07223 - Strategic Studies

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with theoretical elements which can help to understand modern and contemporary wars. At the end of the course students are expected to gain an in-depth understanding of great powers' main strategic views. Furthermore, students will be able to analyze EU and US defence and security policies, with particular regard to the post-Cold War era.

Course contents

The course will analyze the evolution of strategy from antiquity to contemporary times and will be ideally divided into two sections: in the first section several views on war will be discussed; a special attention will be given to its transformation through history (from the modern age to the cold war) and to the main strategic war-related theories, with particular regard to that of Clausewitz. The second section will focus on contemporary international issues, starting from the debate on the nature of international system after 1989: new threats (such as civil wars, international terrorism, failed states and nuclear proliferation) will be taken in consideration, along with strategic implications for great powers and  for the international community.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Introduction: War and Strategy in International Politics

- Michael Howard, The Forgotten Dimensions of Strategy, Foreign Affairs, 57, 5, 1979, pp. 975-986;

- Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007, pp. 4-14 (ch. 1);

- Colin S. Gray, Modern Strategy, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 16-47 (Ch. 1 – The Dimensions of Strategy);

- Richard K. Betts, Is Strategy an Illusion?, International Security, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Fall 2000), pp. 5-50;

2. Old and Modern Wars

- M. Howard, War in European History (2nd ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 1-93, trad. it. La guerra e le armi nella storia d'Europa, Bari, Laterza, 1978, pp. 3-177 (cap. 1-5)

- Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007, pp. 15-74 (ch. 2-5);

3. The Age of World Wars

- M. Howard, War in European History (2nd ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 94-135, trad. it. La guerra e le armi nella storia d'Europa, Bari, Laterza, 1978, pp. 179-265 (ch. 6-7);

- Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007, pp. 75-183 (ch. 6-13);

4. The Cold War

- M. Howard, War in European History (2nd ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 136-144, trad. it. La guerra e le armi nella storia d'Europa, Bari, Laterza, 1978, pp. 267-288 (ch. 8);

- Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007, pp. 184-218 (ch. 14-15);

- Philip Windsor, Strategic Thinking, An Introduction and Farewell, Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002, pp. 47-79 (ch. 6-8);

5. From 11/9 to 9/11

- Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007, pp. 219-234 (ch. 16);

- Robert Cooper, The Post-Modern State and the World Order, Demos (Jan. 2000), pp. 7-43, (http://www.demos.co.uk/files/postmodernstate)

- William C. Wohlforth, The Stability of a Unipolar World, International Security, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Summer 1999), pp. 5–41

- Samuel P. Huntington, The Lonely Superpower, in Foreign Affairs, March-April 1999, pp. 35-49;

6. Civil and Ethnic Wars

- James D. Fearon, David D. Laitin, Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War, in “American Political Science Review” Vol. 97, n. 1 (February 2003), pp. 75-90;

- Stathis n. Kalyvas, “New” and “Old” Civil Wars. A Valid Distinction?, in “World Politics”, Vol. 54, n. 1 (October 2001), 99–118;

- Chaim D. Kaufmann, When All Else Fails: Ethnic Population Transfers and Partitions in the Twentieth Century, in “International Security”, Vol. 23, n. 2 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 120-156;

- Barry Posen, The Security Dilemma and the Ethnic Conflict, Survival, Vol 35, n. 1 (Spring 1993), pp. 27-47;

7.Guerrilla, Insurgency and Terrorism

- Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007, pp.235-263 (ch. 17-18);

- David J. Kilcullen, Countering Global Insurgency, in “The Journal of Strategic Studies”, Vol. 28, n. 4 (August 2005), pp. 597 – 617;

- Andrew Kydd, Barbara Walter, The Strategies of Terrorism, in “International Security”, Vol. 31, n. 1 (2006), pp. 49-79;

- Audrey Kurth Cronin, How al-Qaida Ends, in “International Security”, Vol. 31, n. 1 (2006), pp. 7-48;

8. New Threats

- Aaron Friedberg, The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Conflict Inevitable?. International Security (2005) vol. 30 (2) pp. 7-45;

- Kalevi J. Holsti, War, Peace, and the State of the State, in “International Political Science Review”, Vol. 16, n. 4 (1995), pp. 319-339;

- Ashton B. Carter, How to Counter WMD, in “Foreign Affairs”, Vol 83, n. 5 (September-October 2004), pp. 72-85;

- Scott D. Sagan, Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons?: Three Models in Search of a Bomb, International Security, Vol 21, n. 3 (1996-1997), pp. 54-86;

9. American Strategy

- Robert J. Art, Geopolitics Updated: The Strategy of Selective Engagement, International Security, Vol. 23, No. 3. (Winter, 1998-1999), pp. 79-113

- Christopher Layne. America's Middle East Grand Strategy after Iraq: the Moment for Offshore Balancing has Arrived, Review of International Studies (2009) vol. 35 (1) pp. 5-25;

- Colin S. Gray, Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy: Can the American Way of War Adapt?, Strategic Studies Institute, 2006 http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=650

- Lorenzo Zambernardi, Counterinsurgency's Impossible Trilemma, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 33, n. 3, pp. 21-34, http://www.twq.com/10july/index.cfm?id=397

10. UN Strategy

- Philip Windsor, Strategic Thinking, An Introduction and Farewell, Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002, pp. 7-22 (ch. 2-3);

- Mona Fixdal, Dan Smith, Humanitarian Intervention and Just War, in “Mershon International Studies Review”, Vol. 42, n. 2 (Nov., 1998), pp. 283-312;

- Paul F. Diehl, Daniel Druckman, James Wall, International Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution: A Taxonomic Analysis with Implications, in “The Journal of Conflict Resolution”, Vol. 42, n. 1 (Feb., 1998), pp. 33-55;

- Edward n. Luttwak, Give War a Chance, in “Foreign Affairs”, Vol. 78, n. 4 (July-August 1999), pp. 142-149;

Teaching methods

20 two-hour lectures.

Assessment methods

Written exam.

Office hours

See the website of Filippo Andreatta

See the website of Emanuele Castelli