93388 - International Security Policy

Learning outcomes

This is an advanced course of International Relations, which provides students with a comprehensive knowledge of international security in the XXI century. While the course is mainly empirical in its orientation, emphasis is also placed on theory. Students are expected to learn what is security and how it should be examined. At the end of the course, students will be able to analyze the slippery notion of security and its multidimensional nature. Students will also be able to assess some of the impost important security issues in contemporary world politics, understanding how states can be generators of security and insecurity alike. Since students are also expected to actively participate to class discussion and contribute with presentations, they will improve their oral communication skills

Course contents

This course offers an introduction to the study of some of the major security issues in the contemporary world. In particular, it explores a series of empirical phenomena and themes in light of the most important concepts and theories in international relations theory. Students are expected to learn why countries go to war as well as why groups use terrorism. They will also acquire knowledge on nuclear proliferation, the prospects and pitfalls of military intervention, and on the role of technology and robotics (from nuclear weapons to unmanned drones) in threatening and strengthening the international order. At the end of the course, students are expected to understand the fundamental aspects and the distinctive elements of a variety of security issues in the current world. Finally, students will be able both to examine security threats and to devise the most appropriate policy response.

Readings/Bibliography

Lezioni:

1) Introduzione

- Simon Leys, 2013, "The Idea of the University", in S. Leys, The Hall of Uselessness, New York Review of Books, pp. 461-464.

- Lorenzo Zambernardi, 2016, “Politics is too important to be left to political scientists,” European Journal of International Relations, 22, 1, 3-23.

2) La sicurezza come concetto multidimensionale

- Emma Rotschild, “What is Security?,” Daedalus, Vol. 124, No. 3, (Summer, 1995), pp. 53-98.

- John Mueller & Mark G. Stewart, “Terrorism and Bathtubs: Comparing and Assessing the Risks”, Terrorism and Political Violence, published online 28 December 2018.

3) La politica di potenza

- Tucidide, “Dialogo tra gli Ateniesi e i Meli,” La guerra del Peloponneso, V, 84-114.

- Machiavelli, Il Principe, qualsiasi edizione.

4) Il sistema internazionale contemporaneo

John Ikenberry, "The end of the international liberal order?", International Affairs, 94: 1 (2018) 7–23.

John Mearsheimer, "Bound to Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order", International Security, Volume 43, Issue 4, Spring 2019, pp.7-50.

5) Scontro egemonico?

- Robert Gilpin, 1988, “The Theory of Hegemonic War,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 4, 591-613.

- G. Allison, “The Thucydides Trap”, The Atlantic, September 24, 2015.

6) Conflitti armati contemporanei

Pettersson, Therese; Stina Högbladh & Magnus Öberg (2019). Organized violence, 1989-2018 and peace agreements. Journal of Peace Research 56(4).

7) Guerre inter-statali I

- Geoffrey, Blaney, The Causes of War, New York, The Free Press, Ch. 8, 9.

- Azar Gat , “The Changing Character of War”, in Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers (eds) The Changing Character of War; available at http://www.oxfordscholarship.com.ezproxy.unibo.it/view/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199596737.001.0001/acprof-9780199596737-chapter-2

8) Guerri inter-statali II

- Steven Pinker, “A History of Violence”, at http://edge.org/conversation/mc2011-history-violence-pinker, fhttps://www.edge.org/conversation/mc2011-history-violence-pinker

9) Guerre civili I

- Francesco N. Moro "Civil Wars", in Paul Joseph ed., The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives, Sage 2017.

- Stathis N. Kalyvas, “The Changing Character of Civil Wars, 1800–2009”, in Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers (eds) The Changing Character of War, Ch. 11; available at http://www.oxfordscholarship.com.ezproxy.unibo.it/view/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199596737.001.0001/acprof-9780199596737-chapter-12

10) Guerre civili II

Barbara F. Walter, The New New Civil Wars Annual Review of Political Science 2017 20:1, 469-486

11) Mid-Term

- Nessuna lettura

12) Terrorismo

- The United States is a Leading Terrorist State: An Interview with Noam Chomsky. https://monthlyreview.org/2001/11/01/the-united-states-is-a-leading-terrorist-state/.

-D'Alema: "Definire i talebani terroristi è una stupidaggine", HuffPost, 11 settembre 2021; https://www.huffingtonpost.it/entry/dalema-definire-i-talebani-terroristi-e-una-stupidaggine_it_613c5fdde4b00ff836ecffa6.

- Alex Peter Schmid, “Terrorism: The Definitional Problem,” Case Western Journal of International Law, 36, 2, 2004, pp. 375-419

13) Terrorismo

Erica Chenoweth, Terrorism and Democracy", Annual Review of Political Science 2013, 16:1, 355-378

14) Insurrezioni

- D., Galula, Counterinsuregency Warfare: Theory and Practice, Westport, Praeger, Ch. 1, 7.

15) Counterinsurgency

D. Kilcullen, Counterinsurgency, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 1-13, 165-227.

Lorenzo Zambernardi, "Counterinsurgency's Impossible Trilemma", Washington Quarterly, 33, 3, pp. 21-34.

A. Mack, "Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars", World Politics, 27, 2, 1975, pp. 175-200.

16) Guerra dei droni

- G. Chamayou, Drone Theory, London, Penguin.

17) Genocidio

- Adrian Gallagher, Genocide and its threat to contemporary international order(2013), capitolo 5.

- Martin Shaw, Genocide and International Relations: Changing Patterns in the Transitions of the Late Modern World (2013), capitolo 9.

18) The longest war: La guerra in Afghanistan

- M. Barry, Kabul's Long Shadows: Historical Perspectives, Liechtenstein Institute at Princeton, 2011; available at http://www.operationspaix.net/DATA/DOCUMENT/4371~v~Kabuls_Long_Shadows__Historical_Perspectives.pdf

19) L'erosione del potere militare

- E. Luard, The Blunted Sword, New York, New Amsterdam, 1988, pp. 1-24.

20) Esame finale

- Nessuna lettura

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars

Assessment methods

Attending students in-class: two written exams during the course

Online Attending students: one oral exam in one of the official exams.

 

Non-attending students (in-class exam): written exam (10 questions)

 

Non-attending students (online exam):  oral exam

 

Non-attending students must study also the following book:

 

Mearsheimer, J.J. 2018. The Great Delusion: Liberal Dream and International Realities (New Haven: Yale University Press)

Zambernardi, L. 2022. Life, Death, and the Western Way of War (Oxford: Oxford University Press)

Zambernardi, L. 2010. I limiti della potenza. Etica e politica nella teoria internazionale di Hans J. Morgenthau (Bologna: Il Mulino).

Teaching tools

powerpoint, video

Office hours

See the website of Lorenzo Zambernardi