Ateneo - UPO

Theories of war and peace.

Mandatory texts: 1. Materials that will be made available on DIR. 2. One of the following texts of your choice: Günther Anders, L'uomo sul ponte. Diario da Hiroshima e Nagasaki e tesi sull'età atomica, Milano, Mimesis, 2024; Norman Angell, La grande illusione. Studio sulla potenza militare in rapporto alla prosperità delle nazioni (1910), Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2023; Norberto Bobbio, Lezioni sulla guerra e sulla pace, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2024; Edward H. Carr, Utopia e realtà. Un'introduzione allo studio della politica internazionale (1939), Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2009; Alberto Castelli, Il discorso sulla pace in Europa 1900-1945, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2015; Patricia Chiantera Stutte, Il pensiero geopolitico. Spazio, potere e imperialismo tra Otto e Novecento, Roma, Carocci, 2014; Alessandro Colombo, Il suicidio della pace, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2025; Luigi Ferrajoli, La costituzione della terra, Torino, Giappichelli, 2021; Marcello Flores, Storia dei diritti umani, Bologna, il Mulino, 2023; Simone Weil, Sulla guerra. Scritti 1933-1943, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2017; Danilo Zolo, La giustizia dei vincitori. Da Norimberga a Baghdad, Laterza, 2012 (3 ed.).

This course aims, at a basic level, to provide students with: 1. (knowledge and understanding): the basic knowledge related to the theories of war and peace that are the subject of the history of international political thought; 2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): the basic methodological tools to understand the different traditions of international political thought, in oral and written form; 3. (autonomy of judgment): the ability to exercise sufficient independence of judgment; 4. (communication skills): the ability to present the knowledge acquired in a manner and clear and correct; 5. (learning skills): a sufficient ability to analyze texts and connect the topics covered. At a more advanced level, the course aims to enable the acquisition of: 1. (knowledge and understanding): a thorough knowledge of the different traditions in the history of international political thought and the main authors of reference; 2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): a good ability to reconstruct the traditions of thought and key historical junctures that have marked the history of international relations; 3. (autonomy of judgment): a good ability to critically analyze the concepts and authors examined; 4. (communication skills): a good ability to present clearly and correctly knowledge acquired, showing full command of terminology and vocabulary, in oral and written form; 5. (learning skills): a good ability to analyze texts and link the topics covered, demonstrating awareness of the different methodological and interpretative perspectives in relation to the concepts of war, peace, society of states, international order, international politics, the law of nations, humanitarian law, and human rights law, also with reference to the contemporary international contexts.

General historical and cultural knowledge acquired during the bachelor's degree program.

Lessons, seminars, reading and comment of documents and texts.

The course will take place in the second semester of 2025-26. Please register for the course via the DIR platform. Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

Learning will be tested by an oral test designed to ascertain knowledge of the concepts and topics covered, as well as the ability to make connections and to undertake independent research work. Basic knowledge of the topics covered and sufficient ability to express oneself in written and oral form will be evaluated as sufficient. The ability to make connections, to make critical judgments on the topics covered, and autonomy in choosing a research path will be evaluated with maximum marks. The grade is expressed in thirtieths, and the evaluation is made according to the following parameters: 1) knowledge and understanding of the main topics covered: 18 points out of 30 (sufficiency); 2) ability to clearly and correctly expound the knowledge acquired: 6 points out of 30; 3) ability to establish connections between the topics covered and to investigate them critically and with independent judgment: 6 points out of 30.

The course is focused on the main theories of peace and war in the tradition of Western political thought, with particular reference to recent discussions on the end of sovereignty and statehood. The disciplinary perspective is that of the history of international political thought. The course will address the following topics. 1. The disciplines that study international politics: an introduction. 2. Realist traditions (from Machiavelli to Schmitt); just war traditions (from Vitoria to Rawls); and pacifist theories (from Kant to women's peace movements). 3. Major historical junctures: Westphalia, the French Revolution, the Peace of Versailles and the League of Nations, the end of World War II and the UN, the era of the nuclear threat, the end of bipolarity, and some interpretations of the current international scenario. 4. The major concepts are sovereignty, state, territory, the state of peace and the state of war, civil war and revolution, the crime of war, and humanitarian intervention. 5. Case studies, concerning documents and sources available online.

In order to attain the knowledge and corresponding skills at the basic level, students should demonstrate: 1. (knowledge and understanding): to have acquired sufficient knowledge of the different theories of war and peace from the sixteenth century to the present day; 2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): to be able to recognize the different theoretical positions with respect to the concepts of just war, humanitarian war, regular war, hybrid war, on the one hand, nonviolence, negative peace as well as positive peace, on the other; 3. (independent judgment): to be able to recognize the main theories of international political thought; 4. (communication skills): be able to present acquired knowledge clearly and correctly; 5. (learning skills): to have acquired sufficient ability to analyze texts and connect the topics covered. For the attainment of advanced level, students will be required to demonstrate: 1. (knowledge and understanding): to have acquired a thorough knowledge of the various traditions of international political thought; 2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): to be able to reconstruct in a precise and thorough manner the arguments of the authors and traditions of thought considered, and to use the conceptual tools employed by them to understand the current international context; 3. (independent judgment): to be able to critically present the construction of traditions and political contexts of internationalist theories; 4. (communication skills): to be able to present the acquired knowledge clearly and correctly, showing full command of terminology and vocabulary; 5. (learning skills): having acquired a good ability to analyze texts and connect the topics covered, demonstrating awareness of the historical depth and theoretical complexity relative to the history of international political thought.