The recent history of the international system is undoubtedly marked by the end of bi-polarism, which has been regarded as the single most important event in the second half of the 20th century. This “transformational moment”, however, is questioned by a number of historiographical approaches emphasizing the importance of long term trends to understand a number of current events. The course will investigate the evolution of international relations since the end of the cold war by comparing these explicative paradigms. On the one hand, it will look at some of the most distinctive features of the post Cold War era, inlcuding the crises of the 1990s, the emergence of the United States as a hegemonic power, and the consequences of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and of the 2003 Iraq war on the American ability to preserve its supremacy. On the other, it will discuss different conceptual and chronological frameworks to present the evolution of the international system from more complex perspectives, by looking at long term phenomena such as the return of China to a great power role or the discontinuity introduced in the international system by the Neo-liberal approach since the 1970s.
teacher profile teaching materials
CONTENT:
PART I – Introduction, historical controversies and the major features of the early post-cold war era.
Week 1
Introduction and description of the course. The search for new interpretive paradigms: the end of the Cold War or the triumph of globalization ?
Week 2
The rise of US hegemony and the search for a new Europe: the Kuwait war and the Maastricht negotiations
Weeks 3-4
The crises of the early 1990s: Yugoslavia, Somalia and Ruanda. The failure of assertive multilateralism and the search for alternatives. Contending US and EU security models
PART II
The war on terror and the rise of a multipolar system
Week 5
The drift towards US unilateralism: the Kosovo war and its implications for NATO and European security. The evolution of Russian foreign policy
Nuclear proliferation and arms control after the end of the Cold War: the North Korean crisis, the containment of Iraq, and the A.Q. Khan network
MIDTERM EXAM
Week 6
The impact of 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq crisis.
Week 7
The rise of China and India and its impact on the international system. Will Asia return to the center of the international system?
PART III
What next?
Week 8
The erosion of US hegemony? The crisis in the Greater Middle East, 2003-2010 and the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia. The consolidation of the EU – and its stalemate. The Arab Springs and their aftermath. The Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program
Week 9
2014-2023: the unraveling of the post-cold war order?
Week 10
Seminar – Class Presentations
Week 11
Seminar -Class Presentations
Week 12
Seminar -Class Presentations
Week 13
Seminar -Class Presentations
19:The Decline of the Cold War, 1985-9
Part VI The Post-Cold War World, 1990-2000
20:Europe and the Former Soviet Union
21:US Predominance and the Search for a Post-Cold War Order
22:Stability and Instability in the Less Developed World
PART VII The Age of Instability and Conflict: Terror, Economic Chaos, and Political Change 2001-11
23:The 'War on Terror' and the War in Afghanistan
24:The War in Iraq
25:Economic Problems in the West and the Economic Rise of China in the East
PART VIII The Age of Uncertainty: Chaos and Confusion in a Globalized World, 2011-18
26:Conflict and Chaos in the Middle East
27:Threats to the existing Global Order: Instability in the West
28:Threats to the Existing Global Order: Challenges from the East
Programme
The course intends to offer a general survey of the evolution of the international system since the end of the Cold War. After discussing the main historical interpretations of the causes of the Soviet collapse, the first part of the course will focus on the crises of the 1990s (Iraq, Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda), the repeated failures of the UN, and the US and European search for a new international security paradigm. The second part of the course will look at the consequences of 9/11 as well as the war on terror, considering their long term impact on the hegemonic position of the US. It will also discuss the growing role of emerging powers such as China and India. Finally, the third part of the course looks at such events as the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, the Arab Springs and their consequences, the paralysis in the EU, and the crises in Ukraine and Syria.CONTENT:
PART I – Introduction, historical controversies and the major features of the early post-cold war era.
Week 1
Introduction and description of the course. The search for new interpretive paradigms: the end of the Cold War or the triumph of globalization ?
Week 2
The rise of US hegemony and the search for a new Europe: the Kuwait war and the Maastricht negotiations
Weeks 3-4
The crises of the early 1990s: Yugoslavia, Somalia and Ruanda. The failure of assertive multilateralism and the search for alternatives. Contending US and EU security models
PART II
The war on terror and the rise of a multipolar system
Week 5
The drift towards US unilateralism: the Kosovo war and its implications for NATO and European security. The evolution of Russian foreign policy
Nuclear proliferation and arms control after the end of the Cold War: the North Korean crisis, the containment of Iraq, and the A.Q. Khan network
MIDTERM EXAM
Week 6
The impact of 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq crisis.
Week 7
The rise of China and India and its impact on the international system. Will Asia return to the center of the international system?
PART III
What next?
Week 8
The erosion of US hegemony? The crisis in the Greater Middle East, 2003-2010 and the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia. The consolidation of the EU – and its stalemate. The Arab Springs and their aftermath. The Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program
Week 9
2014-2023: the unraveling of the post-cold war order?
Week 10
Seminar – Class Presentations
Week 11
Seminar -Class Presentations
Week 12
Seminar -Class Presentations
Week 13
Seminar -Class Presentations
Core Documentation
John W. Young and John Kent, International Relations since 1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020):19:The Decline of the Cold War, 1985-9
Part VI The Post-Cold War World, 1990-2000
20:Europe and the Former Soviet Union
21:US Predominance and the Search for a Post-Cold War Order
22:Stability and Instability in the Less Developed World
PART VII The Age of Instability and Conflict: Terror, Economic Chaos, and Political Change 2001-11
23:The 'War on Terror' and the War in Afghanistan
24:The War in Iraq
25:Economic Problems in the West and the Economic Rise of China in the East
PART VIII The Age of Uncertainty: Chaos and Confusion in a Globalized World, 2011-18
26:Conflict and Chaos in the Middle East
27:Threats to the existing Global Order: Instability in the West
28:Threats to the Existing Global Order: Challenges from the East
Reference Bibliography
Bracken, Paul, The Second Nuclear Age. Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics (London: St. Martin’s, 2013), 336 pp. Brands, H. (2016). The Making of the Unipolar Moment. U.S. Foreign Policy and the Rise of the Post-Cold War Order. Ithaca, Cornell University Press. Dallaire, Romeo, Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (Vintage Canada, 2004) Elisabeth C. Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State (Oxford: Oxford University press, 2018) Engel, J. When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War. (New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017). Mark Galeotti, Putins’ Wars. From Chechnya to Ukraine, (London: Osprey Publishing, 2022), pp. 401 Glaurdic', Josip, The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia. (New Haven, Yale University press, 2011.) Haass, R. N. War of Necessity, War of Choice. A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars. (New York, Simon and Schuster, 2009). Hill, Fiona, and Gaddy, Clifford G., Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin. (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2013) Howorth, Jolyon Security and Defence Policy in the European Union (London: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2nd edition, 2014). Ingrao, C., and Thomas A. Emmert, eds. Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars’ Initiative. (West Lafayette, IN, Purdue University Press.:2009). Leffler, Melvyn P., Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2023) 368 pp Malkasian, Carter. The American War in Afghanistan: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021 McFaul, Michael, From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia. (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2018). Patman, Robert G., Strategic Shortfall: The Somalia Syndrome and the March to 9/11 (New York: Praeger, 2010) Kenneth R. Rutherford, Humanitarianism Under Fire: The US and UN Intervention in Somalia (Sterling, VA: Kumarian Press/Stylus publishing, 2008) Sarotte, Mary Elise, Not One Inch. America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021) Spohr, Kristina, Post Wall, Post Square: Rebuilding the World the World After 1989 (New Haven: Yale UP, 2020) Taubman, W. (2017). Gorbachev. His Life and Times. New York and London, W.W. Norton. Traub, James, The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power (New York: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006) Zubok, Vladislav, Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021) Whitlock, Craig. The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2021.Attendance
Attendance is mandatory for all classes. If a student misses more than three classes, the absence will affect the final grade. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical emergencies or family emergencies.Type of evaluation
Students will be evaluated according to 1) their active participation to the class debates; 2) an oral presentation about a book of their own choice; 3) a written research paper on a topic to be agreed upon with the teacher