DIPLOMACY AND NEGOTIATION

The course aims at providing the students with a wide overview of contemporary diplomacy in the global scenario, with specific reference to the major transformations and relevance for peacebuilding of the diplomatic field in recent times. In particular, the course will focus on negotiation and mediation as conflict resolution tools and activities. Challenges and prospects for the future of diplomacy in the light of cultural, societal and technological changes will be the object of discussions and workshops.

It is necessary a genuine and informed interest in world politics, current international relations, international history and conflict resolution

Knowledge and understanding: The course will offer key theoretical tools for analyzing the evolving role of diplomacy in a globalized world in terms of actors, agency, and agents. The course will provide students with advanced knowledge and analytical resources that will enable them to understand the processes and consequences of negotiation and mediation between national, international and transnational actors. Applying knowledge and understanding: The students will be able to identify the prominent features of the institutions of diplomacy in terms of organizational standards, cultural features and expected performance; apply theoretical models to concrete international case studies of negotiation and mediation, with special attention to ongoing crises and conflicts; examine and compare the outcome of major international negotiation efforts Making judgements: I expect students to be able to evaluate diplomatic routine and diplomatic initiatives, identifying the effectiveness and the shortcomings of the different types of diplomacy both as a process and as a pursuit of substantial outcomes. Students should also acquire a critical understanding of the scope and challenges of processes of bilateral and international negotiations in the field of international security and global issues, such as nuclear programs and climate change. Communications Skills: This course will offer the possibility to handle and understand terms and concepts in the field of diplomacy and international negotiation in order to communicate their ideas, proposals, analyses and critical reasoning in the most convincing and articulated way. Learning skills: This course will provide students with the intellectual tools to determine why certain international negotiations are initiated and others are not, why some of them are successful and other are not, and to evaluate explanatory models in an independent way.

The main focus of the course will be understanding and explaining the process of international negotiation and mediation, as one of the most important tasks of diplomats and international experts and practitioners. The course will also highlight the mutual interaction between theory and practice, conceptual approaches and empirical evidence. A blend of "field notes" taken from the direct diplomatic experience of the instructor, case studies and theoretical contextualization will be a salient feature of the course. Using several analytical tools, students will assess and compare contemporary and historical examples of international negotiations and mediation efforts, in particular through structured workshops and a simulation. Negotiation and mediation will be considered not only peace-making tools, but also instruments to strengthen the world political order. They will be conceptualized as processes specific to the international system of states and crucial to its survival, in the wider context of the international politics, implying strategic choices among confrontation, competition and cooperation. Special attention will be devoted to cross-cultural aspects of negotiation and gender issues in diplomacy. For every topics, a pertinent movie is suggested to the students as an integrative and optional activity. Sustainability topics: one of the main feature of the course is dealing with a future international peace conference on Ukraine, that will include energy dependence of West European countries on Russian hydrocarbons and the need for a green energy transition, as well as the notion of “ecocide” related to the conflict

REQUIRED READINGS: G.R.Berridge, Diplomacy: Theory and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022 Guy Olivier Faure (ed.), Unfinished business. Why international negotiation fail, The University of Georgia Press, Athens-London 2012 RECOMMENDED: Philip Seib, The Future of #Diplomacy, Polity, Cambridge, UK – Malden, MA 2016 Karin Aggestam, Ann E. Towns (eds.), Gendering diplomacy and International Negotiation, Palgrave MacMillan, New York 2018 (chapters 1 ,8, 9, 10, 14) Additional material provided by the instructor

Lectures Case studies Individual work (article or book chapter review; position paper) Team work (discussion and simulation)

Students are required to do the reading assignments in advance for each lesson and to prepare, when instructed, with independent research. Attendance and participation to all lessons and activities are strictly required. An evaluation process will take place throughout the entire course. Grading A collective grade will be given to each team participating in the simulation (30%) that will take place in the weeks 10 an 11 of the course. Students are required to produce individually, within indicated deadlines: - a book chapter/article review: one page, up to 500 words (a list of titles is provided) (20%) by 31 October 2023 - a succinct position paper (max.1000 words) containing options and recommendations written by a junior member of a national delegation for the Head of that delegation on how to engage in negotiations for the solution of an international crisis (a list of several international crises is provided) (20%) by 30 November 2023 Final individual oral exam (30%): discussion of the position paper and at least three questions on the topics of the course. Non attending students are required to produce, two week before the oral exam (30%), a book chapter/article review (20%), a position paper (20%) and a short analysis of the topic of the simulation (30%).

Excellent outcome in the final exam (at least 28/30); active participation and proven willingness to deepen knowledge of the field.