This course focuses on law, global governance, and human security—the interplay among states, international organizations, and non-governmental actors to create and enforce rules that govern the world. The course provides the opportunity for students to explore global governance and human security in institutional, societal, and global contexts. Global governance aims to ensure stability and world order, providing services and public goods. How are these rules made, and who do they benefit? How were international institutions crafted, and how do they enforce international norms and agreements? The course provides students with analytical tools for understanding key actors and current developments in global governance. We will examine the functions and policies of some of the world’s major international organizations, and the political forces—both international and domestic—that influence their effectiveness and will explore challenges to global governance today. Throughout the course, we will apply theoretical concepts to real-world issues, exploring global governance in key policy areas such as human security and human rights.

Rome is at the very center of international politics and global social, economic, political, and cultural change. As part of the course, field trips are provided to expose students to the specific challenges facing global governance and human security, to take students beyond theory and classroom lectures into real-world practice of the impact that people and organizations make on the ground. A number of international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Program (WFP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Bioversity International have their headquarters in Rome and regularly host students for visits and discussions.

This course is aimed at an improved understanding of the relationship between peace (both between and within nations), criminal justice, and human rights from an international perspective by addressing the legal obstacles and ethical dilemmas faced by the international community in pursuing these different but reciprocally connected goals. It addresses the maintenance of peace and security, the fight against impunity for international crimes (such as aggression, genocide, war crimes, and torture), the protection of human rights (such as the right to life, to personal integrity, and to personal freedom) in the context of different types of conflicts. Specific issues explored during the course will include the extraterritorial jurisdiction of states, international criminal courts, immunities from jurisdiction and different approaches to the fight against terrorism.

Rome is the city from which, under Nazi occupation during World War II, hundreds of civilians were deported to concentration camps in Germany. It is also where one of the worst massacres of civilians during World War II took place (the Fosse Ardeatine Massacre) and where those responsible for that massacre were eventually brought to trial. More recently, Rome is where the International Criminal Court was established and, also, where negotiations leading to the end of civil wars in African countries such as Mozambique took place. As part of the course, field trips connected to these events are provided in order to expose students to the specific challenges facing the struggle against impunity and its relationship with peace in a variety of contexts.