84526 - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course deals with some basic themes, concepts and thinkers in international relations. The purpose is to provide students with essential conceptual and linguistic tools for understanding the underlying structure and fundamental features of international politics, as well as its material and immaterial changing aspects. The objective is to explain the dynamics through which men and women understand international politics as well as on achieving a coherent capacity of thinking international life, both in its theoretical and practical dimension.

Contenuti

The course examines the most important theories of international politics and foreign policy, with a particular focus on constructivism, liberalism, and realism. We will also study some key concepts of international relations such as the balance of power, hegemony, war, and cooperation.

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (32 hours) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows. For the seminar section, students will be divided into two groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency. Therefore, a total of 46 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. During the seminars students’ active participation will 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.

Testi/Bibliografia

1. Introduction

- No readings

2. Understanding International Relations

- Grieco, J., Ikenberry, G.J., and Mastanduno, M. Introduction to International Relations: Perspectives, Connections, and Enduring Questions, Second Edition (Macmillan, 2019), Ch. 1

3. The Emergence of the Global System of States

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 2

4. Realism I

- Thucydides, “The Melian Dialogue,” History of the Peloponnesian War, V, 84-116.

5. Realism II

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, pp. 78-86

6. Liberalism I

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, pp. 86-94

7. Liberalism II

- Kant, I. Perpetual Peace, any edition. 

8. Constructivism I

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 101-108

9. Constructivism II

- Wendt, A. 1999, Social Theory of International Politics, CH. 6.

10. The Analysis of Foreign Policy

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 4

11. Cooperation and International Institutions

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 5

12. War and Peace

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 6

13. Pathways to Interstate Peace

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 7

14. Wealth and Power

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 9

15. The Geopolitics of Energy: Challenges and Opportunities of the Energy Transition

- https://theconversation.com/energy-transitions-are-nothing-new-but-the-one-underway-is-unprecedented-and-urgent-104821

-https://theconversation.com/cop26-whats-the-point-of-this-years-un-climate-summit-in-glasgow-167509

16. Facing the Future: Visions of an Emerging International Order

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Ch. 14

 

SEMINARI L.M. CELLO

 

1) Theorising IR - Smith, Steve (2016) ‘Introduction: Diversity and Disciplinarity in International Relations Theory’, in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki and Steve Smith (eds) International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity, Fourth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Introduction.

2) The contested meaning of sovereignty - Jackson, Robert (2007) Sovereignty (Cambridge: Polity): Chapter 1. - Jens Bartelson (2006) ‘The Concept of Sovereignty Revisited’, European Journal of International Law 17(2): 463–74. - Glanville, Luke (2014) Sovereignty and the Responsibility to Protect: A New History (Chicago: Chicago University Press): Introduction and Chapter 1.

3) Understanding the concept of anarchy in IR - Kenneth N. Waltz (1988) “The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory”, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 18(4): 615-28. - Wendt, Alexander (1992) ‘Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics’, International Organization 46(2): 391-426.

4) The idea of an ‘international society’ - Keene, Edward (2002) Beyond the Anarchical Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): Conclusion. - Buzan, Barry (2014) “The ‘Standard of Civilisation’ as an English School Concept.” Millennium 42(3): 576–94. - Tim Dunne and Christian Reus-Smit, The Globalization of International Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press): Chapter 1; Chapter 2; and Conclusion.

5) Alternative visions of international order - Ikenberry, John (2009) ‘Liberal Internationalism 3.0’, Perspectives on Politics 7(1): 71-87. - Gat, Azar (2007) ‘The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers’, Foreign Affairs 86(4): 59-69. - Buzan, Barry and George Lawson (2014) ‘Capitalism and the Emergent World Order’, International Affairs 90(1): 71–91.

6) Anarchy vs Hierarchy - Bially Mattern, Janice and Ayşe Zarakol (2016) ‘Hierarchies in World Politics’, International Organization 70(3): 39-75.
- Lake, David (2007) ‘Escape from the State-of-Nature: Authority and Hierarchy in World Politics’, International Security 32(1): 47-79. - Hobson, John and Jason Sharman (2005) ‘The Enduring Place of Hierarchy in World Politics’, European Journal of International Relations 11(1): 63-98.

7) Global visual politics - Bleiker, Roland. Visual Global Politics (New York: Routledge, 2018): Introduction. - Kaempf, Sebastian (2013) 'The mediatisation of war in a transforming global media landscape', Australian Journal of International Affairs 67/5, pp. 586-604.

 

Metodi didattici

Lectures and seminars

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

ATTENDING STUDENTS: two written exams (three questions each) on the above readings.

Non-attending students: written and oral exam on the above readings plus one of the two following books:

 

Mearsheimer, J.J. 2018. The Great Delusion: Liberal Dream and International Realities (New Haven: Yale University Press)

Zambernardi, L. 2022. Life, Death, and the Western Way of War (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Teams, Power point, video

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Lorenzo Zambernardi

Consulta il sito web di Lorenzo Maria Cello

Consulta il sito web di