510398 - INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

This course provides a theoretical and practical framework for understanding international organizations, their evolution, and their modus operandi. With a specific focus on the UN System, the OSCE and NATO, the course will explore their roles in human rights protection, democratization, and the pursuit of peace and security in the challenging contemporary scenario. The program is designed to integrate the theoretical background with the perspective of field staff. By the end of the course, students will not only have a deep understanding of the role of International Institutions but will also gain the practical information needed to start a career in this field. Course Structure 1. The Challenges of Global Governance: Policies and Processes. From a unipolar to a multipolar world? An analysis of the current transition. 2. International Organizations Foundations, evolution, and their role in today’s global system 3. The Role of States and Other Actors. How states, NGOs, and other actors influence the international agenda. 4. Regional Organizations: Focus on the OSCE and NATO 5. Threats to Peace and Security: key contemporary challenges and IGOs’ responses 6. From Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding. The evolution of international peace operations from last century until today 7. Case Studies: lessons learned from the “New World Order” a) The failure of UN in Rwanda b) Yugoslavia c) “Exporting democracy?”: International election observation missions: South Africa (1994) and the first post-war elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996) 8. Post-War Reconstruction in the ‘90s. Case studies on the return and integration of refugees and minorities in Croatia. International War Crimes Tribunals: the ICTY and ICTR. 9. Institution Building The protection of minorities and the case study of the United Nations Interim Mission in Kosovo. 10.What role for IGOs in the current fragmented world?