WAR AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF DEFENSE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

At the end of the course of War and Crisis Management: the role of defense in International Relations, the expected learning outcomes will be the following: 1) Knowledge and understanding: the student will have acquired the necessary analytical tools and basic concepts to understand how to recognize a state of conflict and how a state can prepare itself in an increasingly complex, fluid, and opaque global scenario. The student will also have acquired critical knowledge about the role and relevance of state and non-state actors in the globalized world. 2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the student will be able to gradually apply the knowledge in relation to forms of conventional and hybrid warfare through the practical activities foreseen during the on-campus lectures, such as participation in the working groups, classroom debates and expert guest speakers.

No particular prerequisites are required. Attendance is mandatory! The teacher reserves the right to make changes to the program and the syllabus if necessary, during the semester. During the course, a visit will be organized to a Defense site (e.g. CASD Centro Alti Studi Difesa - Palazzo Salviati).

At the end of the course of War and Crisis Management: the role of defense in International Relations, the expected learning outcomes will be the following: 1) Knowledge and understanding: the student will have acquired the necessary analytical tools and basic concepts to understand how to recognize a state of conflict and how a state can prepare itself in an increasingly complex, fluid, and opaque global scenario. The student will also have acquired critical knowledge about the role and relevance of state and non-state actors in the globalized world. 2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the student will be able to gradually apply the knowledge in relation to forms of conventional and hybrid warfare through the practical activities foreseen during the on-campus lectures, such as participation in the working groups, classroom debates and expert guest speakers.

The aim of the course is to provide the student with theoretical and analytical tools to recognize new forms of conflict and understand their strategic, economic, and technological implications, with particular attention to the concept of sub-threshold conflict and the erosion of the boundary between peace and war. In the current international context, the traditional military dimension remains central but is increasingly integrated into hybrid and full-spectrum strategies. Kinetic action is one component of a conflict that also unfolds through cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, economic coercion, institutional infiltration, and more. These methods allow state and non-state actors to operate in the absence of a formally declared war, producing profound effects on the stability and sovereignty of states.

Prof. Ciocca: Hoffman, Frank (2007) Conflict in the 21st century: the rise of hybrid Wars (Arlington, VA: Potomac Institute for Policy Studies) Raj M. Shah – Christopher Kirchoff, Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War, Scribner 2024. Paper: P. Ciocca, Topic for the Assessment: brief remarks on issues at stake (1/2) (methodological paper #2) Paper: P. Ciocca, Topic for the Assessment: brief remarks on issues at stake (2/2) (methodological paper #3). Gruszczak, A., & Kaempf, S. (2023). Introduction: Gazing into the future of warfare. In A. Gruszczak & S. Kaempf (Eds.), Routledge handbook of the future of warfare (pp. 1–8). Routledge. Prof. Savini Zangrandi: Farrell, H., Newman A., 2019, Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion Open Access. International Security (2019) 44 (1): 42–79 Baldwin, D., 2020. Economic Statecraft: New Edition, Princeton University Press. Introduction Prof. Cannizzaro: NATO’s “Strategic Concept for the Defence and Security of The Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization”. “IL CONTRASTO ALLA GUERRA IBRIDA: UNA STRATEGIA ATTIVA Non-paper del Ministro della Difesa Guido Crosetto For Prof. Cannizzaro’s section, the material contained in the slides will be considered an essential reference for the tests.

Lectures and group presentations in ppt

Attendance requirement Attendance is mandatory. Students must attend at least 70% of classes to qualify as attending. Those falling below this threshold are automatically classified as non-attending. Attending students (≥ 70% attendance) Continuous assessment – 30%: group work and oral presentation Final exam – 70% Note: students who do not complete the continuous assessment will be evaluated on the final exam alone (100%). Non-attending students Final exam – 100% Grade withdrawal policy Grades cannot be rejected once recorded. Students wishing to forfeit a result must withdraw before the grade is officially registered.

In order to request supervision of the Master’s Thesis, the following criteria apply: a minimum final grade of 29/30 and active participation in class