84526 - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Learning outcomes

The course deals with some basic themes, concepts and thinkers in international relations. The purpose is to provide students with essential conceptual and linguistic tools for understanding the underlying structure and fundamental features of international politics, as well as its material and immaterial changing aspects. The objective is to explain the dynamics through which men and women understand international politics as well as on achieving a coherent capacity of thinking international life, both in its theoretical and practical dimension.

Course contents

The course examines the most important theories of international politics and foreign policy, with a particular focus on constructivism, liberalism, and realism. We will also study some key concepts of international relations such as the balance of power, hegemony, war, and cooperation.1.

-

Readings/Bibliography

1. Introduction

- No readings

2. The Emergence of the Global System of States

- - Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, Introduction to International Relations: Perspectives, Connections, and Enduring Questions (2022, 3rd Edition), Ch. 2.

3. Realism I

- Thucydides, “The Melian Dialogue,” History of the Peloponnesian War, V, 84-116.

4. Realism II

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, pp. 82-90.

5. Neorealism

- Waltz, K., "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory", Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 615-628.

6. Liberalism I

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, pp. 90-98

7. Liberalism II

- Kant, I. Perpetual Peace, any edition.

8. Constructivism I

- Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 99-101

9. Constructivism II

- Wendt, A. 1999, Social Theory of International Politics, CH. 6.

10. Mid-Term

- No readings

 

SECOND MODULE

11. The Marxist critique

• Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 103-110.

12. The postcolonial critique

• Nair (2017), ‘Introducing Postcolonialism in International Relations Theory’, E-IR.

13. The feminist critiques

• Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 111-114.

14. History and International Relations

• de Carvalho et al. (2021), ‘Introduction: Historical International Relations’, in Routledge Handbook of Historical International Relations.

15. The study of foreign policy

• Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 122-154.

16. The Rise and Fall of Globalisation

• Prasad (2023), ‘Zero-sum game: Shockwaves have shredded the globalization script, with profound consequences for poorer countries’, Foreign Policy.

17. A multipolar (dis)order?

• Mearsheimer (2021), ‘The Inevitable Rivalry’, Foreign Affairs.

18. Old and new wars

• Biddle (2023). ‘Back in the Trenches: Why New Technology Hasn't Revolutionized Warfare in Ukraine’, Foreign Affairs.

19. International relations and global capitalism

• Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 314-352.

20. The international politics of the climate crisis

• Grieco, Ikenberry, and Mastanduno, 470-497.

21. Nationalism and the crisis of democracy

• Breuilly (2023), ‘Nationalism, national self-determination, and international relations’, in The Globalization of World Politics, 488-503.

22. The United States from hegemony to decline

• Mathews (2024). ‘What Was the Biden Doctrine? Leadership without hegemony’, Foreign Affairs.

23. The rise of China

• Tooze (2020). ‘Whose Century?’, London Review of Books.

24. The return of Russia

• Meister (2019). ‘The domestic and foreign policy nexus’, inRoutledge Handbook of Russian Security, Chapter 6.

25. Europe between Integration and Disintegration

• Martill & Brinke (2020), ‘Europe in a Multipolar World’, LSE Ideas.

26. Arab springs and Arab winters

• Achcar (2020). ‘From one Arab Spring to another’, Radical Philosophy.

27. The Ukrainian crisis

• Ishchenko (2022). ‘Towards the Abyss’, NLR 133/134.

28. The transnational Kurdish question

• Kamran Matin (2020), ‘Liminal Lineages of the “Kurdish Question’, MERIP.

29. Occupation and conflict in Palestine

• Barnett et al (2023). ‘Israel's One-State Reality’, Foreign Affairs.

30. Final

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars.

“In considerazione della tipologia di attività e dei metodi didattici adottati, la frequenza di questa attività formativa richiede la preventiva partecipazione di tutti gli studenti ai Moduli 1 e 2 di formazione sulla sicurezza nei luoghi di studio, [https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/] in modalità e-learning.

Assessment methods

ATTENDING STUDENTS: two written exams (three questions for each exam in 30 minutes) on the above readings and lectures.

Non-attending students: written exam (from 6 to 10 questions) and an oral exam on the above readings and the following book:

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

Teaching tools

Teams, Power point, video

Office hours

See the website of Lorenzo Zambernardi

See the website of Nicola Degli Esposti