Worldviews in International Relations
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with an understanding of the declining centrality of the West and of the growing pluralism that characterizes the current international system, as reflected in the articulation of different worldviews. First, the course will focus on the rise of non-Western powers and the spatial transformations of the post-Cold War international system. Second, it will address their implications for International Relations (IR) Theory and reflect on the ongoing efforts to decentralize IR by developing non-Western schools.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will have developed analytical skills that are useful to navigate an increasingly pluralized world, where Western centrality is rapidly declining. In particular, they will be able to: i. identify the main drivers behind the reduced centrality of the West in international politics; ii. locate this trend within the broader historical evolution of the international system; iii. identify the main points in the current contestation of the Western-centric tradition of IR Theory; and iv. engage with the ongoing theoretical attempts at establishing alternative, non-Western or "post-Western" traditions within IR Theory
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