International Studies

The phenomenon of globalization is vital to our understanding of the world since the end of the Second World War, and particularly since the 1970s. In this course, students look at the processes that made the world a more integrated and interdependent place in the second half of the 20th century.

This course offers a holistic exploration of China's engagement in global governance, emphasizing its relationships and interactions with key regions worldwide. Students will examine China's foreign policies and initiatives, focusing on its engagements with Central Asia, Europe, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Through detailed case studies and critical analysis, students will gain insights into the multifaceted nature of China's global initiatives and their impact on regional geopolitics, economic landscapes, and diplomatic relations.

This course identifies contracts as a field of study of law and obligations. The course analyzes the different international organisms that enter international contract treaties. It distinguishes the practical study and identifies the types of international contracts with the greatest impact on private relationships and international business.

The course looks at the different facets of international conflict mediation, with an emphasis on the treatment of armed conflict. In the first part of the course, the course locates the debate on mediation within the scope of Peace and Conflict Studies, especially on the concepts of conflict management, resolution, and transformation; as well as the concepts of peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding. The course highlights the particularities of mediation in relation to other mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of disputes, in particular negotiation, exploring the construction of the debate on mediation in the Conflict Resolution literature and its main associated concepts. From this movement, the course covers what mediation is; who are the people or organizations who act as mediators; when mediation should be introduced to deal with conflicts; and how, and through which mechanisms and tools, mediation is exercised. As an important part of this debate, the course discusses the creation and consolidation of norms around mediation at the international level, particularly in the context of UN and regional organizations. In the second part of the course, students study cases, themes, and state-of-the-art discussions on international mediation, including, for example, the mediation of ceasefires and DDR processes; local knowledge and methods of mediation, decolonial critiques and voices from the Global South; debates on international mediation, gender, and race; and mediation in cases of conflicts and environmental crimes. The classes are structured in two parts: in the first half, debates on theoretical and conceptual issues based on the selected bibliography; in the second part, seeking to understand the content of the first part of the class in the light of activities anchored in practical cases, official documents, peace agreements, technical publications from organizations and research centers dedicated to mediation, etc. 

This course analyzes the main pillars and political consequences of the world economy, through the study of key contemporary issues such as the World Trade Organization and Trade Policy, multinational corporations, regional trade agreements, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Latin American debt crisis, the financial crisis in East Asia, financial globalization, economic inequalities and global environmental policies.

The course introduces students to the interplay between trade, migration, and issues such as inequality, environmental degradation, and global politics. It equips students with the analytical tools and essential knowledge necessary to engage in contemporary debates on these issues, helping them to gain a deeper understanding of the interconnected dynamics in the globalized economy. The course covers both theoretical concepts and empirical studies. Students will understand the key theories and concepts underlying international trade and migration and have developed an awareness of how trade and migration trends are influenced by and contribute to challenges in areas like the labor market, environmental sustainability, or social cohesion. For the final examination, students are expected to demonstrate their ability to critically evaluate and discuss the relationship between trade or migration and at least one of the challenges discussed throughout the course.

This course is an introduction to international negotiation. Topics include the basics of negotiation, diplomatic and business negotiation, communication skills, understanding and navigating cultural differences in international negotiation settings, strategic approaches to negotiation, and the role of English as a lingua franca. 

The course also examines and analyzes diplomatic negotiation in relation to the current era of globalization and the importance of bilateral and multilateral international negotiations between companies or governments. 

This course covers diplomacy and international negotiations in the context of international relations. 

The first section focuses on the history and importance of diplomacy and the role of diplomats in resolving conflicts among countries. The Westphalia system (1648), the Congress of Vienna (1815), the Versailles Treaty (1919), the League of Nations and the United Nations will be also explained as a part of multilateral diplomacy.  

The second section covers the concept of diplomacy, theories related to diplomacy, and types and methods of negotiations. Students will examine case studies of past and current international negotiations such as in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Iran and North Korean nuclear issues.  

Finally, students will create presentations and a term paper on any case of international negotiation. 

This course provides students with knowledge of the fundamental concepts, principles, processes, and rules of public international law as well as a more in-depth knowledge of selected areas of the law. This course covers different aspects of general international law, including the sources of international law, statehood and international legal personality, the law of international responsibility, and dispute settlement. It also examines more specialized areas of public international law, with a focus on jurisdiction, immunities, the use of force, and human rights, land and sea, and the environment. The course addresses theoretical debates and uses practical examples of international law in action, many of them relating to contemporary events in international relations.