Globalisation and Regionalisation in International Security
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course addresses current trends in international security with a focus on their geopolitical dimension. During the Cold War, competition between the two superpowers contributed to a high degree of security integration across different regions in the world. After the end of the Cold War, the lack of an equally powerful driver of strategic integration triggered a process of spatial fragmentation, with the emergence of increasingly disconnected regional security complexes. More recently, however, intensified great power competition seems to be contributing to a process of re-globalisation of international security. Traditional regional security complexes are being reshaped and expanded, as is the case in the so-called "Indo-Pacific", while new securitization agendas are working toward the re-integration of security in Europe and East Asia. The course will focus on this contradictory picture of regionalisation and (re)globalisation in international security, thus contributing to the learning objectives of the curriculum on "International Security and Regional Dynamics".
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to: i. critically engage with different concepts of security; i. identify current trends in the regionalisation vs. (re)globalisation of international security; iii. locate these trends within the broader historical evolution of international security; iv. apply the conceptual and theoretical tools presented in the course to study specific regional security complexes and their transformations.
Lesson period: Third trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Third trimester
Course syllabus
The first part of the course will introduce the concept of security and its geopolitical dimension, drawing on Regional Security Complex theory. It will present an overview of the geopolitical transformations of international security from the Cold War to the early 21st century and then focus on current regionalisation and (re)globalisation trends. The second part of the course will present the "Indo-Pacific" as a case-study.
Prerequisites for admission
Although the course is open to all students, irrespective of their background, a strong preliminary knowledge of International Relations Theory and Contemporary History is assumed.
Teaching methods
Traditional lectures, presentation of case-studies, analysis of documents.
Teaching Resources
1. Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver, Regions and Powers. The Structure of International Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003): "Part 1. Developing a Regional Approach to Global Security", pp. 1-90.
2. Timothy Doyle and Dennis Rumley, The Rise and Return of the Indo-Pacific (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).
2. Timothy Doyle and Dennis Rumley, The Rise and Return of the Indo-Pacific (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).
Assessment methods and Criteria
For attending students, the final evaluation will be based on: (1) active participation during classes and the presentation of the assigned readings (30 percent of the final mark); and (2) a written exam at the end of the course (70 percent of the final mark). For non-attending students, the final evaluation will be based on a written exam.
Professor(s)
Reception:
On Tuesdays from 2.30 to 5.30 pm (in person or online via Teams). Students are kindly requested to make an appointment in advance via email.
Dipartimento di Studi internazionali, giuridici e storico-politici, via Conservatorio 7, 1st floor, room 8