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

Books:
- M. Howard, War in European History (2nd ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001;
- Philip Windsor, Strategic Thinking, An Introduction and Farewell, Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002 (esp. chap. 6-8)
- Only for students who have not attended classes: Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations. An Introduction to Strategic History, London and New York, Routledge, 2007;

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