INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
COURSE SYLLABUS
Degree Course in WORLD POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Teacher: Prof. Marco Clementi
The course will examine the changing patterns of conflict and conflict management in contemporary
international relations, together with their causes and their consequences.
First, the course will present the features and trends that have come to characterize the contemporary
international system. In this regard, it will pay particular attention to the main changes in conflict
patterns, thus dealing with the shifts from conventional to unconventional international violence; from
inter-state to intra-state conflicts; and, from war to military interventions. Second, it will deal with the
issue of regionalism, in order to substantiate how and why the contemporary system is strategically
diverging from the Cold War global dynamics. Third, it will present and debate what are the main
contemporary patterns of conflict management, by focusing both on states and on non state actors as
security providers. Fourth, it will focus on the role the US plays in contemporary politics; and, its future
prospects.
Course structure:
Lectures: 16h; Seminars: 4h; Presentations: 20h
Course requirements:
1) Full attendance is required (and will be checked by the teacher).
2) Full attendance, reading mandatory papers and active participation (at least) in Seminars and
Presentations will contribute to grading.
3) Every single student will be asked to give a Presentation (20 minutes) on the mandatory readings.
4) Written examination on the mandatory readings.
Grade breakdown:
5%: Active Participation in Seminars and Presentations
15%: Presentation
80%: Written examination
Please, note that students that do not attend classes without justification will be sanctioned (-0,5
points each time).
Please, note that students that do not read the mandatory papers will be sanctioned (-0,25 points
each time).
Introductory readings: K.A. Mingst and I.M. Arreguin-Toft (2011), Essentials of International
Relations, Norton and Company, 5th edition.
Preparatory Readings: B. Buzan (2004), The United States and the great powers: world politics
in the twenty-first century, Cambridge, Polity Press.
CALENDAR
Week 1 (Class 1-2)
1/1: The Contemporary International System
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- A.A. Stein and S.E. Lobell (1997) “Geostructuralism and International Politics: The End of the
Cold War and the Regionalization of International Security”, in D.A. Lake and P.M. Morgan
(eds.), Regional Orders. Building Security in a New World, University Park, The Pennsylvania
University Press, 1997, pp. 101-122.
1/2: Instability and Violence in Contemporary International Relations
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- K.J. Holsti (2006), Something old, something new: Theoretical perspectives on contemporary
international peace and security, in E. Newman, R. Thakur and J. Tirman (eds.), Multilateralism
under Challenge? Power, international order, and structural change, New York, United
Nations University Press, 2006, pp. 181-206;
- Human Security Report Project (2011), Human Security Report 2009/2010: The Causes of
Peace and the Shrinking Costs of War, Oxford, Oxford University Press (pp. 156-187):
http://www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/20092010/overview.aspx.
Week 2 (Class 3-4)
2/3: The units of contemporary international politics: which non state actors?
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- K.A. Mingst and I.M. Arreguin-Toft (2011), Essentials of International Relations, Norton and
Company, 5th edition (Chapter 7: International Organizations, Nongovernmental Organizations
and International Law).
2/4: Terrorism
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- A.K. Cronin (2002/2003), “Behind the Curve: Globalization and International Terrorism”, in
International Security, 27, 3, Winter, pp. 30-58.
Week 3 (Class 5-6)
3/5: The units of contemporary international politics: which state actors?
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- B. Buzan (2004), The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first
century, Cambridge, Polity Press, pp. 31-45; 58-76 (Chapter 3: Polarity in Theory and Practice;
Chapter 5: Rethinking Definitions: Superpowers, Great Powers and Regional Powers).
3/6: How many great powers?
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- S. Huntington (1999), “The Lonely Superpower”, in Foreign Affairs, 78, 2, pp. 35-49;
- W.C. Wohlforth (1999), “The Stability of a Unipolar World”, in International Security, 24, 1,
pp. 5-41 (from p. 1 to p. 22);
- J.S. Nye (2003), “U.S. Power and Strategy After Iraq”, in Foreign Affairs, 82, 4, pp. 60-73.
Week 4 (Class 7-8)
4/7: Culture and socialization
Seminar
 Suggested Readings:
- G.J. Ikenberry and C.A. Kupchan (1990), “Socialization and Hegemonic Power”, in
International Organization, 44, 3, pp. 283-315;
- T. Hopf (2013), Common Sense Constructivism and Hegemony in World Politics, in
International Organization, 67, 2, pp. 317-354.
4/8: Culture and civilizations
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- S. Huntington (1993), “The clash of civilizations”, in Foreign Affairs, 72, 3, 22-49.
- B. Russett et al. (2000), “Clash of Civilizations, or Realism and Liberalism Déjà Vu? Some
Evidence”, in Journal of Peace Research, 37, 5, pp. 583-608.
Week 5 (Class 9-10)
5/9: Regions and regionalism: concepts and theoretical dimensions
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- D.A. Lake (1997), “Regional Security Complexes: A Systems Approach”, in D.A. Lake
and P.M. Morgan (eds.), Regional Orders. Building Security in a New World, University Park,
The Pennsylvania University Press, 1997, pp. 45-67.
5/10: Is regionalism conflicting with multilateralism?
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- B.L. Job (1997), “Matters of Multilateralism: Implications for Regional Conflict
Management”, in D.A. Lake and P.M. Morgan (eds.), Regional Orders. Building Security in a
New World, University Park, The Pennsylvania University Press, 1997, pp. 165-191.
Week 6 (Class 11-12)
6/11: Conflict management in the contemporary system: great powers as security
providers
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- I. Clark (2011), Hegemony in International Society, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
pp. 51-70 (Chapter 3: Legitimacy and the Institutional Forms of Hegemony);
- B. Cronin (2001), “The Paradox of Hegemony: America’s Ambiguous Relationship with the
United Nations”, in European Journal of International Relations, 7, 1, pp. 103-130.
6/12: Regional great powers and regional orders
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- P.G. Roeder (1997), “From Hierarchy to Hegemony: The Post-Soviet Security Complex”, in
D.A. Lake and P.M. Morgan (eds.), Regional Orders. Building Security in a New World,
University Park, The Pennsylvania University Press, 1997, pp. 219-244;
- S.L. Shirk (1997), “Asia-Pacific Regional Security: Balance of Power or Concert of Powers?”,
in D.A. Lake and P.M. Morgan (eds.), Regional Orders. Building Security in a New World,
University Park, The Pennsylvania University Press, 1997, pp. 245-270.
Week 7 (Class 13/14)
7/13: Conflict management in the contemporary system: non state actors as security
providers
Seminar
 Suggested Readings:
- Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (2004). A More
Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, New York: United Nations. Available at
http://www.un.org/secureworld;
- Human Security Report Project (2011), Human Security Report 2009/2010: The Causes of
Peace and the Shrinking Costs of War, Oxford, Oxford University Press (pp. 61-79):
http://www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/20092010/overview.aspxp.
7/14: International organizations and multilateral military operations
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- E. Bertram (1995), “Reinventing Governments – The Promise and Perils of United Nations
Peace Building, in Journal of Conflict Resolution, 39, 3, pp. 387-418.
Week 8 (Class 15/16)
8/15: Conflict management as regime change: Democracy and the world order
Lecture
 Suggested Readings:
- Human Security Report Project (2011), Human Security Report 2009/2010: The Causes of
Peace and the Shrinking Costs of War, Oxford, Oxford University Press (pp. 19-34):
http://www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/20092010/overview.aspxp;
- M. Koenig-Archibugi (2011), “Is global democracy possible?”, in European Journal of
International Relations, 17, 3, pp. 519-542.
8/16: Assessing the capitalist peace
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- E. Gartzke (2007), “The Capitalist Peace”, in American Journal of Political Science, 51, 1, pp.
166-191;
- J. McDonald (2010), “Capitalism, Commitment, and Peace”, in International Interactions, 36,
2, pp. 146-168.
Week 9 (Class 17/18)
9/17: US foreign policy
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- B.R. Posen and A.L. Ross (1996-1997), “Competing Visions for U.S. Grand Strategy”, in in
International Security, 21, 3, pp. 5-53 (Presentation 1: pp. 5-32; Presentation 2: pp. 32-53).
9/18 The stability of the US hegemony
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- C. Layne (2009), “The Waning of U.S. Hegemony-Myth or Reality?”, in International
Security, 34, 1, pp. 147-172;
- W.C. Wohlforth (2012), “How Not to Evaluate Theories”, in International Studies Quarterly,
56, 1, pp. 219-222.
Week 10 (Class 19-20)
10/19: The US and China: sea-power transition?
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- R.S. Ross (2009), “China’s Naval Nationalism. Sources, Prospects, and the U.S. Response”, in
International Security, 34, 2, pp. 46-81.
10/20: US foreign policy, democracy promotion and multilateralism
Presentations
 Mandatory Readings:
- P. Ish-Shalom (2007/2008), “‘The Civilization of Clashes’: Misapplying the Democratic Peace
in the Middle East”, in Political Science Quarterly, 122, 4, Winter pp. 533-554;
- E. Newman and R. Thakur (2206) Conclusions: Multilateralism under challenge or in crisis?,
in E. Newman, R. Thakur and J. Tirman (eds.), Multilateralism under Challenge? Power,
international order, and structural change, New York, United Nations University Press, 2006,
pp. 531-540.