STORIA DELLA DIPLOMAZIA E DELLE RELAZIONI INTERNAZIONALI

The aim of the course is to provide students with a critical knowledge of the characteristics, forms, tools and functions of diplomacy in the past and present, as well as the dynamics that have characterized international relations between states, from the Congress of Vienna to our days. Special attention will be given to the Italian foreign policy since 1860 to present day and the evolution of international relations during the 20th century.

At the end of the course, students should have the necessary tools to examine past international problems and critically reflect on the long-term origins of current problems; acquire the right vocabulary and terminology to accurately describe events in the global scene; have developed the necessary skills to understand the decision-making process leading to the choices of the main international actors and the modalities of the negotiation process at the origin of international agreements and treaties.

Frontal lessons, in-depth seminars and laboratory activities with active involvement of students

Knowledge of historical, political, institutional events of the modern and contemporary age on the international scene.

Recommended, but not mandatory.

Typical features, forms and functions of diplomacy. Diplomatic agents. Diplomatic documents. Historical evolution of diplomacy.

The Vienna Congress. The system of balances and the principle of legitimacy. The wars of the end of 1800. Towards the creation of “opposing sides”.

The diplomacy of the ‘900 and the great international conferences. The First World War and its legacies.

The evolution of international relations in the years between the two world wars

The disintegration of Europe and the Second World War.

Diplomatic attempts to save the peace and the prospect of a new diplomatic era.

The founding of the UN

The beginnings and structure of the Cold War.

The creation of the European Community.

Global antagonism and détente.

The end of the Cold War and the formation of a new international order.

Diplomacy’s new challenges.

The new geopolitics of the big and medium powers.

1) F. Romero, Storia internazionale dell’età contemporanea, Carocci, Roma 2012.

2) G. Astuto, La decisione di guerra. Dalla Triplice Alleanza al Patto di Londra, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2019 (capp. I-V e VIII-XI). 
2) L. Riccardi, Storia e diplomazia. Storia delle relazioni internazionali e politica estera italiana, Società Editrice Dante Alighieri, Roma 2024, (da p. 115 a 251).

As an alternative to the second and third texts, during the lessons will be provided lecture notes by the teacher, also available on Studium

The learning assessment method is the oral examination. 
For attending students it is possible to take part in on-going verifications (written and / oral), aimed at ascertaining the knowledge of a part of the program. 

What are internal relationships

The birth of diplomacy and international relations

The European order in the nineteenth century

Italian foreign policy in liberal Italy

Italy and the First World War

From the Great Depression to the Second World War

The second post-war period in Europe

The foreign policy of republican Italy
Atlantism and Europeanism

International bodies and treaties

Cold war and the bipolar system

European integration

Globalisation and the new challenges of diplomacy