06915 - International Politics (GR. B)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to achieve advanced knowledge of the main contemporary theories of international relations (realism, liberalism, constructivism). At the end of the course, students will command the most important debates within the IR literature, and will have developed the analytical skills necessary to understand the functioning of the contemporary international system.

Course contents

FIRST PART: 

Introduction to the course

What is international politics? 

J.S. Nye (2007) 'What is International Politics?', reprinted in S. P.  Handler (ed.) International Politics. Classic and Contemporary Readings, CQ Press, 2013: 7-11.

Theories of international politics

S. M. Walt (1998) 'International Relations: One World, Many Theories', Foreign Policy, 110(Spring): 29-46

Origins of the academic discipline: towards the scientific study of international politics 

N. Angell (1910) The Great Illusion. The Relation of Military Power to National Advantage, Penguin Books, 28-49

E.H. Carr (1939) The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939. An Introduction to the Study of International Relations, Macmillan, 41-88 

H. Bull (1966) 'The Case for a Classical Approach', World Politics, 18(3): 361-377 

State, power politics and balance of power

H.J. Morgenthau (2005) Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, seventh edition, revised by K.W. Thompson and W.D. Clinton, Mc Graw Hill, 3-17 e 179-208

Anarchy and norms

K.N. Waltz (1979) Theory of International Politics, Addison Wesley, 79-127 

A. Wendt (1999) Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge University Press, 246-312

M. Finnemore and K. Sikkink (1998) 'International Norm Dynamics and Political Change', International Organization, 52(4): 887-917

Levels of analysis and the internal-external nexus

J.D. Singer (1961) 'The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations', World Politics, 14(1): 77-92 

K.N. Waltz (1959) Man, the State, and War. A Theoretical Analysis, reprinted in S. P.  Handler (ed.) International Politics. Classic and Contemporary Readings, CQ Press, 2013: 29-32

Russett, B. (2003) 'Reintegrating the Subdisciplines of International and Comparative Politics', International Studies Review, 5(4): 9-12

SECOND PART: 

Towards a new international order?

F. Fukuyama (1989) 'The End of History?', The National Interest, 16: 3-18

S.P. Huntington (1993) 'The Clash of Civilizations?', Foreign Affairs, 72(3): 13-68

Democratic peace

B. Russett, J. Oneal (2001) Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence and International Organizations, W.W. Norton, 15-42 

Democratisation: evolutionary trend of the international system?

S.P. Huntington (1991) 'Democracy's Third Wave', Journal of Democracy, 2(2): 12-34

A.K. Sen (1999) 'Democracy as a Universal Value', Journal of Democracy, 13(3): 3-17

A. Puddington (2014) 'The Democratic Leadership Gap', Journal of Democracy, 25(2): 77-92 

The international dimension of democratisation

L. Whitehead (1996) 'Three International Dimensions of Democratization', in L. Whitehead (ed.) The International Dimensions of Democratization: Europe and the Americas, Oxford University Press, 3-24 

S. Levitsky e L. Way (2006) 'Rethinking the International Dimension of Regime Change', in Comparative Politics, 38(4): 379-400

E. Baracani (2012) 'US and EU Strategies for Promoting Democracy', in F. Bindi and I. Angelescu (eds.) The Foreign Policy of the EU. Assessing Europe's Role in the World, second edition, Brookings Institution Press, 306-317

Conflicts: definitions, trends, and prevention

O. Ramsbotham, T. Woodhouse, H. Miall (2011) Contemporary Conflict Resolution, third edition, Polity, chapter 1

T. Lotta and P. Wallensteen (2014) 'Armed conflicts, 1946-2013', Journal of Peace Research, 51(4): 541-554 

Ethnic conflicts

L.E. Cederman, A. Wimmer and B. Min (2010) 'Why do ethnic groups rebel? New data and analysis', World Politics, 62(1): 87-119

Regional integration (and not only): the European Union in comparative perspective 

M. Telò (2014) 'Between Trade Regionalization and Various Paths towards Deeper Cooperation', in M. Telò (ed.) European Union and New Regionalism. Competing Regionalism and Global Governance in a Post-Hegemonic Era, third edition, Ashgate, 141-172 

A. Sbragia (2006) 'The United States and the European Union: Overcoming the Challenge of Comparing two 'Sui Generis' Systems', in A. Menon and M. Schain, (eds.) Comparative Federalism: The United States and the European Union, Oxford University Press, 2006, 15-34

The European Union and international politics 

E. Baracani (2013) 'La politica estera dell'Unione europea', in E. Diodato (a cura di) Relazioni internazionali. Dalle tradizioni alle sfide, Carocci, 319-354

Readings/Bibliography

A detailed list of mandatory readings, for each lecture, is provided in the syllabus. The readings are the same for attending and non-attending students.

The textbook for the analysis of the theoretical literature is F. Andreatta (2011) Le grandi opere delle relazioni internazionali, il Mulino.

For a historical introduction on the evolution of the international system see Paul Kennedy (1987) The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Random House.

For an overview of International Relations Theories see: 

Robert Jackson and Georg Sorensen (2012) Introduction to International Relations. Theories and Approaches, fifth edition, OUP

Tim Dunne, Miljia Kurki, Steve Smith, eds (2013) International Relations Theories, third edition, OUP

On different issue areas in contemporary world politics see David Kinsella, Bruce Russett, Harvey Starr (2013) World Politics. The Menu for Choice, 10th edition, Cengage Learning.

On the role played by the European Union in the field of conflict prevention see Elena Baracani (2014) L'Unione europea e la prevenzione dei conflitti. Un'analisi comparata di tre casi di studio: Cipro, Kosovo e Palestina, il Mulino.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures  Students' presentations of assigned readings and case studies  Class debates

Assessment methods

For attending students:

- Presence in class and participation (20%)

- Presentation and discussion of assigned readings (30%)

- Final oral examination (50%)

For non attending students: 

- one single written exam, composed of 10 long answer questions

Teaching tools

Power point presentations for each lecture

Office hours

See the website of Elena Baracani