B2858 - Regional and Global Governance

Learning outcomes

General The course aims to introduce students to the wide array of regional and global governance processes and institutions, providing conceptual and theoretical tools for understanding similarities and differences in the emergence, institutional design, and effects of transnational governance institutions across different world regions. Specific • Understand the origins, historical development, and characteristics of the contemporary global governance system. • Explore the main theoretical debates in the field of international relations on regional and global governance. • Analyze the main similarities and differences between regional governance processes and institutions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe • Examine the main challenges of the regional/global governance initiatives across different world regions and policy areas (public health, trade, security, migration, among others) • Explore the relationship between regional and global governance initiatives (i.e., the regional-global governance nexus) across regions and policy areas.

Course contents

The course consists of 18 lectures structured into five sections. Section one presents key concepts related to global and regional governance. Section two analyzes the origins and evolution of the contemporary system of transnational governance, shedding light on the role of power, authority, and hierarchies. Section three explores the drivers, institutional design, and effects of regional governance in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Section four focuses on global/regional governance initiatives in specific policy areas. Section five addresses the main challenges to contemporary global governance.

Readings/Bibliography

Readings for each session are available on the online platform Virtuale, together with the course outline.

Teaching methods

The course is organized in lectures, each dealing with a specific topic. Students are warmly encouraged to read the assigned texts beforehand. PowerPoint presentations shown in class will be made available online before each lesson. The two final sessions of the course will be devoted to group presentations.

Assessment methods

During the course, students will give group presentations, which will be evaluated by the instructor. At the end of the course, students will take a final oral exam (to be held during the summer examination sessions), which will focus on the whole program. The final evaluation will be the average of the two marks.

Teaching tools

• PowerPoint Presentations

• Online course material (readings)

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Agostinis