Geopolitics of migrations

The course aims to familiarize students with the geopolitical dimension of international migrations. It is designed to: a) provide students with an understanding of the centrality of borders in modern international politics; b) introduce students to some of the key factors that challenge such centrality in contemporary geopolitics; c) illustrate in which ways sea borders affect the management by the navies of the flows of refugee applicants in the central Mediterranean; d) describe the conflicts aroused between European nations by the Dublin Protocol on the EU's management of refugees. Throughout the course, engagement with case-studies will help students to apply the conceptual and theoretical tools presented in the course to empirical cases.

By the end of the course, students will be able to (1) identify key trends in contemporary geopolitics; (2) identify the relationship between such trends and international migrations; (3) know the causes of the main refugee flows affecting the EU; (4) be aware of why refugee management is today one of the main causes of geopolitical conflicts affecting Europe; (5) apply the conceptual and theoretical tools presented in the course to the analysis of specific cases.