341.

A. Oakes, «Diversionary War and Argentina's Invasion of the Falkland Islands», Security Studies, XV, 3, 2006, pp. 431-463.

16. Le cause economiche: capitalismo, interdipendenza e guerra

V. Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917), qualsiasi edizione, capp. 4-7.

J. Schumpeter, «Imperialismo e capitalismo» (1919), qualsiasi edizione.

N. Angell, The Great Illusion, 1910, qualsiasi edizione, Part I, chapt. 3, Part II, chapt. 2.

17. Interazioni strategiche e modelli di contrattazione

G. Snyder, «"Prisoner's Dilemma" and "Chicken" Models in International Politics», International Studies Quarterly, XV, 1, 1971, pp. 66-103.

T. Schelling, Arms and Influence, Yale University Press, 1966, pp. 1-34.

J. Fearon, «Rationalist Explanations for War», International Organization, IL, 3, 1995, pp. 379-414.

18. Tecnologia militare e guerra

R. Jervis, «Cooperation under the Security Dilemma», World Politics, XXX, 2, 1978, pp. 167-214.

S. Van Evera, «Offense, Defense, and the Causes of War», International Security, XXII, 4, 1998, pp. 5-43.

R. Russell, «Persian Gulf Proving Grounds: Testing Offence-Defence Theory», Contemporary Security Policy, XXIII, 3, 2002, pp. 192-213.

19. Anarchia internazionale e competizione tra grandi potenze

K. Waltz, «The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory», Journal of Interdisciplinary History, XVIII, 4, 1988, pp. 615-628.

J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, Norton, 2001, pp. 29-54.

J. Mearsheimer, «Can China Rise Peacefully?», The National Interest, October 2014.

20. Transizione di potenza e guerra egemonica

W. Kim, «Power Transitions and Great Power War from Westphalia to Waterloo», World Politics, XLV, 1, 1992, pp. 153-172.

R. Gilpin, «The Theory of Hegemonic War», Journal of Interdisciplinary History, XVIII, 4, 1988, pp. 591-613.

J. Levy, «Power Transition Theory and the Rise of China», in R. Ross e Z. Feng (eds.), China's Ascent: Power, Security, and the Future of International Politics, Cornell University Press, 2008, pp. 11-33.

Teaching methods

Lectures.

Assessment methods

Comprehensive oral exam.

Teaching tools

See the reading list.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Cesa