The course aims to define and elaborate on the concept of military security as it developed after the Second World War. The time span is determined by the ineluctable revolution that the discovery and use of nuclear weapons ushered both in terms of military doctrine and of power politics. Starting with a reflection on the reasons of the early failure of collective security, the course will first focus on the crucial hallmarks of security in a bipolar international system, making a clear distinction between States included in, and excluded from, a multilateral alliance. It will then take into consideration the major challenges posed to military security by newly emerging threats as the former was consolidating after the end of the Cold War.
teacher profile teaching materials
CONTENT:
- Part I: (first 5-6 weeks) After having introduced the meaning of security studies in the United States and the Western world, a good deal of attention is devoted to understanding the failure of the attempt made immediately after the second World War to establish an effective collective security within the United Nations, and its later evolution. Then, the focus shifts on the hallmarks and meaning of international security in the bipolar world, when military conflicts were bound to remain limited, as more or less limited was the room for maneuvering that most of the states inside and outside of the principal military alliances might reasonably expect to gain. Inter alia, the Western Alliance is examined also to emphasize that, because of the threat of a nuclear holocaust, it has gradually turned out to be the venue for devising a shared security agenda and, through that, a curtailed version of collective security. The era of bipolar confrontation is also examined from the standpoint of the development of nuclear deterrence and proliferation as the two sides of the (nuclear-tinged) security coin
- Part II: (second 5-6 weeks) The second part of the course concentrates on some of the most relevant challenges to international security characterizing the post-Cold War world, wherein globalization has been coexisting with a growing and widespread securitization of a series of international and transnational matters. Through the adoption of a historical perspective, the students are encouraged to reflect on and discuss about the transformation that the concept of international security has undergone over the last decades. Thus, class discussions are organized with the purpose of favoring a deeper analysis and debate on the various issues singled out as significant, and each student is required to present a short paper on one of those issues, using the bibliographical material suggested by the professor, as well as that found by the student through a specific bibliographical research.
This course is taught in English.
- Mary Kaldor and Iavor Rangelov (edited by), The Handbook of Global Security Policy, Wiley Blackwell, 2014 – excluding the following chapters: 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 26
- Mark Mazower, Governing the World. The History of an Idea, Penguin Books, 2012 – pp. 191-342 (this is a required reading for students without a sound knowledge of the international history between world war II and the late 1970s)
For the in class discussions, students will have to read the following essays:
- Daniel Abrahams, “From discourse to policy: US policy communities’ perceptions of and approaches to climate change and security,” Conflict, Security & Development, Vol. 19, No. 4, (2019): 323–345.
- Fiona B. Adamson, “Crossing Borders: International Migration and National Security”, International Security, 31: 1 (Summer 2006), pp. 165-199.
- David A. Baldwin, “The Concept of Security”, Review of International Studies, Vol. 23, n. 1, (January 1997), pp. 5-26.
- Madeline Carr and F. Lesniewska, “Internet of Things, cybersecurity and governing wicked problems: learning from climate change governance,” International Relations, Vol. 34, No. 3 (2020), pp. 391–412.
- Colin S. Gray, “What Rand Hath Wrought”, Foreign Policy, 4 (Autumn 1971), pp. 111-129.
- Excerpts of the Human Development Report 1994, Published for the United Nations Development Programme
- Michael MccGwire, “Deterrence: The Problem- Not the Solution”, International Affairs, Vol. 62, n. 1, (Winter, 1985-1986), pp. 55-70.
- Nick Ritchie, “A hegemonic nuclear order: Understanding the Ban Treaty and the power politics of nuclear weapons,” Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 40, No. 4 (2019): pp. 409-434.
- Uri Tor, “‘Cumulative Deterrence’ as a New Paradigm for Cyber Deterrence,” Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1-2 (2017): pp. 92-117.
- David S. Yost, “NATO’s Evolving Purposes and the Next Strategic Concept”, International Affairs, 86:2 (March 2010), pp. 489-522.
- Michael C. Williams, “Words, Images, Enemies: Securitization and International Politics,” International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Dec. 2003), pp. 511-531.
Programme
The course focuses on the most important aspects that security has assumed in the international system since the end of the Second World War. In adopting a historical approach, it intends to offer the students a general survey and understanding of a process that becomes the effect and the producer of frames of political action. The end of the Second World War has been selected as the starting point of analysis, first because it marked the beginning of the era of security studies in the United States and the Western world. As field of studies security studies developed after the failure of the attempt made at that time to establish an effective collective security within the United Nations. That failure coincided with the beginning of the nuclear era and the Cold War. To the time period of bipolar confrontation is devoted a good deal of the course with the related dynamics concerning nuclear deterrence and proliferation. Despite the end of the Cold War, the security discourse is still looming large in the contemporary international system, not only for the growing risk of nuclear proliferation, but also for the so-called securitization process concerning many international issues, like environment, migration and access to resources. The course, therefore, aims at helping the students historicize the notion of international security and familiarize with the main components of the contemporary international security agenda.CONTENT:
- Part I: (first 5-6 weeks) After having introduced the meaning of security studies in the United States and the Western world, a good deal of attention is devoted to understanding the failure of the attempt made immediately after the second World War to establish an effective collective security within the United Nations, and its later evolution. Then, the focus shifts on the hallmarks and meaning of international security in the bipolar world, when military conflicts were bound to remain limited, as more or less limited was the room for maneuvering that most of the states inside and outside of the principal military alliances might reasonably expect to gain. Inter alia, the Western Alliance is examined also to emphasize that, because of the threat of a nuclear holocaust, it has gradually turned out to be the venue for devising a shared security agenda and, through that, a curtailed version of collective security. The era of bipolar confrontation is also examined from the standpoint of the development of nuclear deterrence and proliferation as the two sides of the (nuclear-tinged) security coin
- Part II: (second 5-6 weeks) The second part of the course concentrates on some of the most relevant challenges to international security characterizing the post-Cold War world, wherein globalization has been coexisting with a growing and widespread securitization of a series of international and transnational matters. Through the adoption of a historical perspective, the students are encouraged to reflect on and discuss about the transformation that the concept of international security has undergone over the last decades. Thus, class discussions are organized with the purpose of favoring a deeper analysis and debate on the various issues singled out as significant, and each student is required to present a short paper on one of those issues, using the bibliographical material suggested by the professor, as well as that found by the student through a specific bibliographical research.
This course is taught in English.
Core Documentation
REQUIRED READINGS:- Mary Kaldor and Iavor Rangelov (edited by), The Handbook of Global Security Policy, Wiley Blackwell, 2014 – excluding the following chapters: 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 26
- Mark Mazower, Governing the World. The History of an Idea, Penguin Books, 2012 – pp. 191-342 (this is a required reading for students without a sound knowledge of the international history between world war II and the late 1970s)
For the in class discussions, students will have to read the following essays:
- Daniel Abrahams, “From discourse to policy: US policy communities’ perceptions of and approaches to climate change and security,” Conflict, Security & Development, Vol. 19, No. 4, (2019): 323–345.
- Fiona B. Adamson, “Crossing Borders: International Migration and National Security”, International Security, 31: 1 (Summer 2006), pp. 165-199.
- David A. Baldwin, “The Concept of Security”, Review of International Studies, Vol. 23, n. 1, (January 1997), pp. 5-26.
- Madeline Carr and F. Lesniewska, “Internet of Things, cybersecurity and governing wicked problems: learning from climate change governance,” International Relations, Vol. 34, No. 3 (2020), pp. 391–412.
- Colin S. Gray, “What Rand Hath Wrought”, Foreign Policy, 4 (Autumn 1971), pp. 111-129.
- Excerpts of the Human Development Report 1994, Published for the United Nations Development Programme
- Michael MccGwire, “Deterrence: The Problem- Not the Solution”, International Affairs, Vol. 62, n. 1, (Winter, 1985-1986), pp. 55-70.
- Nick Ritchie, “A hegemonic nuclear order: Understanding the Ban Treaty and the power politics of nuclear weapons,” Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 40, No. 4 (2019): pp. 409-434.
- Uri Tor, “‘Cumulative Deterrence’ as a New Paradigm for Cyber Deterrence,” Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1-2 (2017): pp. 92-117.
- David S. Yost, “NATO’s Evolving Purposes and the Next Strategic Concept”, International Affairs, 86:2 (March 2010), pp. 489-522.
- Michael C. Williams, “Words, Images, Enemies: Securitization and International Politics,” International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Dec. 2003), pp. 511-531.
Reference Bibliography
- Robert J. Art and Kenneth N. Waltz (edited by), The Use of Force. Military Power and International Politics, sixth edition, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004 - Madeline Carr, “Public-Private Partnerships in National Cybersecurity Strategies”, International Affairs, 92: I (2016), pp. 43-62 - Andrew Cottey, Security in 21st Century Europe, second edition, Palgrave, 2013 - Christopher Daase, “National, Societal, and Human Security: On the Transformation of Political Language”, Historical Social Research, Vol. 35, n. 4, (134), 2010, pp. 22-37 - Niall Ferguson, Charles S. Maier, Erez Manela, Daniel J. Sargent (editors), The Shock of the Global. The 1970s in Perspective, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010 - Avery Goldstein, “Discounting the Free Ride: Alliances and Security in the Postwar World”, International Organization, Vol. 49, n. 1, (Winter 1995), pp. 39-71 - Hilde Haaland Kramer and Steve A. Yetiv, “The UN Security Council Response’s to Terrorism: before and after September 11, 2001”, Political Science Quarterly, 122: 3 (Fall 2007), pp. 409-432 - Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1994 - Geir Lundestad (edited by), International Relations Since the End of the Cold War. New and Old Dimensions, Oxford University Press, 2013 - Voitech Mastny and Zhu Liqun (edited by), The Legacy of the Cold War. Perspectives on Security, Cooperation, and Conflict, Lexington Books, 2014 - Paul Rosenzweig, Cyber Warfare. How Conflicts in Cyberspace Are Challenging America and Changing the World, Praeger, 2013 - Jan Ruzicka, “Behind the veil of good intentions: power analysis of the nuclear non-proliferation regime,” International Politics, Vol. 55 (2018): pp. 369–385 - Eric Taylor Woods, Robert Schertzer, Liah Greenfeld, Chris Hughes, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, “COVID-19, nationalism, and the politics of crisis: A scholarly exchange,” Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 26 (2020), pp. 807-825 - Scott M. Thomas, “A Globalized God. Religion’s Growing Influence in International Politics”, Foreign Affairs, Vol 89, n. 6, Nov-Dec 2010, pp. 93-101Type of delivery of the course
Lectures, library work, critical in class discussion of the assigned readings, presentation, guest lectures and projectionsAttendance
Attendance is mandatory for all classes. If a student misses more than three classes, 2 percentage points will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student’s absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies.Type of evaluation
Attendance and participation to class discussions (25%); mid-term written test/paper (25%); in class oral presentation (25%); final paper (25%). This year, as we cannot be physically in class, I will ask the students to write short research papers. Mid-term and final in the form of written tests will be resumed when we will be physically back in class. The class discussions and presentations concentrate on the essays listed in the second section of the required readings. Access to this material can be obtained mostly through the online subscriptions of our University; when this will not be the case, the related pdf will be provided to the students at the beginning of the course. During the first weeks of class the professor will explain how to prepare for the presentations.