International Studies

This course examines the key concepts and schools of thought in the study of foreign policy. Concentrating on the process of decision making, internal and external factors which influence foreign policy, and the instruments available to foreign policy decision makers, the course provides students with an understanding of the role and effect that foreign policy has on international politics.

This course provides the fundamental knowledge for the understanding of France's foreign policy in the Middle East from 1995 to the present. It weaves a panorama of the policy deployed in the region from the presidency of Jacques Chirac and the renewal of the Arab policy of France to draw up the assessments and perspectives. This course provides the cardinal elements of understanding the elaboration and application of France's Middle Eastern strategy. French foreign policy is examined through the prism of a chronological triptych that corresponds to three inflections of the foreign policy implemented: a posture inscribed in the Gaullist tradition with President Jacques Chirac (1995-2007); followed by the "Westernist" posture leading to a progressive alignment with American and Israeli strategies during the presidencies of Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande (2007-2017); finally, a willingness to return to a Gaullist position attempted by President Emmanuel Macron (2017-2022). In view of the breadth of the theme and the area covered, the teaching involves many disciplines, such as history, geography, economics, and international law, with a clear predominance of international relations and foreign policy analysis.

Chile has experienced a series of political, economic, social and cultural upheavals during the twentieth century. This course examines the phenomenon of violence, memory, and amnesia through the history of political conflicts. It underlines the roles of silence, oblivion, repression, and humiliation in the formation of authoritative and dictatorial regimes and opposes them to the exaltation of memory in the legitimization of a cause. The course involves a diachronic analysis, introducing the historical and sociological context of nineteenth century Chile, before exploring the period stretching from the beginning of the twentieth century to the democratic transition in 1989, and concluding on the return of speech through the victims' testimony. From the rise of political consciousness to egalitarian combats, from conservative regimes to progressive governments, from the experience of Popular Unity to Pinochet's military coup, the study of Chile is a probing illustration of the intertwine of opposites and contraries shaping a collective consciousness. The course proposes a multidisciplinary point of view in order to embrace the complexity of political and cultural change, as well as an innovative pedagogy; historical archives, testimonies, and documentaries provide the background for a reflective study relying on systemic analysis and strong bases of methodology. Guest speakers from different fields (lawyers, authors, film directors) are invited to address the group, in order to share knowledge and experience, and give professional and personal points of views on different aspects of the course, stimulating an interactive conversation with the students.

This course introduces the world of intelligence; both the theoretical and practical concepts, as well as how it works in both the public sector (government agencies) and the private sector (corporations and intelligence vendors). It provides an understanding of concepts such as the Intelligence Cycle, intelligence analysis, intelligence collection methods (human intelligence, open-source intelligence, signals intelligence) and briefing techniques. The ethics of intelligence and the differences in the public and private sector are introduced, as well as career options in intelligence. This course uses case studies of intelligence operations in both government and corporate environments to expose real world applications of intelligence tradecraft.

This course addresses the state of relations between the three world superpowers which are the European Union, the United States of America, and the People's Republic of China. The course addresses the subject of these triangular, complicated relations by developing China-United States relations, European Union-China relations, and European Union-United States relations. Each of these parts begins with a historical reminder and then explores the reset of these relations today. A large part of the course is also devoted to cross-cutting issues within this G-3, such as climate change, trade policy, digital technology, soft power, human rights, defense strategy, et cetera. This course adopts new perspectives to the understanding of the G-3 dynamics. A decentered perspective from each superpower's points of view (Brussels, Washington, or Beijing) is adopted.

This course examines the interaction of the environment with national and international development and identifies the elements and factors that intervene in political decisions and the creation of legal instruments for ecological conservation. The course provides the necessary knowledge to understand the complexity of environmental issues at the national and international levels, highlighting the difficulties in achieving cooperation among states to protect the global environment, and the reasons behind the positions of developing and developed countries in international forums. Furthermore, the course examines the various actors involved in the development of environmental policies and the main issues on the national and international environmental agenda, such as water scarcity; the increasing use of renewable energy; biodiversity; financing for environmental protection; environmental governance; and global climate change, among others.