INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The course examines the contemporary history and the history of International relations South and East Asia, in the international context, according to the methods of International and Global History.

The course focuses on India and South Asia as a geopolitical crossroad between east and west and aims to highlight past and present processes that connect South and Southeast Asia at the international level, as well as at the economic level, and interactions with regional and international actors (China/Japan, United States/Europe).

By the end of the course students are expected to:
1. Knowledge and understanding Skills
o have become familiar with Asian historical, and political contexts
o have acquired a comparative understanding of contemporary Asian history of international relations
o have acquired a deeper knowledge of the contemporary transformations that result from the colonization and post-colonial political processes in Asia

2. Applying knowledge and understanding Skills
o to be able to independently draw up critical analysis of the historical, economic, social and political contexts under review
o to be able to come up with innovative research questions and perspectives.

3. Communication skills
o have improved their specialistic political-economic language and verbal skills.

The course is directed preferably to students who have a basic knowledge of contemporary History of Asia

The course examines the contemporary History of International relations of Asia, through a comparative analysis of the three main countries.

The first part focuses on European colonization of Asia and its effects. A second part will examine the processes and transformations that resulted in deeply different political experiences in the three countries: the “hugest democracy in the world” in India, the Chinese authoritarianism and the shift from nationalism and imperialism to the complex and contradictory democratic transition in post-World War II Japan. The events under review cover for the most part the cold war period, whose implications, until the end of bipolarism, represent the analytical frame of this part of the course. In this part of the course will be analyzed India across independence and the Nehruvian era, the Chinese revolution and Japan's modernization in the US's shade. The course will focus especially on the period between the end of the cold war and the present, highlighting the emergence of new hegemonies in Asia and present interaction and engagement between China, India and Japan.

The course is divided into the following parts:

1) Introduction of object and methods of study, geopolitical framework; European colonial expansion to Asia; Western colonial expansion to China.

2) European colonial expansion to Asia: The Indian model.

3) Japan: the rise of an Asian power

4) National responses to colonization. China, India, and Japan: three nationalisms compared; China.

5) Indian nationalism and the seeds of democracy.

6) Japan: birth and evolution of Japanese imperialism

7) Decolonization and the Cold War in Asia.

8) India: Nehru Era

9) ) China: Mao Era.

10) Japan: from defeated country to world power.

11) The bipolar confrontation and the Non-Alignment: US alliances in South and Southeast Asia; Indian tensions with Pakistan and China

12) Deng Xiaoping's China and the economic reforms; Narasimha Rao's India and the economic liberalizations; From the "unipolar moment" to multipolarity in Asia.

13) The rise of Asian powers (I): China, from Jiang Zemin to Xi Jinping; USA and China confrontation; the Taiwan question; China's foreign policy before and after the war in Ukraine;

14) The rise of Asian powers (II): India from Congress to Narendra Modi; to the roots of Hindu fundamentalism and the crisis of Indian democracy; India's foreign policy before and after the war in Ukraine

15) Shinzo Abe's Japan: Abenomics: myth or reality?

1. Mandatory texts for all students (attending and non-attending students)
• Antonio Fiori, Marco Milani, Andrea Passeri (2022) Asia. Storia, Istituzioni e Relazioni internazionali, Le Monnier Università, Firenze,
Parte prima: capito da 1 a 3, 5; parte seconda: capitoli 1-2, da 4 a 6; parte terza: capitoli da 1 a 4, 6 (paragrafi 2 e 3); parte quarta: capitoli da 1 a 4 (del capitolo 4 paragrafi 2-3); 6 (paragrafi 1 e 3); parte quinta: capitoli 1 (paragrafi 1, 3-4), 2-3, 5 (paragrafi 3-4), 6.

• Francesa Congiu, Barbara Onnis (2022) Fino all'ultimo Stato. La battaglia diplomatica tra la Cina e Taiwan, Carocci, Roma: chapters 3, 5, e 6.

• Ian Talbot e Gurharpal Singh, La spartizione. 1947: alle origini di India e Pakistan, il Mulino, 2012 , except ch. 4.

• Marzia Casolari (2021), “Shifting Balances in India's Foreign Policy: International and Domestic Factors at Stake”, Il Politico, n. 1.


2. Optional readings
Any additional reading, always not included in the exam programme, will be uploaded on Moodle

Students is required to keep up to date on current facts in Asia through the media and browse specialized websites.

The exam is a written test on the whole programme. The test will be based on open questions aimed at stimulating the student's historical reasoning skills and probing the acquired preparation. The evaluation of the tests will be expressed in thirtieths. Each test will be considered passed if the student achieves at least 18/30. The test lasts 60 minutes.

1 Students will manage the available time to properly answer the questions
2 The answers must be coherent and prove the capacity to properly reflect and to critically analyze the texts
3 The answers will be based on the comparison between specific case studies.

Assessment
1 The arguments will be represented by direct answers to specific questions
2 The answers will be related to the reading list
3 The answers are supported by proper examples

The overall evaluation will be based also on the active participation to class discussions.

The course will be based on lectures aimed at introducing students to the discipline, its conceptual categories and main historical themes as theoretical premises of historical reasoning applied to the foreign policies of international actors.

The professor will take lectures also offering students the opportunity to interact by posing questions and asking for details. The professor will also use Power Point in order to outline key points of the historical analysis, as well as historical images and films.

All teaching materials will be made available on Moodle

Italian

There is no specific program for non attending students

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development