Content:

This lecture describes the main school of thoughts to explain how world politics work and which tenets shape its most visible outcomes, such as war, international crises, and revolutions.

At the end of the 5 hours lecture, students should be able to understand the interpretative framework of international relations and to formulate different interpretation to current events.

• Presentation of Realism theories: Classical Realism (T. Hobbes, E. H. Carr), Structural realism (K. Waltz), Offensive and Defensive Realism (Mearsheimer), Joseph Grieco (Theory of alliances)
• Description of Liberalism: The Kantian perspective, Democratic Peace (W. Wilson), Institutional theory (Keohane, Ikenberry)
• The constructivist approach of international relations: The social construction of power (Alexander Wendt), critical theory
• The English School: Hedley Bull and Martin Wight
• Post Marxism: the school of Frankfurt (Jurgen Habermas)

Documents:

Realism/Neo-realism

Download file	Document name
	Guillaume Nicaise, What is war ? By Clausewitz (Summary), 2011
	Stephen Walt, The Renaissance of Security Studies, 1991
	Kenneth Waltz, Structural Realism after the Cold War, 2000
	John I. Mearsheimer, The False Promise of International Institutions, 1995
	Resumé du cours_Réalisme

Liberalism/Neo-Liberalism

Download file	Document name
	Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch, 1795
	Governance in a Partially Globalized World, 2000
	Keohane, . Power and interdependence revisited, 1997 + summary
	Keohane, . Power and interdependence (summary), 1997
	Résumé du cours_liberalisme

the Ennglish school

Download file	Document name
	Stanley Hoffman, Hedley Bull and His Contribution to International Relations, 1986
	The international political thought of Martin Wight
	Résumé du cours_Ecole Anglaise

Constructivism

Download file	Document name
	Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics, 1999
	Martha Finnemore, National Interests in International Society, 1996
	Peter Haas, Learning to learn_Improving international gouvernance, 1995
	Résumé du cours_constructivisme

Intergovernmental Institutions are organizations composed primarily of sovereign states and established by treaty which provides to these institutions an international legal personality. This lecture aims at presenting the role of those intergovernmental institutions, in particular in the security sector, and to present the most important of them, that is to say the United Nations, the OSCE, the European Union, NATO, the African Union, the ASEAN, the Arab League, NAFTA.

Related documents:

Download file	Document name
	David M. Law, Intergovernmental Organizations and Their Role in Security Sector Reform

Track II diplomacy generally involves informal interaction with influential unofficial actors from civil society, business or religious communities, and local leaders. It generally seeks to supplement Track I diplomacy by working with middle and lower levels of society and often involves non-traditional methods, such as facilitating dialogue mechanisms and meetings that include participants from both government and non-government institutions. This lecture gives insights on the role of Non-Governmental Organizations and Institutional Organization as well as the limits of their influence to influencing and framing international issues.

Related documents:

Download file	Document name
	Herman Joseph Kraft, The Autonomy Dilemma of Track Two Diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Kraft, 2000
	Dalia Dassa Kaye, Rethinking Track Two Diplomacy: The Middle East and South Asia, 2005
	Oliver P. Richmond, Rethinking Conflict Resolution: The Linkage Problematic Between "Track I" and "Track II", 2001

Geopolitics traditionally studies the links between political power and geographic space, and examines strategic prescriptions based on the relative importance of land power and sea power in world history. This lecture will try to give a broad picture on who has got power in the world today and why, from a global to a regional perspective, trying to show how this notion of power has evolved with the evolution of technology and perceptions.

Related documents:

Download file	Document name
	Halford Mackinder, The Geographical Pivot of History
	Samuel Huntington, Clash of civilizations, 1993
	Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard : American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, 1953

The lecture will first try to define terrorism (and explain this phenomenon) as an international threat (and to explain why states didn’t succeed to find a common definition for it) before to clarify its roots in local grievances. Secondly, the lecturer will try to map the key natural resources in the world and their impact on international relations. Finally, the lecturer will analyze the correlation between the existence of natural resources and weak institutions in a country.

Related documents:

Download file	Document name
	Paul R. Ehrlich, Jianguo Liu, Some Roots of Terrorism
	Carlos Pascual, The Geopolitics of Energy: From Security to Survival, 2008
	William F. Shughart II, An Analytical History of Terrorism, 1945-2000, 2006
	Bryan Caplan, Terrorism: The Relevance of the Rational Choice Model, 2006
	James D. Fearon, Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War

Understanding international negotiation is fundamental to appreciate the capacity of decision makers to ratify international treaties or to defend their national interest abroad. However, the complexity of international negotiations limits rationality of behaviors and the amount of information available for actors. Without trying to give a clear cut “formula” for successful negotiations (as there is not), the lecture aims at giving a broad picture of factors which may positively influence the outcome of a negotiation. In particular, this lecture focuses on Putnam and the two level game analysis, the game theory and the negotiation theory.

Related documents:

Download File	Document Name
	Putnam_Two level Game Theory
	Druckman_Turning Points in International Negotiation: A Comparative Analysis
	Daniel Lieberfeld, Evaluating the Contributions of Track-Two Diplomacy to Conflict Termination in South Africa, 2002
	Christian Downie, Managing Complexity in International Negotiations: Is there a role for treaty secretariats?, 2008

This lecture emphasized the role of the media in war coverage and in determining policies and outcomes of significant events (known as the CNN effect). In particular, it will emphasize the role of online media and new “propaganda” (or storytelling) to influence the perception on conflicts. Furthermore, the lecture questions the neutrality and objectivity of journalists, presenting the propaganda model and its opponents to explain current media behavior.

Documents:

Download File	Document Name
	Eytan Gilboa, The CNN Effect: The Search for a Communication Theory of International Relations, 2005
	Edward S. Herman, The Propaganda Model: a retrospective, 2000
	Jenny Pickerill, Frank Webster, The Anti-War/Peace Movement in Britain and the Conditions of Information War, 2006
	Thomas M. Cioppa, Operation Iraqi Freedom strategic communication analysis and assessment, 2006
	Matt Mc Donald, Securitization and the Construction of Security, 2008
	Christian Christensen, Uploading dissonance: YouTube and the US occupation of Iraq, 2008

Since the middle of the 1990s, numerous analysts have argued that qualitative changes have occurred in the nature of violent conflict and that it is now possible to think in terms of ‘new wars’ that are distinct in significant ways from earlier forms of conflict. This new pattern focuses on ethnic competition as a source of conflict and distinguishing “new” civil wars as criminal, rather than political phenomena. The lecture’s intent is to explain the categorization of war and its consequences and to help students make their own opinion on this phenomenon. A brief focus will highlight the privatization of war and the use of private security companies.

Documents:

Download File	Document Name
	Deborah Avant, From Mercenary to Citizen Armies: Explaining Change in the Practice of War, 2000
	Caroline Holmqvist, Private Security Companies: The Case for Regulation, 2005
	Christina Hellmich, Al-Qaeda—terrorists, hypocrites, fundamentalists? The view from within, 2005
	Mats Berdal, David M. Malone, Greed and Grievance, Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, 2000

This lecture gives insights on the process and difficulties to forecast crisis, presenting the main methodologies and indicators used by international institutions and private companies to determine country risks.

Related Documents:

Download file	Document name
	Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, Strategic Early Warning and Criminal Intelligence, 2007
	Michael D. Ward, Nils W. Metternich, Christopher Carrington, Cassy Dorff, Max Gallop, Florian M. Hollenbach, Anna Schultz, Simon Weschle, Stepping into the future: the next generation of crisis forecasting models, 2012
	Guillaume Nicaise, Horizon Scanning Methodologies, 2012

The lecture aims at giving a general understanding of the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the impact of international political relations on its current development.

• Historic development of the peace process
• The empricial situation
• An international law approach: strengths and weaknesses
• The regional dynamic: war in Syria, turmoils in Egypt, Lebanese threat and Jordan’s alliance
• The International recognition of the State of Palestine and its economic and political prospectives

Documents:

Download file	Document Name
	Country Report Intelligence Economist Unit_ Israel_September 2013
	International Crisis Group Report_Israel_May 2013
	UNGA Resolution 181 (1947)
	Camp David Agreement

War in Afghanistan is a very complex and multidimensional issue. Current war started in 2001 and has known several phases before partial withdrawal from the coalition of countries which invaded the country. Analyzing war in Afghanistan is an excellent exercise to understand the securitization process to go at war, current terrorism issues and the difficulties to build a strong and stable state. This analysis will specifically focus on:

? Recent history of the country (from the soviet invasion until today)
? 09/11 attacks and the legitimacy to attack Afghanistan
? The protracted war and the failure to create stable institutions and to fight against terrorism

Documents:

Download File	Document Name
	Intelligence Economist Unit Report_Afghanistan_3rd Quarter 2013
	International Crisis Group Report_Afghanistan_June 2013

Following the Arab Spring, social protests have been repressed by the Syrian Government. Against all expectations, a bloody civil war started, opposing Sunni tribes against the Shia minority at power, dividing the country and generating a humanitarian crisis. The analysis of the Syrian conflict will enable students to better understand the internationalization of a conflict and the geopolitics of the region. A particular emphasis will be given to the refugee situation in Lebanon and its consequences.

Related Documents:

Download file	Document Name
	Country Report Intelligence Economist Unit_ Syria_September 2013
	Country Report Intelligence Economist Unit_ Lebanon_September 2013
	International Crisis Group_Syria report_June 2013
	International Crisis Group_Lebanon report_May 2013