During the fall semester of 2009 the course will focus on the events that followed World War I and more specifically on the events that occurred during the Cold War and the post Cold War periods. Also, a large part of the course will be devoted to current events. Given the mixed composition of the class, which is opened both to Italian and to American students, the course will emphasize the aspects of cross cultural exchange along with the ability of the students to elaborate their own ideas and positions with respect to the different issues that will be treated. Finally, Italian policy will be studied also in the context of the more general European scenario in which it has developed since the end of World War 2.
Learning outcomes:
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the main features of the US policy and attitude towards Europe
- Identify the main themes of Italian foreign policy and their interaction with US policy in the region
- Have a fresh and on-the-field outlook of the Cold War through the study of its development in Europe and specifically in Italy
- Develop a better understanding of the current issues at stake in International politics through the study of Transatlantic debate over Kosovo and Iraq
- Acquire the needed skills to write a policy-paper on an International Relations issue
Method of presentation:
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Field study:
1. Visit to the Italian Chamber of Deputies and/or the Senate
2. Visit to the Italian Foreign Ministry (Unità di crisi)
Required work and form of assessment:
Class Participation (20%), Midterm (25%), Policy-Paper (25%), Final exam (30%)
Policy-Paper: During the semester, each student will have to write a policy-paper in which he/she is assigned the task of advising one of the historical figures that will be the object of the course on the best policy to be adopted in a given situation. Therefore, he/she will have to give to the Italian or American decision-maker both a clear background of the situation based on what he/she has studied during the course and also propose different options and an original strategy to be implemented. The policy-paper will be handed in to the teacher within a given deadline and might be discussed publicly during class.
content:
First week: Main themes of US relationship with Europe
a. Main features of US policy towards Europe
b. The different phases of the relationship
(The United States and Europe, 1-15)
Second week: Main themes of Italian foreign policy
a. Italy, the Mediterranean and Europe
b. From World War 2 on, the main features of the US-Italian relationship
(Italy and the World since 1945, 95-117; Andreotti “Foreign Policy in the Italian Democracy”, pp. 529-537)
Third week: From Versailles to World War 2
a. Wilson and the inter-war European system
b. The US and Fascism
(The United States and Europe, 17-39)
Fourth Week: World War 2, Italy and the US
a. World War 2 in Europe
b. The division of Europe and the Peace Treaty with Italy
(The United States and Europe, 40-59; Seton-Watson “Italy’s Imperial Hangover”, pp. 169-179)
Fifth week: The Cold War and NATO
a. The Marshall Plan and the 1948 elections
b. Italy and Nato
(The United States and Europe, 60-68)
Sixth week: The Fifties
a. Italian Neo-Atlanticism and the US
b. American Pressures at the height of the Cold War
(The United States and Europe, 69-76; Brogi “Ike and Italy”, pp. 5-35)
Seventh week: The Sixties: The opening to the Left and Vietnam
a. The US and the “Opening to the Left”
b. The Vietnam War and Italy
(The United States and Europe, 76-85; Nuti, “The United States, Italy and the Opening to the Left”, pp.36-55; Nuti, “The Center-Left Government and the Escalation of the Vietnam War” in Daum, America, The Vietnam War and the World, pp. 259-278)
Eight week: The Seventies and the Euromissiles
(The United States and Europe, 89-98)
Ninth week: The 1980s and terrorism
a. The End of the Cold War
b. The Achille Lauro affair and the dividing issue of terrorism
(The United States and Europe, 98-112; Turmoil and Triumph, 669-688)
Tenth week: The 1990s: the EU and the Balkans
(The United States and Europe, 112-119; Balfour, “Italy’s Crisis Diplomacy in Kosovo”, pp.11-22)
Eleventh week: The War over Iraq
a. The Iraq war and the Transatlantic Alliance
b. US-Italian relations and the war
(The Atlantic Alliance Under Stress, 9-29)
Twelfth week: Berlusconi and the US
a. Berlusconi's past foreign policy
b. The current government and the US
(Aliboni, “Neo-Nationalism and Neo-Atlanticism in Italian Foreign Policy” necessary materials to be distributed in class)
Required readings:
Andreotti, Giulio, “Foreign Policy in the Italian Democracy”, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 109, No. 3, Summer 1994, pp. 529-537
Andrews, David (Ed.), The Atlantic Alliance Under Stress: US-European Relations After Iraq,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 9-29
Brogi, Alessandro. “Ike and Italy: The Eisenhower Administration and Italy’s Neo-Atlanticist Agenda,” Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Summer 2002), pp.5-35
Harper, John L., “Italy and the World Since 1945”, in McCarthy, Patrick(ed), Italy Since 1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 95-117
Nuti, Leopoldo. “The United States, Italy and the Opening to the Left, 1953-1963,” Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Summer 2002), pp.36-55.
Nuti, Leopoldo, “The Center-Left Government in Italy and the Escalation of the Vietnam War” in Daum, Andreas, Gardner, Lloyd and Wilfried Mausbach, America, the Vietnam War, and the World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp.259-278.
Ryan, David, The United States and Europe in the Twentieth Century, London: Pearson Education, 2003, pp. 1-119.
Seton-Watson, Christopher, “Italy’s Imperial Hangover”, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 15, (1980), pp. 169-179.
Shultz, George, Turmoil and Triumph. My Years As a Secretary of State, New York, MacMillan, 1993, pp. 669-688.
Recommended readings:
Del Pero, Mario. “American Pressures and Their Containment in Italy during the Ambassadorship of Clare Boothe Luce, 1953-1956”, Diplomatic History, Vol. 28, no. 3 (June 2004), pp. 407-439
Gordon, Philip H. and Jeremy Shapiro, Allies At War. America, Europe and the Crisis Over Iraq, New York: McGraw Hill, 2004 (The whole book)
Silvestri, Stefano, “Atlantic and European Defence after Kosovo”, The International Spectator, Volume XXXIV No. 3, July - September 1999
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Laura Fasanaro is Research Fellow at the University of Roma Tre (Rome). Her main field of interest is contemporary European history: she is the author of a book on Franco-German relations in the aftermath of the First and the Second World War (Energia contesa, energia condivisa. La Francia, il problema tedesco e la questione carbonifera nei due dopoguerra, Firenze, Polistampa, 2008). She has written also a number of essays on Franco-German relations in the XX century and on the history of the Italian Communist Party and Eurocommunism in the 1970s. Since 2003 she works at IES Rome as instructor and as Model EU trainer.
During the fall semester of 2009 the course will focus on the events that followed World War I and more specifically on the events that occurred during the Cold War and the post Cold War periods. Also, a large part of the course will be devoted to current events. Given the mixed composition of the class, which is opened both to Italian and to American students, the course will emphasize the aspects of cross cultural exchange along with the ability of the students to elaborate their own ideas and positions with respect to the different issues that will be treated. Finally, Italian policy will be studied also in the context of the more general European scenario in which it has developed since the end of World War 2.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the main features of the US policy and attitude towards Europe
- Identify the main themes of Italian foreign policy and their interaction with US policy in the region
- Have a fresh and on-the-field outlook of the Cold War through the study of its development in Europe and specifically in Italy
- Develop a better understanding of the current issues at stake in International politics through the study of Transatlantic debate over Kosovo and Iraq
- Acquire the needed skills to write a policy-paper on an International Relations issue
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
1. Visit to the Italian Chamber of Deputies and/or the Senate
2. Visit to the Italian Foreign Ministry (Unità di crisi)
Class Participation (20%), Midterm (25%), Policy-Paper (25%), Final exam (30%)
Policy-Paper: During the semester, each student will have to write a policy-paper in which he/she is assigned the task of advising one of the historical figures that will be the object of the course on the best policy to be adopted in a given situation. Therefore, he/she will have to give to the Italian or American decision-maker both a clear background of the situation based on what he/she has studied during the course and also propose different options and an original strategy to be implemented. The policy-paper will be handed in to the teacher within a given deadline and might be discussed publicly during class.
First week: Main themes of US relationship with Europe
a. Main features of US policy towards Europe
b. The different phases of the relationship
(The United States and Europe, 1-15)
Second week: Main themes of Italian foreign policy
a. Italy, the Mediterranean and Europe
b. From World War 2 on, the main features of the US-Italian relationship
(Italy and the World since 1945, 95-117; Andreotti “Foreign Policy in the Italian Democracy”, pp. 529-537)
Third week: From Versailles to World War 2
a. Wilson and the inter-war European system
b. The US and Fascism
(The United States and Europe, 17-39)
Fourth Week: World War 2, Italy and the US
a. World War 2 in Europe
b. The division of Europe and the Peace Treaty with Italy
(The United States and Europe, 40-59; Seton-Watson “Italy’s Imperial Hangover”, pp. 169-179)
Fifth week: The Cold War and NATO
a. The Marshall Plan and the 1948 elections
b. Italy and Nato
(The United States and Europe, 60-68)
Sixth week: The Fifties
a. Italian Neo-Atlanticism and the US
b. American Pressures at the height of the Cold War
(The United States and Europe, 69-76; Brogi “Ike and Italy”, pp. 5-35)
Seventh week: The Sixties: The opening to the Left and Vietnam
a. The US and the “Opening to the Left”
b. The Vietnam War and Italy
(The United States and Europe, 76-85; Nuti, “The United States, Italy and the Opening to the Left”, pp.36-55; Nuti, “The Center-Left Government and the Escalation of the Vietnam War” in Daum, America, The Vietnam War and the World, pp. 259-278)
Eight week: The Seventies and the Euromissiles
(The United States and Europe, 89-98)
Ninth week: The 1980s and terrorism
a. The End of the Cold War
b. The Achille Lauro affair and the dividing issue of terrorism
(The United States and Europe, 98-112; Turmoil and Triumph, 669-688)
Tenth week: The 1990s: the EU and the Balkans
(The United States and Europe, 112-119; Balfour, “Italy’s Crisis Diplomacy in Kosovo”, pp.11-22)
Eleventh week: The War over Iraq
a. The Iraq war and the Transatlantic Alliance
b. US-Italian relations and the war
(The Atlantic Alliance Under Stress, 9-29)
Twelfth week: Berlusconi and the US
a. Berlusconi's past foreign policy
b. The current government and the US
(Aliboni, “Neo-Nationalism and Neo-Atlanticism in Italian Foreign Policy” necessary materials to be distributed in class)
Andreotti, Giulio, “Foreign Policy in the Italian Democracy”, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 109, No. 3, Summer 1994, pp. 529-537
Andrews, David (Ed.), The Atlantic Alliance Under Stress: US-European Relations After Iraq,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 9-29
Brogi, Alessandro. “Ike and Italy: The Eisenhower Administration and Italy’s Neo-Atlanticist Agenda,” Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Summer 2002), pp.5-35
Harper, John L., “Italy and the World Since 1945”, in McCarthy, Patrick(ed), Italy Since 1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 95-117
Nuti, Leopoldo. “The United States, Italy and the Opening to the Left, 1953-1963,” Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Summer 2002), pp.36-55.
Nuti, Leopoldo, “The Center-Left Government in Italy and the Escalation of the Vietnam War” in Daum, Andreas, Gardner, Lloyd and Wilfried Mausbach, America, the Vietnam War, and the World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp.259-278.
Ryan, David, The United States and Europe in the Twentieth Century, London: Pearson Education, 2003, pp. 1-119.
Seton-Watson, Christopher, “Italy’s Imperial Hangover”, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 15, (1980), pp. 169-179.
Shultz, George, Turmoil and Triumph. My Years As a Secretary of State, New York, MacMillan, 1993, pp. 669-688.
Del Pero, Mario. “American Pressures and Their Containment in Italy during the Ambassadorship of Clare Boothe Luce, 1953-1956”, Diplomatic History, Vol. 28, no. 3 (June 2004), pp. 407-439
Gordon, Philip H. and Jeremy Shapiro, Allies At War. America, Europe and the Crisis Over Iraq, New York: McGraw Hill, 2004 (The whole book)
Silvestri, Stefano, “Atlantic and European Defence after Kosovo”, The International Spectator, Volume XXXIV No. 3, July - September 1999
Laura Fasanaro is Research Fellow at the University of Roma Tre (Rome). Her main field of interest is contemporary European history: she is the author of a book on Franco-German relations in the aftermath of the First and the Second World War (Energia contesa, energia condivisa. La Francia, il problema tedesco e la questione carbonifera nei due dopoguerra, Firenze, Polistampa, 2008). She has written also a number of essays on Franco-German relations in the XX century and on the history of the Italian Communist Party and Eurocommunism in the 1970s. Since 2003 she works at IES Rome as instructor and as Model EU trainer.
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