2017/2018

2018/2019

DM270

SPS/04 (POLTICIAL SCIENCE)

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

WORLD POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

PERCORSO COMUNE

2°

1st semester (01/10/2018 - 14/12/2018)

6

40 lesson hours

English

ORAL TEST

CLEMENTI MARCO (titolare) - 6 ECTS

Basic Knowledge of History of International Relations; and of Concepts and Theories of International Relations and Political Science

Students will be able to understand international relations; to select and analyse the main issues in contemporary relations; to retrieve data on international phenomena; and, to approach the position and interests of key international subjects.

The course will present the features and trends that have come to characterize the contemporary international system and will examine if and how they are changing the patterns of conflict and conflict management in international relations. The course is designed to combine rigour academic analysis with a policy relevant study of current issues.
First of all the course will focus on some fundamental issues of contemporary dynamics and discuss their theoretical and policy implications. More particularly, it will pay attention to the issue of great powers’ identity and role; the issue of system polarity and the strategic consequences of unipolarism; the issue of the international effects of good governance and institutional fragility at the state level; the issue of the political consequences of competition for natural resources in a globalized world; the issue of the US foreign policy dilemmas.
Secondly, the course will deal with some regional security complexes in order to grasp how these fundamental issues combine to influence regional dynamics and, in turn, global outcomes. In this regard, the course will focus on security dilemmas affecting Europe and the Arctic; Africa and the Middle East; Asia; and, South America.

Lectures and seminars.

Exam bibliography for non attending students:

D.A. Baldwin (2016), Power and International Relations. A Conceptual Approach, Princeton, Princeton University Press;

R. Dannreuther (2013), International security: the contemporary agenda, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Assignments and Written examination on the mandatory readings to assess the theoretical awareness about the main issues in contemporary international relations and the ability to debate them critically.

See the website of the LM in World Politics and International Relations.