B019209 - SECURITY STUDIES

English

The general aim of the course is to provide students with a critical understanding of the main concepts, objectives and procedures of managing security issues, both at the domestic and at the international level. Specific attention will be given to: 1) the intelligence community and processes, their development and their relevance in protecting the national interest; 2) the new threats and challenges steaming from cyberspace.

There are no specific prerequisites.

Students are expected to participate actively in the course. Students are encouraged to choose whatever issue raised in the program and develop it in a short essay (no longer than 3,000 words) which will be, if time allows, red and discussed in class toward the end of the course. If prepared to put the chosen subject in context, the student will be graded and exonerated from the final exam.

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For those that did not right an essay, the final exam consists of five short written Q&As on the
topics covered by the course. Students will have three hours to complete the assignment.

1st module
Sezione prima: Nozioni fondamentali
a. Sicurezza, sicurezza pubblica, sicurezza nazionale
b. Sicurezza e potere politico
c. Interesse nazionale
d. Sicurezza e libertà.
e. Rischio e minaccia.
f. Intelligence: le diverse accezioni del termine.
g. Informazioni, sicurezza e segreto.
Sezione seconda: Intelligence e potere politic
a. Intelligence e sistema politico.
b. Intelligence e decisori politici
c. L’intelligence negli stati contemporanei: modelli e funzioni.
Sezione terza: l’evoluzione dell’Intelligence italiana dal 1861 alla fine del Novecento
a. L’Intelligence in Italia: breve profilo storico, dall’unità d’Italia all’avvento della
Repubblica.
b. La Costituzione del 1948: nuovi valori e nuovi limiti per l’Intelligence nazionale
c. La prima legge italiana sui Servizi per le informazioni e la sicurezza ( (l. 24
ottobre 1977, n. 801). Il segreto di Stato.
d. Il dibattito di fine secolo sulla riforma della legge n. 801 del 1977, l’approvazione
della legge 3 agosto 2007, n. 124 e le modifiche introdotte dalla legge 7 agosto
2012, n. 133.
Sezione quarta: il Sistema di informazione perla sicurezza della Repubblica
a. La nuova organizzazione di governo dei Servizi di informazione: le responsabilità
politiche e la distribuzione dei poteri decisionali.
b. Le missioni degli Organismi informativi, il Dipartimento delle informazione per
la sicurezza (DIS) e la ripartizione delle funzioni tra l’Agenzia informazioni e
sicurezza esterna (AISE) e l’Agenzia informazioni e sicurezza interna (AISI).
c. Il segreto di Stato
d. Alcuni strumenti operativi e relativi limiti giuridici
e. I controlli interni
Sezione quinta: Il controllo parlamentare
a. Il Comitato parlamentare per la sicurezza della Repubblica: composizione e
poteri
b. Obblighi informativi del Governo nei confronti del Comitato parlamentare
c. La procedura di verifica del segreto di Stato da parte del Comitato parlamentare
2nd module
1. Introduction
a. Who am I, what will we do
b. What is security? “Security” and “risk”.
c. Globalization, multilateral interest & “the global commons”
d. The individual, social nature, cultural identity, minority group, mankind, the state,
the intergovernmental and the international levels, cyberspace: different
dimensions that count in IR security studies. Why do security studies matter?
2. The post-’89 security environment: what has changed?
a. The endurance of conventional threats post ’89, regional crisis and frozen
conflicts; missile proliferation; WMD; nuclear deterrence
b. Failed/rogue states /non-state actors / illegal trafficking
c. Terrorism & radicalism. The Mumbai attacks.
d. Environment & resources: climate change, global warming and the High North –
Rare Earth - Water Scarcity - Food and famine
e. Energy security & the shale gas revolution
f. Global public agenda – vox populi – international spillovers of domestic insecurity
g. After the “Arab Springs”
h. Global economic divide; global social justice. The 99%.
i. Economic & financial security
j. Cyber threat
3. The National interest in the global arena
a. The concept of “National interest”
b. How is the National interest identified – The Italian National interest
c. Formal institutions devoted to the protection of National interest in the
international arena: diplomacy, intelligence, the military
d. Non-state actors
e. How is the National interest protected collectively: UN, NATO, the EU and
other regional alliances/IIOO
4. The quest for order
a. International sovereignty – meaning and evolution of the concept. The System of
States and International Society
b. The responsibility of the State. The responsibility to protect & Human Rights
“Above all nations is humanity”. Political accountability: who do you turn to?
c. International violence – what can we cope with? Hard & soft power - coercion &
influence. The Balance of Power, the security dilemma, deterrence
d. The cases of ISAF and Iranian nuclear negotiations
5. Asymmetric threat and global governance (case study): cyberspace and cyber
threat – a new security paradigm
a. Cyberspace: definition & relevance
b. Motivations, actors & vulnerabilities
c. The asymmetric threat & the strategic dimension
d. Cyber espionage, cyber sabotage, cyber weapon, cyber warfare & cyber terrorism
e. Situational awareness, resilience, info-sharing, IT innovation, reverse engineering,
escalation
f. Training & education, cyber hygiene, building and mobilizing cyber capabilities
g. Attribution, forensic & international cooperation
6. Asymmetric threat and global governance (case study): – cyber power, cyber
diplomacy and the governance of cyberspace
a. The National level, the whole-of-government approach
b. The private sector
c. NATO Cyber Defence Policy
d. The EU
e. Russia & China
f. Internet governance, the Budapest Convention
g. Cyber diplomacy
h. Governance issues, collective interests & CBMs
7. Seminar with the James Madison University
a. The Transatlantic region in the global order
b. NATO and the new Strategic Concept
c. “Leading from behind” and the Transatlantic defence-spending imbalance