Political Science

This course provides an introduction to the field of political economy by examining key theoretical developments through the history of the discipline. The course examines the emergence and evolution of capitalism beginning with the study of the first and the second global trading systems followed by other important developments until the rise globalization.

The course examines energy in international relations in four parts. First, a brief overview of the history of hydrocarbons will familiarize students with how modern energy supplies developed in the past two centuries. During the first two sessions of the course, students also acquire conceptual and empirical understanding of energy value chains. Next, the course devotes three sessions to energy security as a key perspective in the studies of energy resources. After familiarizing students with the theoretical aspects of energy security, the focus is on several distinct cases examining both the supply and the demand-side of energy security on a global scale. Such cases include the energy dilemmas between energy-rich Russia/Eurasia and hydrocarbon-poor EU; the rising role of China and Asia in global energy demand and their pursuit of energy security; and the evolution of energy geopolitics between the oil-rich Persian Gulf region and the US. The third part of the course dedicates two sessions to the link between energy and development. The focus of the first session is on the literature examining the link between resource wealth and development, while the second session examines resource nationalism and its historical evolution. The fourth part looks at key challenges faced with respect to energy in a carbon-constrained world.

This course discusses political and social history to understand the transformation of society and long-term rules of social convention. It examines how sovereignty, rights and freedoms, ideologies, and beliefs change over time with a focus on the role of large social movements.

This course focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: it looks at the roots and history of the question contextualizing it into regional and international political developments. The course covers the most important events that characterized the conflict providing a solid historic background for analyzing contemporary developments. Moreover, the course analyzes the role of international and regional actors into the making of the conflict while also highlighting the impact of the Palestinian issue into the Arab world. The first class provides the theoretical tools for a critical analysis of the conflict, the different actors, and their political role. This approach challenges the traditional mainstream paradigms around the Arab-Israeli crisis. The following classes are also informed by this critical approach: the analysis of important events such as the Suez crisis, the 1967 and 1973 Wars, the emergence of Palestinian resistance, the impact of the Cold War, and the role of international players explore the political dynamics behind the mere facts. Regional events impacted by the Arab-Israeli conflict such as the Black September and the Lebanese civil war are discussed in
order to highlight the influence and relevance of the Palestinian question on regional politics. Having built a historical background and critical understanding of the conflict, the last part of the course focuses on contemporary events and the emergence of new actors, new diplomatic strategies, as well as the popular mobilization that is characterizing current political developments. Finally, the course discusses possible solutions.

Combining political sociology, political thought, and international relations, this course focuses on certain aspects of modern political conflicts and particularly the institutions put into place to resolve them. It explores the difficulties that social sciences have when looking at the question of political violence and its causes, as well as the mechanisms of liberal and democratic regulation of conflict. The course also analyzes the modern international interventions after a violent political conflict, the dilemma of the actual intervention, the evolution of the rapport with political violence, and the formation of expertise post-conflict.

This course provides the basic knowledge and analytical tools to understand the major issues at stake in climate and environmental diplomacy, as well as the dynamics of international policy-making on climate and the environment, the interplay of actors, and the possibilities and limits of existing systems. Sessions are organized by theme and highlight the cross-cutting nature of these issues and their interactions with numerous fields of international relations. This introductory approach considers a broad panorama of international actors, issues, and frameworks.

The sea and oceans are becoming topics of significant importance on the global security agenda and as an innovative field of research for social sciences although “Sea Studies” can be seen as an area of research “in the making”. This course sets out to introduce key issues of pertinence in Maritime Security and geopolitics of the Sea. It demonstrates why the maritime domain is a space of great strategic interest, and how threats to security at sea have a real impact for states and people around the world. It explores a myriad of threats to security playing out at sea, while also looking at some of the mechanisms, tools, strategies and key-actors involved in addressing these challenges. Each session provides an overview of the issue it discusses and considers regional case studies as an illustration. This approach adopts a multidisciplinary perspective with interrelated considerations coming from very various fields of research (political science, international relations, social anthropology, political economy, international law, history) but also lessons learned coming from practitioners, as well as policymakers enabling students to develop a comprehensive and better-informed understanding of debates and developments related to maritime security issues.

This course provides an intensive overview of contemporary Mexican history and politics, covering the period between the Mexican Revolution and the transition to electoral democracy, Themes covered include: current economic situation, social movements, minorities, migration and transnationalization, and US-Mexico relations. The course reader includes both historical and sociological articles and is supplemented with readings from daily and weekly periodicals.