AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the student will be able to: • understand the evolution of the political and security context in the “Enlarged Mediterranean”; • grasp the role of subnational, state, regional, and international actors; • examine the relationship between the domestic politics of countries in the region and international relations; • develop critical judgment skills; • analyze key political, historical, social, economic, and security issues related to the “Enlarged Mediterranean” context • present and argue political science research on the broader Mediterranean using appropriate terminology.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course, students will have acquired theoretical knowledge of the main approaches in comparative politics, including, among others, theories of state formation, political regimes, identity politics, and political violence. In addition, students will gain empirical knowledge of the main regions comprised within the “Enlarged Mediterranean” concept.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course provides an overview of the main political phenomena occurring within the broader concept of the "Enlarged Mediterranean". After understanding what the "Enlarged Mediterranean" is, students will become familiar with the main approaches in comparative politics and the main theoretical frameworks that explain state formation, regime types and regime change, political violence, and identity politics. 

After familiarising students with these approaches, lectures will delve into the main patterns across the different geographical regions of the "Enlarged Mediterranean" (the Horn of Africa, Sahel, Middle East, etc.).

The module illustrates in details:

• What is the "Enlarged Mediterranean"
• Research questions, research design, theories and research methods
• Theories in Comparative Politics
• State formation
• Regime types and regime change
• Resource curse and regime capacity
• Political violence
• Identity politics
• Case studies across regions

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Required readings:

1. Capoccia G, Kelemen RD. (2007). “The Study of Critical Junctures: Theory, Narrative, and Counterfactuals in Historical Institutionalism”, World Politics, 59(3): 341-369. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887100020852.
2. Poggi, G. (2012). Theories of state formation. The Blackwell companion to political sociology, 95; 
3. Bjørnskov, C., Rode, M. (2020). Regime types and regime change: A new dataset on democracy, coups, and political institutions. Review of International Organisations 15, 531–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-019-09345-1
4. Michael L. Ross. (1999). The Political Economy of the Resource Curse. World Politics; 51(2):297-322. doi:10.1017/S0043887100008200; 
5. Michael L. Ross. (2015). What Have We Learned about the Resource Curse?. Annual Review of Political Science, 18:239-259. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-052213-040359
6. Rørbæk, L. L. (2019). Religion, Political Power, and the ‘Sectarian Surge’: Middle Eastern Identity Politics in Comparative Perspective. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 19:  23–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/sena.12292; 
7. Hinnebusch R.  (2020). Identity and state formation in multi-sectarian societies: Between nationalism and sectarianism in Syria. Nations and Nationalism; 26: 138–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12582
8. Foa, R. S. (2017). Persistence or Reversal of Fortune? Early State Inheritance and the Legacies of Colonial Rule*. Politics & Society, 45(2), 301-324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329217704431
9. Kalyvas, Stathis N., (2019). “The Landscape of Political Violence”, in Erica Chenoweth, and others (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198732914.013.1
10. Cederman, L.-E., & Vogt, M. (2017). Dynamics and Logics of Civil War. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 61(9), 1992-2016.
11. Lacher, W., & Mansour, R. (2026). State Formation amid Fragmented Central Authority: Iraq and Libya in Comparative Perspective. Middle East Law and Governance. https://doi.org/10.1163/18763375-bja10025
12. Morten Bøås & Francesco Strazzari (2020). Governance, Fragility and Insurgency in the Sahel: A Hybrid Political Order in the Making, The International Spectator, 55:4, 1-17, DOI: 10.1080/03932729.2020.1835324
13. Rupesinghe, N., Hiberg Naghizadeh, M., & Cohen, C. (2021). Reviewing Jihadist Governance in the Sahel. NUPI,https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:09eebc82-dc4f-4eec-8e98-dca870962795/files/sjm214q33v.
14. Cannon, B. J., & Donelli, F. (2020). Asymmetric alliances and high polarity: evaluating regional security complexes in the Middle East and Horn of Africa. Third World Quarterly, 41(3), 505–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1693255.
15. Saouli, A. (2015). Back to the future: the Arab uprisings and state (re)formation in the Arab world. Democratization, 22(2), 315–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2015.1010813.
16. Costantini, I., & Donelli, F. (2022). Sponsor-proxy dynamics between decentered multipolarity and non-state actors: evidence from the MENA region. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2021.2025288
17. Abdolmohammadi, P., & Cama, G. (2015). Iran as a Peculiar Hybrid Regime: Structure and Dynamics of the Islamic Republic. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 42(4), 558–578. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2015.1037246
18. Montambault Trudelle, A. (2024). Tools of regime stability: the political economy of sovereign wealth funds in Gulf rentier states. Review of International Political Economy, 31(5), 1446–1471. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2024.2325394
19. Verhoeven, H. (2018). The Gulf and the Horn: Changing Geographies of Security Interdependence and Competing Visions of Regional Order. Civil Wars, 20(3), 333–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698249.2018.1483125.
20. Coticchia, F. & Mazziotti di Celso, M. (2024) “Still on the Same Path? Italian Foreign and Defence Policy in the Enlarged Mediterranean”, Mediterranean Politics, 30(3): 650-659.
21. Raineri, L., & Baldaro, E. (2026). The Politics of Geopolitics: Italy’s Engagement in the Sahel and the Geopolitical Imaginary of the Wider Mediterranean. Geopolitics, 31(4), 1369–1399. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2025.2510321
22. Acharya, A. (2018). Global Governance in a Multiplex World. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Paper No. RSCAS 2017/29, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2987838 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2987838
23. Hokayem, E. (2026). The War Against Iran. Survival, 68(2), 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2026.2647633

Suggested books:

• The Sahel
  • Bøås, M. (2025). Sahel. The Perfect Storm. London: Hurst Publisher.
  • Wilén, N. (2025). Securitizing the Sahel: Analysing External Interventions and their Consequences. Oxford University Press.
• The Horn of Africa
  • Clapham, C. (2023). The Horn of Africa. State Formation and Decay. Hurst Publisher (2nd Edition).
• MENA and the Gulf
  • Coates Ulrichsen, K. (2023). Centers of Power in the Arab Gulf States. London: Hurst Publisher.
  • Durac, V. & Cavatorta, F. (2023). Politics and Governance in the Middle East. Bloomsbury.
  • Yom, S. (2026). Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Abingdon: Routledge (10th Edition).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARA MORINI (President)

EDOARDO CORRADI (President Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

October 5, 2026

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final grade will consist of an oral exam on the course topics and required readings. Attending students at the first 9 lectures (attendance >85%) may take a written component of the exam. Moreover, students who attend the remaining lectures (attendance >85%) may give an oral presentation. The written exam and the presentation will replace the final exam. The written test and the oral presentation are optional for attending students. Those who choose not to take the written exam but make the presentation are required to be examined orally regarding the first part. Similarly, those who choose not to give the presentation but take the written exam must be examined orally on the second part. Presentations will be individual, with freely chosen topics, provided they align with the course topics. During the presentation, students must demonstrate the ability to define a research question, develop or apply a theory, and show the theory application through an empirical case (single case study or comparative). 

Non-attending students will not face a heavier workload; they must take the oral exam in the dedicated exam sessions.

Attendance will be recorded at the beginning of each lecture.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will assess the acquired knowledge in the field of comparative politics, evaluation the students’ skills in addressing thereotical debates an. The exam allows also assessing the student’s capability in interpreting different phenomena in the regions of the Enlarged Mediterranean.