Course 2020-2021 a.y.

This course presents a broad and in-depth overview of the recent research on international politics. In particular, we will focus on non-military tools of coercion used by states in international politics.The course is organized into 2 parts:

Part I:

- Economic coercion (general introduction)

- Economic sanctions

- Migration as a coercive tool

Part II:

- State sponsorship of rebel groups

- Role of secrecy in coercion

• ​​​​​​Describe the relationship between economic and political tools of statecraft.
• Recognize the trade-offs that states face when employing different diplomatic tactics.
• Explain current trends in international relations from a historical point of view.

• Identify the sources of economic and diplomatic power of state actors.

• Evaluate the merits and drawbacks of various tactics that are used in interstate bargaining.

• Evaluate the possible implications of domestic political changes on interstate relations.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures

• Lectures are structured according to the standard format: the instructor presents and elaborate on the material contained in the required readings, which the students have read before class.

• Attendance is not required, but strongly recommended. Some of the assigned readings feature a high degree of sophistication in terms of methods of analysis. Although no formal prerequisites are required, the lectures provide students some necessary (yet informal) background that help them gain a better understanding of those readings that include a technical component.

• Student assessment is based on two main components, a take-home assignment (or term paper) and a general written exam.
• Component will make up 50% of your course grade. 
• The exam will be based on a mix of multiple choice and open questions. 
• The purpose of multiple choice questions is to evaluate your ability to retrieve definitions and facts.
• The purpose of open-answer questions is to evaluate your ability to apply their knowledge to a particular case or present a coherent argument.

The required readings for this course are scientific articles, book chapters and policy reports that represent the key and/or state of the art contributions to the different topics analyzed. A complete list of the required and suggested reading is provided at the beginning of the course and is available on Bboard.