International Studies

How do states cooperate with each other? How do they engage in conflict? Do these strategies of engagement change over time? These are some of the most important questions in the field of International Relations (IR) and they lie at the center of this course. Researchers and practitioners have asked those questions throughout human history – the increasingly competitive landscape of international security in the last decade makes such questions all the more potent. Starting with the onset of World War I and ending in the near future, this course explores the nature of conflict and cooperation over approximately the past 100 years. It introduces students to the different actors, processes, and technologies that shape these dynamics. This involves themes and topics such as why and when states start wars, how they may be prevented, how powerful states build international orders and for what reasons, whether international institutions are autonomous from states or subservient to them, the consequences of the rise of populism on interstate politics, and the nature of the current conflict between Russia and the West.

This course is systematically organized around the creation of new value, processes of innovation management, and operation of new and emerging ventures in global environments. It covers major aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship strategy in countries such as U.S., Europe, Australia, China, and other emerging countries. 

This course discusses the functioning of both the EU and the UN as normative power intergovernmental organizations. Do they really deserve to be labelled as such? And if so, what extent have they been successful as keepers of international peace? The EU’s Commission and Council and the UN’s Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights at the hand of both historical and actual cases are assessed. Do not expect a clear “yes” or “no”,  but come to learn what the limits and opportunities of the EU and the UN as prominent IGO’s in the field of international politics are and even more important: come to learn how to start your own research on both normative powers by using both secondary and primary sources, including the necessary theoretical toolkit on how to interpret them. 

This course provides students with an understanding of the most important challenges that war poses for international order. It draws on ideas from international relations, sociology, political geography, and anthropology to equip students with conceptual and analytical insights to understand the relations between international order and war. Are wars an unavoidable threat to international order? Or are they necessary at times to preserve international order? What have the Cold War, the "war on terror," and the war on poverty in common? How can we understand the relations between war and revolution, war and security, war and human rights, war and risk? What alternatives to war are possible today? How have wars and conflicts been transformed by changes in the international order?

The course is designed to prepare students for leadership in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse workforce. Throughout the course, students are challenged to question, think, and respond thoughtfully to the issues they observe and encounter in the internship setting, and the designated city in general. Students have the opportunity to cultivate the leadership skills as defined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), such as critical thinking, teamwork, and diversity. Assignments focus on building a portfolio that highlights those competencies and their application to workplace skills. The hybrid nature of the course allows students to develop their skills in a self-paced environment with face-to-face meetings and check-ins to frame their intercultural internship experience. Students complete 45 hours of in-person and asynchronous online learning activities and 225-300 hours at their internship placement.

In the discipline of International Relations, there are different perspectives on how and why war occurs. This course takes students through different perspectives on different conflicts, from interstate war to civil war to insurgencies and beyond. Students also consider some developments in warfare – for example the introduction of drones or the violent potential of cyberattacks – and how these affect war.

This course analyzes the processes, systems, structures, events, and actors from the Second World War to the present. It focuses on understanding the meaning, evolution, dynamics of the Postwar world, as well as identifying the main causes, consequences and implications. 

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 is organized in two sections:

Section A: lectures that introduce students to the key conceptual tools. This section analyzes the relationship between the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the international community within the framework of the prevailing development issues in the following periods: independence and the Cold War; Washington consensus; democratization; the third millennium; and the new international consensus on 'stability' and 'security'.

Section B: seminar classes for in-depth discussions of the Part A framework in view of a selection of country case-studies in sub-Saharan Africa, and for debating the new research questions that will come to light during classes. The main focus is the challenge of democracy in the 2000s: they are examined considering the local and international political priorities, the emphasis on security and the role of international cooperation policies.

At the end of the course, the student has acquired, in a critical manner and with reference to international academic research literature, a good knowledge of the political history of contemporary Africa in its international dimension. In particular, the student is able to: A) analyze and discuss the main elements of the political development and transformations of the political systems of contemporary Africa considering the internal, regional, and international context; B) analyze and discuss the main factors defining the role and location of Africa in contemporary global politics and international relations; C) analyze and evaluate empirically the development strategies and governance reforms, also in relation to the role of the international policies of the major donors; D) find and arrange documentary and bibliographic sources using libraries, databases, and websites, and organize, both verbally and by written essays, the knowledge acquired during the course.

This course begins by examining the scope of international marketing and identifying the nature of this specialized environment. It continues with an exploration of the range of international market entry and pricing strategies and ends with a review of the impact of ethical considerations and the political dimensions of international marketing.

This course assesses private International law; its various theories, its sources, its methods, and techniques. The course addresses the problems of applying different provisions to the same legal relationship between people of different nationalities;  the solutions provided by immediately applicable rules and regulations; materials; the traditional conflict system, model laws, and uniform law. By the end of the course, students are expected to identify factual situations and adopt a decision based on law, acting in a loyal, diligent and transparent manner in the defense of the interests of the people they represent.