77092 - United Stated International Relations

Course contents

Learning outcomes

The course will study the history of US international relations, looking at the national and international institutions and the economic, cultural and political understandings that have shaped US foreign policy. At the end of the course students will be expected to know the key events and issues of US international relations and their impact on the XX and XXI century international system, the interaction between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the basic matrixes of US international relations.

Course contents

Starting from the current debate about the “end of the American century” (the “decline of the American empire”, the “hegemonic crisis” of the United States in the liberal international order, and the hypothetical ascendancy of a “post-American world”), the course will study key issues in US international relations (from the 1898 Spanish-American war up to 9/11) paying particular attention to some of the fundamental concepts that have shaped the US foreign policy (exceptionalism, isolationism, internationalism, atlantism, modernization, globalization, unilateralism), the basic matrixes (the impact of ideology, the interest-based explanation, the national security perspective) of US diplomacy, and the origins, crises and transformations of the XX and XXI century international system.

Readings/Bibliography

PROGRAM FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS

- Mario Del Pero, Libertà  e Impero. Gli Stati Uniti e il Mondo, 1776-2011, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013, II edizione. 

One between:

- Michael Hunt, The American Ascendancy. How the United States Gained and Wielded Global Dominance, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

- Frank Ninkovich, The Wilsonian Century. U.S. Foreign Policy since 1900, Chicago, Chicago University Press, 1999.

Attending students will also study two books chosen from the following: 

- Mario Del Pero, Henry Kissinger e l'ascesa dei neoconservatori: alle origini della politica estera americana, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006.

- Michael Latham, The Right Kind of Revolution: Modernization, Development, and U.S. Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2011.

- Mary Nolan, The Transatlantic Century. Europe and America,1890-2010, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

- Federico Romero, Storia della guerra fredda: l'ultimo conflitto per l'Europa, Torino, Einaudi, 2009.

- Anders Stephanson, Destino Manifesto. L'espansionismo americano e l'Impero del Bene, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2004.

PROGRAM FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS 

Oral test on the following readings:

- Mario Del Pero, Libertà  e Impero. Gli Stati Uniti e il Mondo, 1776-2011, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011, II edizione.

- Michael Hunt, The American Ascendancy. How the United States Gained and Wielded Global Dominance, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

And two chosen from the following options:

- Mario Del Pero, Henry Kissinger e l'ascesa dei neoconservatori: alle origini della politica estera americana, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006.

- Michael Latham, The Right Kind of Revolution: Modernization, Development, and U.S. Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2011.

- Frank Ninkovich, The Wilsonian Century: U.S. Foreign Policy since 1900, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1999.

- Mary Nolan, The Transatlantic Century. Europe and America,1890-2010, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

- Federico Romero, Storia della guerra fredda: l'ultimo conflitto per l'Europa, Torino, Einaudi, 2009.

- Anders Stephanson, Destino Manifesto. L'espansionismo americano e l'Impero del Bene, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2004.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures (opportunities for seminar discussion on the topics covered in class will be also provided).

Assessment methods

At the end of the course attending students will take a two-hour written test on Mario Del Pero,  Libertà e Impero. Gli Stati Uniti e il Mondo, 1776-2011, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011. The final oral test will be on the other two texts.

Teaching tools

Slides, power point.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Battistini