1. PROLOGUE.

THE RETURN OF GEOPOLITICS Professor Andrea Colli

WHO AM I?
Andrea Colli
PhD in Economic and Social History
Fernand Braudel Fellow, EUI; Alfred Chandler Fellow, HBS
Department Chair, Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi
General RIs: economic history, business history, global history, history of international relations,
analysis of the relationships between space and power in the long run (geopolitics)
Current research: limited; some research summaries in the areas of
­ New forms of State Capitalism,
­ Multibusiness family firms,
­ Geoeconomics and
­ The Impact of Geopolitical Tensions on International Business

Research Methods: primary-sources based qualitative analysis; case study research and analysis
WHO AM I?
andrea.colli@unibocconi.it
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oWcljCMAAAAJ&hl=en
Office hours: Upon request (just contact me)
HOW DO I TEACH?
Quite standard traditional lectures but:
- starting from a contemporary political issue/dilemma in the international scenario
- discussing the essence (or the essences) of the problem in the light of the existing
research/literature
- suggesting (if the case) historical comparators
- advancing generalizations
- eventually (and reluctantly) providing political or strategic actions

Strong empirical focus on specific empirical research questions (not on BIG theories
and/or theoretical models)
WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED
IN GEOPOLITICS?
WHAT’S BEHIND BEIJING’S DRIVE TO CONTROL
THE SOUTH CHINA SEA?
THE RETURN OF GEOPOLITICS
Comment to Walter Russell Mead, “The Return of Geopolitics. The Revenge of the
Revisionist Powers”, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2014
WHAT IS GEOPOLITICS? (1)
The multiple meaning of geopolitcs
Common sense (newspapers): synonim of international politics/international relations (in
general when territorial disputes/tensions or economic issues are at stake) [US. – China
“geopolitical” tensions]
“Applied approach” to (often too much abstract) international relations theory [math. Vs
engineering]
A particularly “realist” version of the realist IR theory (interstate competition for power and
leadership) with emphasis on space [Kissinger – balance of power, particularly hard and soft
power]
Teleological meaning: to justify power projections on geographic space (frequently for other
purposes, e.g. internal consensus) [South China Sea]
Geopolitics as a form of “strategy/tactic in action” in order to achieve broader goals [e.g.
Russia-Ukraine]
WHAT IS GEOPOLITICS? (2)
In this course:
- Geopolitics for a better understanding of politics
- Geopolitics for a better understanding of international politics
- Geopolitics as a way to understand the political (hard and soft) interactions among
polities over the issues of space and power in a fundamentally “realist” perspective
[“classic” geopolitics]
- The interactions among polities are never IMPROMPTU – history (broadly intended)
is essential for the understanding of geopolitical strategies and tactics
- Interest in Geopolitics: (unsurprisingly) coinciding with main “shifts of power”
THE COURSE
Three sections

ONE. The essence and dynamics of Geopolitics

­ The evolution of geopolitical scenarios and of geopolitical thought (XIX-XX cent.)

TWO. Current issues in Contemporary Geopolitics:

­ From Space to Spaces: the new meanings of geography

THREE. New Perspectives

­ Seminars
THE COURSE IN DETAIL
PART I – The Essence and Dynamics of Geopolitics
1. Prologue. The Return of Geopolitics
2. What is geopolitics and why it (increasingly) matters. Space, time, culture and politics in action.
3. The age of Empires (I). Geopolitical Scenarios in the late XIX century.
4. The age of Empires (II). Theorizing Geopolitics: Pivots, “spheres of influence” and the White
Man’s Burden.
5. Post Great War Geopolitics (I). The stormy multipolarity and Lebensraum
6. Cold War Geopolitics (I): From multipolarity to bi-polarity
7. Cold War Geopolitics (II): The structuring of the bi-polar World Order.
8. After 1989: Back to Unipolarity
9. 21st Century Geopolitics. The Rise of the Challengers
10&11: Movie
THE COURSE IN DETAIL
PART II – Current Topics Geopolitics
12. From Space to Spaces

13. The Geopolitics of Energy – Seminar, IAI

14. The Geopolitics of Renewables

15. Arctic Geopolitics

16. Geopolitics to Geoeconomics

17. Infrastructures, transports & geopolitics : Chinese Belt and Road Initiative

18. Outer Space Geopolitics

19. Understanding critical geopolitics: The manipulation of history for geopolitical purposes

20. When geopolitics makes a business a risky business

PART III – New Perspectives

21. Seminar: Can Geopolitics be “measured”: the increasing diffusion of “Geopolitical Risk Indexes” (Gian Maria Mallarino, Bocconi)

22. Seminar: Against Geopolitics (Andrea Ruggeri, Oxford)

23. Seminar: The Rise of a Regional Power. Turkey. (Kerim Kavakli, Bocconi)

24. Conclusion – Wrap Up – Q&A

JOURNALS
Geopolitics
Journal of Strategic Sudies
Orbis
World Affairs
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy

Nikkei Asia
The Economist
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
Think to IR from a different perspective
Critically discuss the realist approach to IR
Incorporate “space” and “geography” into political thinking
Re-evaluate the role of history-grounded analysis in IR
Understand the political meaning of “space” (now and in the past)
Consider the multiple meaning of “space” in contemporary geopolitical thinking
Understand better and discuss the current geopolitical situation in the light of past
geopolitical dynamics
LEARNING MATERIALS
In order to facilitate communication, students are warmly encouraged
a) to check more than often the course’s announcements,
b) the course’s Instagram profile gp_uniboc. The IG account will be useful for instantly sharing
both practical information and contents related more in general to the course’s topics –
however, it’s NOT replacing BBoard

Teaching materials (slides, readings, incidents) will be downloadable from the Bocconi library
website. Only in some cases they will be available in the course elearning platform.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Attendance is warmly encouraged

Assessment: see syllabus