HISTORY OF ASIA

The course is integral part of the training activities of the Bachelor's degree programme in "Philosophy, International and Economic Studies", aimed at providing students with multidisciplinary and flexible tools useful for interpreting the social, political and economic phenomena of the contemporary world.
Specifically, by making use of the Energy Politics prism, the course aims to examine the contemporary history and the international relations of the Near and Middle East – i.e. the area between the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caspian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Thus, the course is aimed at providing students with flexible yet solid tools useful for interpreting the social, political and economic phenomena unfolding in the contemporary Near and Middle East.

The course aims primarily to provide students with the essential parameters of the Energy Politics discipline. In particular, it aims to provide key tools for understanding the theories dealing with relationship between the availability of energy resources and the states' domestic and foreign policies, as well as the relationship that binds together the Energy Politics and the market dynamics.
Secondly, by linking the history of international relations of the Near and Middle East with the development of the national energy sectors, the course aims to provide students with interpretative tools useful for understanding the dynamics of power cooperation and competition, as they intertwined in the area during the course of the last century.
Moreover, building upon case studies from international politics, and against the background of current trends in energy markets, the course aims to provide students with tools and knowledge useful for critically assessing the role played by energy politics in the main scenarios of the Near and Middle Eastern area.

Basic knowledge of contemporary history and economics of the Near and Middle Eastern countries.

The course will be structured in three modules:
1) Introduction to the Energy Politics and to the theories dealing with the relationship between the availability of hydrocarbons and the domestic and foreign policies of the state actors;
2) Energy and history of international relations in the Near and Middle East, from the inter-war period to the end of the Cold War;
3) Energy, Security and Diplomacy in the post-bipolar International System (case studies).

Teaching material and additional readings will be made available during the course on the Moodle platform.

The final exam will focus on the teaching materials made available on Moodle and will consist of a set of open-ended questions (3 questions, max. 10 points each).

Frontal and interactive lessons.

English

written