06915 - International Politics (G.A)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to offer an advanced knowledge of the main contemporary international relations' theories. At the end of the course, students will be able to discuss the main debates within the discipline as well as the most important themes in international politics, and will have the analytical skills necessary to understand the contemporary international system

Course contents

(with compulsory readings)

1) Introduction
S Walt, 1998, International Relations: One World,  Many Theories, Foreign Policy, 110, 29-46
Jack Snyder, 2004, One World,  Rival Theories, Foreign Policy, nov., 52-62

2) Classical Realism
Hans J. Morgenthau, 1948, Politics Among Nations, cap. 1
E. H. Carr, 1939, The Twenty Years' Crisis,  1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of ..., capp. 1,  2

3) Structural Realism
Kenneth N Waltz, 1988, The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 4, 615-628
John J Mearsheimer, 2001, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, capp. 1,  2

4) The Balance of Power
Jack S Levy,  William R Thompson, 2005, Hegemonic Threats and Great-Power Balancing in Europe,  1495-1999, Security Studies, 14, 1, 1-33
P Schroeder, 1994, Historical Reality vs. Neo-Realist Theory, International Security, 19, 1, 108-148
Raymond Aron, 1970, Pace e guerra tra le nazioni, cap. 5

5) Hegemonic Stability Theory
David A Lake, 1993, Leadership,  Hegemony,  and the International Economy: Naked Emperor or Tattered Monarch , International Studies Quarterly, 37, 4, 459-489
Robert G Gilpin, 1988, The Theory of Hegemonic War, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 4, 591-613

6) The Causes of Wars
Robert Jervis, 1978, Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma, World Politics, 30, 2, 167-214
Kalevi J Holsti, 1991, Peace and War. Armed Conflicts and International Order, 1-24,  306-334
Jack S Levy, 1998, The Causes of War and the Conditions of Peace, Annual Review of Political Science, 1, 139-165

7) Conflict and Cooperation
Robert Axelrod,  Robert O Keohane, 1985, Achieving Cooperation under Anarchy: Strategies and Institutions, World Politics, 38, 1, 226-254
Joseph M Grieco, 1988, Anarchy and the limits of cooperation: a realist critique of the newest liberal institutionalism, International Organization, 42, 3, 485-507

8) Regimes and Institutions
John J Mearsheimer, 1994, The False Promise of International Institutions, International Security, 19, 3, 5-49
Robert O Keohane,  Lisa L Martin, 1995, The Promise of Institutionalist Theory, International Security, 20, 1, 39-51

9) Constructivism
Alexander Wendt, 1995, Constructing International Politics, International Security, 20, 1, 71-81
Martha Finnemore,  K Sikkink, 2001, Taking Stock: The Constructivist Research Program in International Relations and Comparative Politics, Annual Review of Political Science, 4, 391-416
Ted Hopf, 1998, The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory, International Security, 23, 1, 171-200

10) International Society
Martin Wight, 1987, An anatomy of International Thought, Review of International Studies, 13, 221-227
Charles A Kupchan,  Clifford A Kupchan, 1991, Concerts,  Collective Security,  and the Future of Europe, International Security, 16, 1, 114-161

11) Economics and Politics
Helen V Milner, 1999, The Political Economy of International Trade, Annual Review of Political Science, 2, 91-114
Robert G Gilpin, 1975, Three Models of the Future, International Organization, 29, 1, 37-60

12) Trade and War
Dale C Copeland, 1996, Economic Interdependence and War: A Theory of Trade Expectations, International Security, 20, 4, 5-41
E Gartzke, 2007, The Capitalist Peace, American Journal of Political Science, 51, 1, 166-191

13) Globalization
Kenneth N Waltz, 1999, Globalization and Governance, PS: Political Science and Politics, 32, 4, 693-700
G Arrighi, 2005, Hegemony Unravelling 1 & 2, New Left Review, 32, 33, 23-80,  83-116
Robert O Keohane, 2001, Power and Governance in a Partially Globalized World, The American Political Science Review, 95, 1, 1-13

14) Domestic Preferences
R Putnam, 1988, Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games, International Organization, 42, 3, 427-460
Andrew Moravcsik, 1997, Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics: Erratum, International Organization, 51, 4, 513-553
Peter Gourevitch, 1978, The Second Image Reversed: The International Sources of Domestic Politics, International Organization, 32, 4, 881-912

15) Democratic Peace
Michael W Doyle, 1983, Kant,  Liberal Legacies,  and Foreign Affairs,  Part 1 & 2, Philosophy and Public Affairs, 12, 3, 4, 205-235,  323-353
Bruce M. Russett and John R. O'Neal, 2001, Triangulating Peace: Democracy,  Interdependence and International Organization, cap. 1

16) Democracies and Autocracies
Edward D Mansfield,  Jack Snyder, 2002, Democratic Transitions,  Institutional Strength,  and War, International Organization, 56, 2, 297-337
Mancur Olson Jr, 1993, Dictatorship,  Democracy,  and Development, The American Political Science Review, 87, 3, 567-576
John M Owen, 2002, The Foreign Imposition of Domestic Institutions, International Organization, 56, 2, 375-409

17) Expansionism
Jack S Levy, 1988, Domestic Politics and War, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 4, 653-673
Jack Snyder, 1991, Myths of Empire, capp. 1,  2

18) Foreign Policy Analysis
Graham T Allison, 1969, Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis, The American Political Science Review, 63, 3, 689-718
Valerie M Hudson e Christopher S Vore, 1995, Foreign Policy Analysis Yesterdaym Today and Tonorrow, Mershon International Studies Review, 39, 2, 209-238
Robert Jervis, 1988, War and Misperception, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 4, 675-700

19) The End of the Cold War
Philip Gordon, 2007, Can the War on Terror Be Won?, Foreign Affairs, 86, 6, 53-66
Samuel P Huntington, 1993, The Clash of Civilizations?, Foreign Affairs, 72, 3, 22-49
Christopher Layne, 2006, The Unipolar Illusion Revisited: The Coming End of the United States' Unipolar Moment, International Security, 31, 2, 7-41
Robert Jervis, 2002, Theories of War in an Era of Leading-Power Peace , The American Political Science Review, 96, 1, 1-14

20) American Power
G. John Ikenberry, 1998, Institutions,  Strategic Restraint,  and the Persistence of American Postwar Order, International Security, 23, 3, 43-78
Robert Kagan, 2002, Power and Weakness, Policy Review, jun., 3-28
Fareed Zakaria, 2008, The Future of American Power: How America Can Survive the Rise of the Rest, Foreign Affairs, 87, 3, 18-43
William C Wohlforth, 1999, The Stability of a Unipolar World, International Security, 24, 1, 5-41

Readings/Bibliography

See the Italian version for the reading list

Teaching methods

20 2 hours lectures

Assessment methods

The assessment will be divided in three parts. 33% of the grade in a midterm examination. 33% in a final exam. 33% in a brief review essay on one of the topics in the syllabus.

Teaching tools

powerpoint

Office hours

See the website of Filippo Andreatta

See the website of Lorenzo Zambernardi