International Studies

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. At the end of the course, students have a thorough understanding of the decision-making processes of European Union policies and the actors involved in EU policies. From the economic and social to the digital and multimedia fields, students are able to evaluate the impact of regulation at European level on the different sectors of society. The course is divided into two parts and ends with two seminars on themes dealt with beforehand. 

Part I. Understanding the European Union: 

• The foundations of the EU project: Federal integration, a conceptual approach resulting from a mix of economic integration and federalism. The two levels of governance: central and national levels. The principle of subsidiarity. The evolution of the EU’s policy portfolio and policy processes over the year.
• Who does what in Brussels: The main institutions the EU, their role and tasks. The influence exercised by the lobbies and civil society organizations in shaping the policy agenda and the decisional process. Policy roles, functions and the distribution of power within the various institutions and amongst the Member States.
• The EU’s decision making process: The various decisional processes and procedures. The setting of the EU political agenda, its strategic objectives and policy priorities. Regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation. The life of a EU law and its impact of the life of its people.
• Economic integration as catalyst for further political integration: The process of completion of the internal market, the backbone of the EU. The 4 fundamental freedoms and Community method, the main decision making process. The ordinary legislative procedure and new forms of governance.
• A Union of values: Democracy, human rights and the Rule of Law are identitarian, foundation elements of the EU and of our “way of living”.

Part II. EU Media Policy: balancing freedom of expression and other fundamental rights online. 5 case studies.

• The process of liberalization and regulation of the European audiovisual market.
• The Copyright reform (protection and monetization of copyrighted works distributed over the Internet, while protecting freedom of expression and freedom of the arts). Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.
• Internet and digital platforms regulation. The Digital Services Act, a comprehensive regulatory framework on content moderation and protection of citizens’ rights online, including from disinformation.
• The Media Freedom Act, a brand new law enhancing media freedom, pluralism and journalists protection across the EU.
• The regulation of artificial intelligence in the EU (the AI Act).

This course seeks to provide students with grounding in the basic tools of understanding social protest and social movement. In addition to Hong Kong, cases are drawn from many different countries—from the American civil rights movement to the 2007 democratic demonstrations in Burma, from Gandhi’s satyagraha (non-violent resistance) to the more recent “color revolutions” in Europe and Central Asia. Students also learn about influential social movement leaders past and present, such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mandela, Mao, Lech Walesa, Aung San Suu Kyi and more. Students who have taken CCCH9009 Protests, rebellions and revolution are not allowed to take this course.

Is waging war ever morally justified, and, if so, when? Do affluent states and individuals harm the global poor? How should New Zealand deal with historic injustice and the legacy of colonialism? What is the fairest and most effective way of addressing climate change? This course investigates these questions and others that lie at the intersection of international relations and moral philosophy.

The seminar begins with discussing the challenges academic research – even if mostly historically oriented – faces when investigating clandestine phenomena such as criminal networks. It then introduces core concepts of illicit markets including trafficking corridors, and the political economy of criminal violence. The seminar goes on to explore the historical origins (starting in the 1970s and 1980s) of drug trafficking in both regions using, among others, historical, journalistic and criminological accounts. From then on it proceeds chronologically until the 2010s with an outlook on the current situation. For both regions, the class examines and reviews the historical interface/interlinkages between state secret services and criminals (e.g. the use of criminals by the UDBA to eliminate Yugoslav dissidents in the West, or the use of Mexican drug trafficking networks to support clandestine aid to anti-Sandinista Contras). The final part uses the comparative material to formulate a historically grounded puzzle: Why did the two corridors follow such different trajectories of organized violence? The seminar concludes by mapping the divergence of historical pathways of violence and discussing tentative explanations suggested in the literature.

The course examines the relationships among peace, justice, and security in an increasingly interconnected world. Students explore theories of conflict, violence, global justice, human rights, and peacebuilding. The course analyzes contemporary security challenges, including armed conflict, terrorism, migration, environmental change, and inequality, while examining the role of international organizations, legal institutions, and global governance in promoting peace and stability.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course provides students with tools to analyze the practice of conflict resolution, especially as emerged after the end of the Cold War, through a review of key theories, concepts, and practices of international interventions aimed at peacekeeping and peacebuilding. At the end of the course, the student is able to: Identify and distinguish the different approaches to peacekeeping and interventions; discuss the empirical aspects of international interventions, identifying strengths and weaknesses of different types of action; connect different practices of peacekeeping and peacebuilding with changes in the international system and foreign policies. This is a course based both on lectures and students’ participation and active engagement in class discussions and exercises. Its success depends on students being well prepared for each session.

It is divided into 2 main parts. The first section (16 hours) introduces students to the key theoretical and analytical tools necessary to understand and critically evaluate the practice of conflict management and resolution – including the post-settlement peacebuilding phase – and its evolution. It discusses the main peace intervention doctrines and the challenges encountered in their implementation. It presents and discusses the role of the key actors (above all states and international organizations) in different cases.

The second part of the course (12 hours) takes into consideration some contemporary cases. Students apply concepts and theoretical tools to the analysis of Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Syria, and Ukraine. For this part students are divided into two groups and attend one of the two weekly lectures (thus, as a whole students will attend a total of 28 hour of classes). Students are required to read the material in advance of the class meetings and be ready to engage with both the instructor and their peers.

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

This course outlines different approaches to the study of identity, ethnicity and nationalism in global politics. It focuses on the role which nationalism and religion play in International Relations (IR): first, it introduces theories of nations and nationalism before examining whether the nation is "real" or "imagined". Second, the class critically interrogates the relationship between religion and nationalism with reference to empirical case studies.
 

This seminar prepares students for the field trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki (KCSEM 209), which involves spending a week traveling together to Hiroshima and Nagasaki while earning credit. The latter involves experiencing the enduring impact and evolving memories of the atomic bombings of these two cities more than 80 years later. This seminar culminates in attending and studying the Memorial Services held in Hiroshima on August 6th and Nagasaki on August 9th. Both courses aim to reflect on how memories and commemoration of the atomic bombings have changed over time and their impact in the current international environment. 

International law, also known as public international law, is the foundation of our current societal model. It governs how states interact with each other; establishes universals of individuals, and regulates multiple international actors. International law principles aim to prevent international and domestic conflicts; protect individual liberties, and promote trade, among other goals. International law also deals with international institutions, each tasked with a particular function requiring general and specialized knowledge.This course is a general introduction to International Law aimed at non-law students, delving into its history, development, and current issues.

While legal instruments and documents will be used, no previous legal knowledge or training is required.