B8158 - FOOD SECURITY IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will understand the challenges that the issue of food security poses to states at the national level and in the context of their relations with other states, both bilaterally and multilaterally. Students will also be able to evaluate both the effectiveness of the strategies adopted at national and international level to promote food security within the broader context of the dynamics of cooperation and conflict between states.

Course contents

From the war in Ukraine and Israeli military operations in Gaza to Sudan’s climate emergency and terrorist insurgencies in the Middle East, contemporary international developments highlight the renewed salience of food in security dynamics. This course is designed to capture the main challenges and opportunities arising from these transformations, introducing students to the study of food security in global politics. The course locates food crises in the current security landscape, examining their relationship with major events and processes such as climate change and armed conflicts. In so doing, it investigates the role of supplies as a potential victim, driver, and – most of all – weapon of contention. Different cases and political actors will be explored, including ongoing dynamics of instability, deprivation, and humanitarian distress. At the end of the semester, students will be familiar with key concepts and debates to understand the significance of food in the international system and to critically engage with the policies formulated by states and international organisations.

 

Class 1 – Food security in global politics

Christopher B. Barrett, ed. Food security and sociopolitical stability (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). Chapter 1.

 

Class 2 – Food and international security

Cullen Hendrix and Henk-Jan Brinkman, "Food insecurity and conflict dynamics: Causal linkages and complex feedbacks," Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 2, no. 2 (2013): 1-18; https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.bm

 

Class 3 – Food warfare

Bridget Conley and Alex De Waal, "The purposes of starvation: Historical and contemporary uses," Journal of International Criminal Justice 17, no. 4 (2019): 699-722. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqz054

 

Class 4 – The impact of food in conflict

Simone Papale and Emanuele Castelli. "Food, terrorism, and the Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab insurgencies." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (2025): 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2025.2457427

J. R. Tarrant, "Food as a weapon? The embargo on grain trade between USA and USSR," Applied Geography 1, no. 4 (1981): 273-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/0143-6228(81)90012-6

 

Class 5 – Climate change and food security

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras, "Climate security in the European Union’s foreign policy: addressing the responsibility to prepare for conflict prevention," Journal of Contemporary European Studies 28, no. 3 (2020): 335-347. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2020.1731438

Christopher Flavelle, “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Food Supply, United Nations Warns,” The New York Times, August 8, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/climate/climate-change-food-supply.html

 

Class 6 – In-presence written test

 

Class 7 – Food and Russia’s war on Ukraine

Simone Papale and Emanuele Castelli, “Russia, Ukraine and Food Warfare,” International Affairs (December 2025): 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf230

Arita Holmberg, "Food security in light of the war in Ukraine: Food studies meets defence studies," Defence Studies 24, no. 4 (2024): 543-558. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702436.2024.2378793

ABC News, “How War in Ukraine is Fuelling a Global Food Crisis,” 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PITCC-gYE0

 

Class 8 – Food, climate stress, and the crisis in Sudan

Harry Verhoeven, “In Sudan, “climate wars” are useful scapegoats for bad leaders,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 11, 2024. https://thebulletin.org/2024/03/in-sudan-climate-wars-are-useful-scapegoats-for-bad-leaders/

Khalid Siddig and Rob Vos, “Sudan is now confronting its most severe food security crisis on record,” The Conversation, July 7, 2024. https://theconversation.com/sudan-is-now-confronting-its-most-severe-food-security-crisis-on-record-233923

Alex de Waal, “The Return of the Starvation Weapon,” Foreign Affairs, October 3, 2025. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/sudan/return-starvation-weapon

 

Class 9 – Food security and humanitarian intervention in Biafra

Taiwo Bello, "Ojukwu’s Biafra: Relief Corridor, Arms Smuggling, and Broken Diplomacy in the Nigerian Civil War," War & Society 40, no. 3 (2021): 206-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/07292473.2021.1942625

Miriam Bradley, The politics and everyday practice of international humanitarianism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023), Chapter 2.

Colin Campbell, “Starvation Was the Policy,” The New York Times, March 29, 1987. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/29/books/starvation-was-the-policy.html

 

Class 10 – Food and the siege of Gaza

Human Rights Watch, “Israel: Starvation Used as Weapon of War in Gaza,” December 18, 2023. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza

Boid van Dijk, “Israel, Gaza, and the Starvation Weapon,” Foreign Affairs, April 30, 2025. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israel-gaza-and-starvation-weapon

Teaching methods

The course is divided into two main parts. The first five lessons are delivered in a lecture format, providing key conceptual and analytical elements. They will include discussions and activities among students. Then, after a brief midterm test, the last four lessons will focus on specific case studies and will be characterised by students’ presentations and roundtable discussions.

Assessment methods

The final grade will be determined as follows:

• In-presence midterm test – 30%

  The midterm test will consist of three open-ended questions on the topics explored in the first half of the course.

• Final paper (1500 words + references) – 30%

  The final paper will focus on contemporary challenges for food security. Students will select one essay question from the three provided by the instructor. The questions are designed to allow students substantial analytical scope, enabling them to structure their work and draw connections across different empirical cases.

• Presentation – 20%

  Students will be divided into groups, each of which will deliver a short presentation to the class during one of the last four lessons of the course. Presentations will focus on the main themes of the lesson. During these activities, students who are not presenting are expected to prepare questions for discussion in group activities and debates.

• Participation – 20%

Active participation in class discussions and course-related activities

 

Non-attending students

Oral exam based on all the readings of the course, plus the following works:

Julian Cribb, Food or war (Cambridge University Press, 2019)

Alex De Waal, Mass starvation: The history and future of famine (John Wiley & Sons, 2017)

Bryan L. McDonald, Food security (Polity Press, 2010)

Office hours

See the website of Simone Papale