International Relations

The course aims to provide students with the knowledge and tools necessary to understand the international political situation and identify the most relevant tendencies which characterise international relations nowadays.
It will cover a review of the main foundational theories of international relations (idealism, realism, radicalism, institutionalism, constructivism).
In this theoretical framework, the course will also outline the main features of the international system and the differences with internal political systems, with a focus on the importance of the authoritative, geographical, ideological and institutional dimension of international relations.
Attention will be paid to foreign policy and its determining factors.
This conceptual background will enable students to analyse the current international political situation.

By the end of the course, students are expected to understand how the international system specifically works and to identify the main qualitative differences between internal and international political life.
They will retrace the history of the current system and identify the structural features of the international arena, so as to grasp the main tendencies of the current international situation and understand the rationale behind the actions taken by the relevant actors.
This conceptual background, together with interpretation skills acquired in other courses, will provide students with the ability to make autonomous analyses and judgements on international affairs, as well as with an appropriate vocabulary in order to express trustworthy opinions on global political events in the different professional contexts where they will operate.