Political Science

This multi-disciplinary course covers three broad topics: the architecture and various state and non-state actors of formal peacebuilding processes; negotiation between states as a key diplomatic function; and the phenomenon of third-party mediation in conflict resolution. These topics are covered from both the theoretical and practical perspectives, so the course literature, lectures, and exercises provide a balance between what the academics state and what actual diplomats, mediators, and non-state actors experience in the field of peacebuilding. The course also involves detailed case studies of contemporary conflicts in the Middle East region in order to explore these various processes in action and provide a degree of area studies specialization, including the conflicts in Lebanon, Palestine-Israel, Libya, Yemen, and Syria.

This interdisciplinary course explores classic literature and contemporary perspectives on reproduction from the perspectives of history, sociology, anthropology, and law. It examines the crucial role reproduction plays in how relations between nations are negotiated, both symbolically and materially. From colonial to metropolitan households, notably via military contexts, the “domestic” has been re-signified by the transnational: nannies, international adoption, and gestational surrogacy have historical links with 19th and 20th centuries' wars. Focusing on the exchanges and connections between the economic, the political, and the intimate, it examines how these increasingly global processes affect individuals, families, and (imagined) communities from multiple lenses: ethnicity and race, nation, class, and gender. It considers how notions of kinship, citizenship, and human rights have become the subject of intense scrutiny, notably through public debates on private and state management of collective life through (bio)technologies of measurement and intervention. Case studies range from analysis of gender dynamics of armed rebellions in Africa to reproductive politics in the United States. Key concepts and policies pertaining to biopolitics, birthing, welfare programs, domestic labor, marriage, and care work are discussed.

This course provides an overview of the history and major issues in Korea-US relations. The first half of the course deals with the late nineteenth century up to the 1980`s. The second half discusses various contemporary issues related to the two countries, including security, trade, Korean nationalism, immigration, North Korea`s nuclear program, and territorial disputes, among many others. Topics include security, trade, Korean nationalism, immigration, North Korea`s nuclear program, and territorial disputes, among others.

This course focuses on global trade system/rules (namely WTO Agreements and Free Trade Agreements) and Japanese trade policies and laws under those rules. It will provide basic knowledge on concepts and terms related to global trade system/rules, together with tools for legal analysis of trade laws and policies of respective countries.
 

The class sessions begin with lectures on basic trade system/rules/policies followed by case studies. Relevant cases are distributed in advance and active participation in the case-related presentations, debates, or other forms of group work, depending on the number of students, is necessary. Case studies are based on actual cases and can be complex.

This course analyzes Singapore's outlook towards the world with particular reference to countries in the West and Asia. It examines the following key issues affecting Singapore's foreign policy problems of a small state, factors influencing the worldview, the key foreign policy principles and precepts, the operationalization of relations towards different countries; and the key differences in outlook towards the world in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. 

This course provides students with an introduction into European environmental and climate politics and policy. Theories on European integration are discussed and students consider their explanatory value in understanding the emergence of environmental and climate policy. Special attention is paid to the European Union's institutional set-up and the actor constellations involved in policy-making processes. The course then reviews the policy cycle and explores the influence of different actor groups on the initiation, agenda setting, decision-making and implementation of European environmental policy. The focus is on regulatory areas related to the environment, climate change, and energy policy. Students consider the problems, debates, and decisions, and compare political expectations and results.

When can we legitimately go to war? When we are attacked? In order to intervene in the domestic affairs of another country on the grounds that this best serves our national interest? Once we are at war, can we do anything that is necessary to win, or are there moral restrictions on what we can do? For example, can we use nuclear weapons? Can we tortured suspected terrorists? Can we target civilians, in the hope to undermine their government? The course addresses those issues, from a normative, philosophical perspective.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students interested in International Law. The three fundamental legal functions on which the legal dynamics of the international community is founded – law-making, law-determination and law-enforcement – are analyzed within the contemporary social context. International law is presented in its different dimensions: as a tool in the hand of international actors able to handle change in the international society and safeguard stability and predictability of international legal relations; as common language useful in reaching consensus or, at least, peaceful disagreement; and as key to understanding the reality of contemporary international relations. Bringing together different perspectives, the course demonstrates how international rules, while made by governments and mostly addressed to them, can be of great relevance to private actors and to their interests.

Because there is a high concentration of international actors in Geneva, it is often known as one of the capitals of global governance. This course offers an understanding about the world of international organizations and nongovernmental organizations while detailing the main issues of global governance. In order to fully comprehend what is at stake, this course adds academic training to general information. Students benefit from the extensive experience of well-known officials belonging to international organizations and nongovernmental organizations as well as an analysis from professors. The pedagogical approach in this course is interdisciplinary including history, political science, economy, and law, and includes visits to several international organizations. Topics include human rights and humanitarian law, global health, science and diplomacy, migrations and international labor, and international trade and development.

This course examines the formulation and development of United States foreign policy from the American founding to the present day. It explores case studies and crises that have tested and reshaped American leadership in the world including the territorial expansion of the United States, the two world wars, the Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union and its satellites; the Korean War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the Vietnam War; the collapse of Soviet Communism; tensions in the Middle East; the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and the ongoing rise of China and Russia’s war in Ukraine. It also traces the roots of America’s ascent to superpower status during the 20th century and assesses the many dilemmas it faces in the present day as US foreign policy has veered from the Trump administration’s authoritarian populism to the Biden presidency and its return to liberal internationalism. The course also studies how American responses to world affairs–and American interactions with other governments, regions and international institutions–have evolved across generations.