85003 - TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course aims to provide students with advanced knowledge of the interplay between technological change and international politics, by looking at a) how theories of International Relations address technological change; b) how military organizations have dealt with the introduction of new technologies; and c) how nations have been promoting technology and innovation policies as a key element to advance their standing in the international arena. At the end of the course students will acquire skills that allow them to address complex problems of political analysis underpinning innovation policy and organizational design.

Contenuti

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (16 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in two groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one group will do the seminar in classroom (12 hours) and another group will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (12 hours), for a total of 28 hours for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

Outline

Technology is a key source of power, and technological change deeply affects international relations. At the same time, technology is not an autonomous factor in producing change: societal, political, economic and organizational factors interact with technological ones in shaping transformation in the international system. The course addresses the interplay between technology and (international) politics looking at a) the evolution of military technologies, b) how technology affects power distribution in the international system, and c) what states can do to develop effective (military) technologies. The course is divided in two major sections. Section 1 discusses the role of technology in International Relations theory and in the modern international system (the “macro” level). Section 2 looks at the interplay between evolution of technology and organizations, looking at the sources of military innovation, at the role of intra-organizational factors in shaping change, with a focus on military organizations.

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as specified in the following program. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation will also be required through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies, which will be a key part of the learning experience.

Although there are no prerequisites to attend the course, students are expected to be conversant with the major approaches and theories of International Relations. Students who do not have previous knowledge of IR theories are invited to read:

§ Jackson, R. & Sorensen, G. Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches, Oxford University Press (any edition).

Testi/Bibliografia

Useful books

* Black, J., War and Technology, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press

* Herrera, G., Technology and international transformation: The railroad, the atom bomb, and the politics of technological change. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2006

* Taylor, M. Z. (2016). The politics of innovation: Why some countries are better than others at science and technology. Oxford University Press

All books are available at https://sba.unibo.it/it/almare/collezioni/e-book

The full list of readings for students will be circulated on the first day of class and posted on the class website on “Insegnamenti Online”at iol.unibo.it

1. Why technology matters in international relations: An introduction to the course

* Fritsch, S. (2011). Technology and global affairs. International Studies Perspectives, 12(1), 27-45

* Herrera, G., Technology and international transformation: The railroad, the atom bomb, and the politics of technological change. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2006, ch. 1*

* Skolnikoff, E., The Elusive Transformation. Science, Technology and the Evolution of International Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993, ch.1.

2. Technology, war and change in IR theory

* Gilpin, R. (1981). War and change in world politics. Cambridge University Press, ch.3

* Drezner, D. W. (2019). Technological change and international relations. International Relations, 33(2), 286-303

* Herrera, G. L. (2012). Technology and international transformation: The railroad, the atom bomb, and the politics of technological change. SUNY Press, ch. 2*

3. Technology and change in the international system (1): The modern age

* Mokyr, J. (1992). The lever of riches: Technological creativity and economic progress, Oxford University Press, ch. 3

* Black, J., War and Technology, chs. 1-2*

* Gat, A., War in Human Civilization, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, ch. 10.*

4. Technology and change in the international system (2): The industrial age

* Black, J., War and Technology*, ch. 3

* Herrera, G. L. (2012). Technology and international transformation: The railroad, the atom bomb, and the politics of technological change. SUNY Press, ch. 3*

5. Technology and change in the international system (3): The nuclear age

* Herrera, G. L. (2012). Technology and international transformation: The railroad, the atom bomb, and the politics of technological change. SUNY Press, ch. 4*

* Damms, R. V. (2000). James Killian, the Technological Capabilities Panel, and the Emergence of President Eisenhower's “Scientific-Technological Elite”. Diplomatic History, 24(1), 57-78

6. Technology and change in the international system (4): The information age

* Cheung, T. M. (2016). Innovation in China’s Defense Technology Base: Foreign Technology and Military Capabilities. Journal of Strategic Studies, 39(5-6), 728-761.

* Freeman, R. B. (2006). Does globalization of the scientific/engineering workforce threaten US economic leadership?. Innovation policy and the economy, 6, 123-157.

* Roberts, A., Choer Moraes, E. and Ferguson, V. (2019), The U.S.-China Trade War Is a Competition for Technological Leadership, Lawfare Blog, May, 21^st. On the website: https://www.lawfareblog.com/us-china-trade-war-competition-technological-leadership# [https://www.lawfareblog.com/us-china-trade-war-competition-technological-leadership]

* Dombrowski, P. (2015). Cybered conflict and the Third Offset Strategy: The Sino-American rivalry and peacetime competition. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 16, 186-197

7. Technology and military organizations (1): External factors

* Krepinevich, A. F. (1994). Cavalry to computer: the pattern of military revolutions. The National Interest, (37), 30-42

* Goldman, E. O., & Andres, R. B. (1999). Systemic effects of military innovation and diffusion. Security Studies, 8(4), 79-125

* “Soviet Supersonic Technopolitical Disaster,” Studies in Intelligence Vol. 28 (Winter 1984), https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000620493.pdf .

8. Technology and military organizations (2): Organizational factors

* Peter J. Dombrowski and Eugene Gholz, Buying Military Transformation: Technological Innovation and the Defense Industry(New York: Columbia University Press, 2006), pp. 1-33.

* Rosen, S. P. (2010). The impact of the Office of Net Assessment on the American military in the matter of the revolution in military affairs. The Journal of Strategic Studies, 33(4), 469-482

* Jungdahl, A. M., & Macdonald, J. M. (2015). Innovation inhibitors in war: Overcoming obstacles in the pursuit of military effectiveness. Journal of Strategic Studies, 38(4), 467-499

* Sapolsky, H. M. Polaris system development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971, excerpts

9 A/B Seminar: How do states compete on technological innovation?

* Taylor, M. Z. (2016). The politics of innovation: Why some countries are better than others at science and technology. Oxford University Press, chs. 4-6 *.

* Swed, O., & Butler, J. S. (2015). Military capital in the Israeli Hi-tech industry. Armed Forces & Society, 41(1), 123-141

* Breznitz, D., The Military as a Public Space - The Role of the IDF in the Israeli Software Innovation System, MIT-IPC Working Paper, 2002.

10 C/D Seminar: Power diffusion or power concentration?

* Beckley, M. (2018). The power of nations: measuring what matters. International Security, 43(2), 7-44

* Posen, B. R. (2003). Command of the commons: the military foundation of US hegemony. International security, 28(1), 5-46

* Gilli, A., & Gilli, M. (2019). Why China has not caught up yet: military-technological superiority and the limits of imitation, reverse engineering, and cyber espionage. International Security, 43(3), 141-189

* Harvey M. Sapolsky and Eugene C. Gholz, “Calm Down, Folks: Enemies Still Fear US Military Tech Innovation,” Defense One (May 17, 2018), https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/05/us-military-innovation-doing-just-fine-thanks/148287/ .

* Brooks, S. G., & Wohlforth, W. C. (2016). The rise and fall of the great powers in the twenty-first century: China's rise and the fate of America's global position. International Security, 40(3), 7-53

* Work, R. O., & Grant, G. (2019). Beating the Americans at their Own Game. CNAS Report. Washington, DC: CNAS,

https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.cnas.org/documents/CNAS-Report-Work-Offset-final-B.pdf?mtime=20190531090041

11 E/F Seminar: New technologies and stability in international politics

* Tong Zhao, Tides of Change: China’s Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines and Strategic Stability (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2018), https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Zhao_SSBN_final.pdf .

* Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley, “Barriers to Bioweapons: Intangible Obstacles to Proliferation," International Security Vol. 36, no. 4 (2012), pp. 80-114.

* Lindsay, J. R. (2013). Stuxnet and the limits of cyber warfare. Security Studies, 22(3), 365-404

* Garfinkel, B., & Dafoe, A. (2019). How does the offense-defense balance scale?. Journal of Strategic Studies, 42(6), 736-763.

* Lieber, K. A., & Press, D. G. (2006). The end of MAD? The nuclear dimension of US primacy. International Security, 30(4), 7-44

* Goodman, W. (2010). Cyber deterrence: Tougher in theory than in practice?. Strategic Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 102-135

* Rid, T. (2012). Cyber war will not take place. Journal of strategic studies, 35(1), 5-32

12 A/B Seminar: Case studies in military innovation (1)

* Cote, O., The Third Battle: Innovation in the U.S. Navy's Silent Cold War Struggle with Soviet Submarines, Newport Paper, No. 16, Newport, RI: Naval War College, 2003, https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1015&context=newport-papers

13 C/D Seminar: Case studies in military innovation (2)

* Rebecca Grant, “The Radar Game,” Air Force Magazine (2008), https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0299radar/

* Franz-Stefan Gady, “Selling the F-35 to Countries Operating the S-400 Is a Bad Idea,” The Diplomat (July 3, 2019), https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/mauro-gilli-selling-the-f-35-to-countries-operating-the-s-400-is-a-bad-idea/ .

* Rebecca Grant, The Radar Game (Arlington, VA: Mitchell Institute, 2010), pp. 1-40, https://sobchak.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/radargame.pdf

* Barrett and Carpenter, Survivability in the Digital Age: The Imperative of Stealth (Arlington, VA: Mitchell Institute, 2013), http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/a2dd91_cd5494417b644d1fa7d7aacb9295324d.pdf .

* Bill Sweetman, “Unconventional Weapon: What we learned about stealth technology from the combat career of the F-117,”Air & Space Magazine (January 2008), https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/unconventional-weapon-23371597/?all .

* John Stillon, Trends in Air-to-Air Combat: Implications for Future Air Superiority (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, 2015), https://csbaonline.org/uploads/documents/Air-to-Air-Report-.pdf .

* John Stillion, Bryan Clark, What it Takes to Win: Succeeding in 21st Century Battle Network Competitions (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, 2015), 1-4, 47-92, https://csbaonline.org/uploads/documents/What-it-Takes-to-Win.pdf .

* Jacob Neufeld, The F-15 Eagle Origins and Development: The Official US Air Force Declassified History 1964-1972 (Office of Air Force History, 1974), pp. 1-32. https://media.defense.gov/2012/May/16/2001330012/-1/-1/0/AFD-120516-036.pdf

14 E/F Seminar: Promises and perils of technology

* Kober, A. “The Israel defense forces in the Second Lebanon War: Why the poor performance?”, Journal of Strategic Studies, 31:1(2008)

* Bolia, R. S. (2004). Overreliance on technology in warfare: the Yom Kippur War as a case study. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA:

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a485884.pdf

* Alexander Lanoszka, “Russian Hybrid Warfare and Extended Deterrence in Eastern Europe," International Affairs, vol. 92, no. 1 (2016): 175-195, http://www.alexlanoszka.com/LanoszkaIAHybrid.pdf .

* Taylor, M. Z. (2016). The politics of innovation: Why some countries are better than others at science and technology. Oxford University Press, ch. 7*.

Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are available as e-books at https://sba.unibo.it/it/almare/collezioni/e-book

Metodi didattici

Lectures and seminars 

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

1. Students who regularly attend classes will be assessed through:

§ a take-home midterm exam on material covered in class 2-6 (40% of the grade)

§ class presentation and participation in section 2 (30 % of the grade)

§ a memo (1000 words) on a topic to be agreed with the instructor (30% of the grade).

Students are required to read assigned material before classes. Starting from session #6, will be structured around student groups’ presentations of assigned class material corresponding to the topic of the session. Composition of groups and schedules of the presentations will be agreed at the beginning of the semester.

2. Students who DO NOT regularly attend classes will be assessed through a final take-home written exam. The exam will be composed by 3 questions and students will have to provide answers in the range of 1000 words each. Exams will be made available on Esami OnLine (EOL) 4 days before the exam dates (“appelli”) as posted on AlmaEsami and will be due on exam date by noon.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Class slides su “Insegnamenti Online”, sul sito iol.unibo.it

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Francesco Niccolò Moro