Introduction to International Political Relations

Content:

This lecture introduces students to a general framework for understanding international politics, that is to say the study of human organization at its highest and most complex level. The main purpose of this lecture is to introduce students to the notion of war and to show its evolution, to familiarize students with the process of theorization and with key notions regarding international relations (state, nation, power, war, civil war, International Political Relations). Furthermore, the lecture will give a general introduction to the history of international relations

Documents:

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Summary of Charles Tilly theory on war occurence
Sun Tzu_ The art of War
Joseph Nye_Soft Power

Realism, Neo-Liberalism, Constructivism and Post-Marxism

Content:

This lecture describes the main school of thoughts to explain how world politics work and which tenets shape its most visible outcomes, such as war, international crises, and revolutions.

At the end of the 5 hours lecture, students should be able to understand the interpretative framework of international relations and to formulate different interpretation to current events.

  • Presentation of Realism theories: Classical Realism (T. Hobbes, E. H. Carr), Structural realism (K. Waltz), Offensive and Defensive Realism (Mearsheimer), Joseph Grieco (Theory of alliances)
  • Description of Liberalism: The Kantian perspective, Democratic Peace (W. Wilson), Institutional theory (Keohane, Ikenberry)
  • The constructivist approach of international relations: The social construction of power (Alexander Wendt), critical theory
  • The English School: Hedley Bull and Martin Wight
  • Post Marxism: the school of Frankfurt (Jurgen Habermas)

Documents:

Realism/Neo-realism

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Guillaume Nicaise, What is war ? By Clausewitz (Summary), 2011
Stephen Walt, The Renaissance of Security Studies, 1991
Kenneth Waltz, Structural Realism after the Cold War, 2000
John I. Mearsheimer, The False Promise of International Institutions, 1995
Resumé du cours_Réalisme

Liberalism/Neo-Liberalism

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Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch, 1795
Governance in a Partially Globalized World, 2000
Keohane, . Power and interdependence revisited, 1997 + summary
Keohane, . Power and interdependence (summary), 1997
Résumé du cours_liberalisme

the Ennglish school

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Stanley Hoffman, Hedley Bull and His Contribution to International Relations, 1986
The international political thought of Martin Wight
Résumé du cours_Ecole Anglaise

Constructivism

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Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics, 1999
Martha Finnemore, National Interests in International Society, 1996
Peter Haas, Learning to learn_Improving international gouvernance, 1995
Résumé du cours_constructivisme

The Role and Evolution of Diplomacy

Content:

The conduct of diplomacy has changed significantly over the past sixty years. Prior to World War II, diplomacy was essentially a government-to-government relationship. Since the war, it has broadened to include as it is the diplomacy of the global economic system, cultural centers, international organizations, civil society organizations, etc. This lecture will try to explain the evolution of diplomacy, from the Westfalia treaty (1648) to contemporary diplomacy, identifying its key developments.

Documents:

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Alex De Waal, Darfur and the failure of the responsibility to protect,
Jan Melissen, Wielding soft power: the new public diplomacy, 2005
Laurence-Camille Richard, Diplomacy in the Twenty-First century: Change and Evolution, 2011
Ingrid D’hoogue, The rise of China’s public diplomacy, 2005
Mark Leonard_Public Diplomacy

Presentation of Intergovernmental Institutions

Content:

Intergovernmental Institutions are organizations composed primarily of sovereign states and established by treaty which provides to these institutions an international legal personality. This lecture aims at presenting the role of those intergovernmental institutions, in particular in the security sector, and to present the most important of them, that is to say the United Nations, the OSCE, the European Union, NATO, the African Union, the ASEAN, the Arab League, NAFTA.

Related documents:

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David M. Law, Intergovernmental Organizations and Their Role in Security Sector Reform

The Most Important International Treaties

Content:

The lecture intends to give insights on the process to achieve binding treaties, as well as the goals and impacts of the most important treaties framing international relations.

  • Treaties making process
  • The law of war
  • Human Rights law

Related documents:

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Geneva conventions
UN Charter
Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations
North Atlantic Treaty
International Treaties: Features and Importance

The Rome Statute instituting the International Criminal Court

The Role of NGOs: Track 2 Diplomacy

Content:

Track II diplomacy generally involves informal interaction with influential unofficial actors from civil society, business or religious communities, and local leaders. It generally seeks to supplement Track I diplomacy by working with middle and lower levels of society and often involves non-traditional methods, such as facilitating dialogue mechanisms and meetings that include participants from both government and non-government institutions. This lecture gives insights on the role of Non-Governmental Organizations and Institutional Organization as well as the limits of their influence to influencing and framing international issues.

Related documents:

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Herman Joseph Kraft, The Autonomy Dilemma of Track Two Diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Kraft, 2000
Dalia Dassa Kaye, Rethinking Track Two Diplomacy: The Middle East and South Asia, 2005
Oliver P. Richmond, Rethinking Conflict Resolution: The Linkage Problematic Between "Track I" and "Track II", 2001

World Geopolitics

Content:

Geopolitics traditionally studies the links between political power and geographic space, and examines strategic prescriptions based on the relative importance of land power and sea power in world history. This lecture will try to give a broad picture on who has got power in the world today and why, from a global to a regional perspective, trying to show how this notion of power has evolved with the evolution of technology and perceptions.

Related documents:

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Halford Mackinder, The Geographical Pivot of History
Samuel Huntington, Clash of civilizations, 1993
Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard : American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, 1953

2 Major International Issues: terrorism and natural resources

Content:

The lecture will first try to define terrorism (and explain this phenomenon) as an international threat (and to explain why states didn’t succeed to find a common definition for it) before to clarify its roots in local grievances. Secondly, the lecturer will try to map the key natural resources in the world and their impact on international relations. Finally, the lecturer will analyze the correlation between the existence of natural resources and weak institutions in a country.

Related documents:

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Paul R. Ehrlich, Jianguo Liu, Some Roots of Terrorism
Carlos Pascual, The Geopolitics of Energy: From Security to Survival, 2008
William F. Shughart II, An Analytical History of Terrorism, 1945-2000, 2006
Bryan Caplan, Terrorism: The Relevance of the Rational Choice Model, 2006
James D. Fearon, Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War

Understanding International Relations Negotiation

Content:

Understanding international negotiation is fundamental to appreciate the capacity of decision makers to ratify international treaties or to defend their national interest abroad. However, the complexity of international negotiations limits rationality of behaviors and the amount of information available for actors. Without trying to give a clear cut “formula” for successful negotiations (as there is not), the lecture aims at giving a broad picture of factors which may positively influence the outcome of a negotiation. In particular, this lecture focuses on Putnam and the two level game analysis, the game theory and the negotiation theory.

Related documents:

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Putnam_Two level Game Theory
Druckman_Turning Points in International Negotiation: A Comparative Analysis
Daniel Lieberfeld, Evaluating the Contributions of Track-Two Diplomacy to Conflict Termination in South
Africa, 2002
Christian Downie, Managing Complexity in International Negotiations: Is there a role for treaty secretariats?, 2008

Media and War

Content:

This lecture emphasized the role of the media in war coverage and in determining policies and outcomes of significant events (known as the CNN effect). In particular, it will emphasize the role of online media and new “propaganda” (or storytelling) to influence the perception on conflicts. Furthermore, the lecture questions the neutrality and objectivity of journalists, presenting the propaganda model and its opponents to explain current media behavior.

Documents:

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Eytan Gilboa, The CNN Effect: The Search for a Communication Theory of International Relations, 2005
Edward S. Herman, The Propaganda Model: a retrospective, 2000
Jenny Pickerill, Frank Webster, The Anti-War/Peace Movement in Britain and the Conditions of Information War, 2006
Thomas M. Cioppa, Operation Iraqi Freedom strategic communication analysis and assessment, 2006
Matt Mc Donald, Securitization and the Construction of Security, 2008
Christian Christensen, Uploading dissonance: YouTube and the US occupation of Iraq, 2008

New wars?

Content:

Since the middle of the 1990s, numerous analysts have argued that qualitative changes have occurred in the nature of violent conflict and that it is now possible to think in terms of ‘new wars’ that are distinct in significant ways from earlier forms of conflict. This new pattern focuses on ethnic competition as a source of conflict and distinguishing “new” civil wars as criminal, rather than political phenomena. The lecture’s intent is to explain the categorization of war and its consequences and to help students make their own opinion on this phenomenon. A brief focus will highlight the privatization of war and the use of private security companies.

Documents:

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Deborah Avant, From Mercenary to Citizen Armies: Explaining Change in the Practice of War, 2000
Caroline Holmqvist, Private Security Companies: The Case for Regulation, 2005
Christina Hellmich, Al-Qaeda—terrorists, hypocrites, fundamentalists? The view from within, 2005
Mats Berdal, David M. Malone, Greed and Grievance, Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, 2000

Country Risk Analysis Methodology

Content:

This lecture gives insights on the process and difficulties to forecast crisis, presenting the main methodologies and indicators used by international institutions and private companies to determine country risks.

Related Documents:

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Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, Strategic Early Warning and Criminal Intelligence, 2007
Michael D. Ward, Nils W. Metternich, Christopher Carrington, Cassy Dorff, Max Gallop, Florian M. Hollenbach, Anna Schultz, Simon Weschle, Stepping into the future: the next generation of crisis forecasting models, 2012
Guillaume Nicaise, Horizon Scanning Methodologies, 2012

Conflict Analysis: Israel/Palestine

Content:

The lecture aims at giving a general understanding of the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the impact of international political relations on its current development.

  • Historic development of the peace process
  • The empricial situation
  • An international law approach: strengths and weaknesses
  • The regional dynamic: war in Syria, turmoils in Egypt, Lebanese threat and Jordan’s alliance
  • The International recognition of the State of Palestine and its economic and political prospectives

Documents:

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Country Report Intelligence Economist Unit_ Israel_September 2013
International Crisis Group Report_Israel_May 2013
UNGA Resolution 181 (1947)
Camp David Agreement

Conflict Analysis: Afghanistan

Content:

War in Afghanistan is a very complex and multidimensional issue. Current war started in 2001 and has known several phases before partial withdrawal from the coalition of countries which invaded the country. Analyzing war in Afghanistan is an excellent exercise to understand the securitization process to go at war, current terrorism issues and the difficulties to build a strong and stable state. This analysis will specifically focus on:

? Recent history of the country (from the soviet invasion until today)
? 09/11 attacks and the legitimacy to attack Afghanistan
? The protracted war and the failure to create stable institutions and to fight against terrorism

Documents:

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Intelligence Economist Unit Report_Afghanistan_3rd Quarter 2013
International Crisis Group Report_Afghanistan_June 2013

Conflict analysis: Syria

Content:

Following the Arab Spring, social protests have been repressed by the Syrian Government. Against all expectations, a bloody civil war started, opposing Sunni tribes against the Shia minority at power, dividing the country and generating a humanitarian crisis. The analysis of the Syrian conflict will enable students to better understand the internationalization of a conflict and the geopolitics of the region. A particular emphasis will be given to the refugee situation in Lebanon and its consequences.

Related Documents:

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Country Report Intelligence Economist Unit_ Syria_September 2013
Country Report Intelligence Economist Unit_ Lebanon_September 2013
International Crisis Group_Syria report_June 2013
International Crisis Group_Lebanon report_May 2013