International Studies

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.

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.