1016567 - STRATEGIA E STORIA DELLE RELAZIONI COMMERCIALI
Module 1016569 - STORIA DELLE RELAZIONI COMMERCIALI (XIX-XXI SECOLO)

The course provides the tools for the critical understanding and historical analysis of international trade relations in the period between the 19th and 21st centuries, of the processes of economic integration, of development models on a global scale, of the connections between political diplomatic and economic-commercial relations.

The "traditional" teaching method (frontal lessons) will be combined with a part of the course of a laboratory nature, during which the students will be actively involved, with the guidance of the teacher, in the presentation - oral or in written form - of essays and papers, as well as in the research and analysis of documents and primary sources relating to the history of international economic relations. During the lessons, the teacher will provide educational and multimedia material (PPT, handouts, documents) useful for the study and deepening of the topics analyzed.

Basic notions of contemporary history.

The course will reconstruct the historical evolution of international trade relations in the period between the 19th and 21st centuries, characterized by a growing incidence of globalization processes and the emergence of new subjects at the local level, as well as at the national and supranational level . In consideration of the educational objectives and the didactic offer of the IRC degree course, the protagonists of economic strategies on a global scale will be analysed, with particular reference to States, international organizations and private companies, as well as the geopolitical context and regulatory frameworks in which they operate.
The course will be organized into two distinct thematic nuclei: the first, of a general nature, will offer an overview of the changes that have affected the international economy over the last three centuries; the second will be characterized by a monographic study dedicated to the analysis of the role and events of the WTO.
The first part will reconstruct the underlying trends of trade relations from the beginning from the nineteenth century to the present day: the formation and decline of European colonial empires, the emergence of the United States as a hegemonic power, the long and complex phase of the bipolar confrontation, the rise of Asian countries, the gap between the North and the South of the world and global economic inequalities. Particular attention will be paid to the study of globalization processes, the birth and consolidation of the new economy and the development of the European economy, also in relation to the processes of political integration that have characterized the Continent since the Second World War: in this sense, during the lessons, the elements and actors of the governance of the international trade system already covered by the Trade Relations Strategy module, part of the same course, will be analyzed and reconstructed from a historical perspective.
Further attention will be paid to the Italian development model (industrial districts, local production systems and business networks, the North/South dualism, the strengths and weaknesses of national trade) and to the events of non-European countries which have redefined the framework of global economic relations since the end of the 20th century (China, Japan and the "Asiatic Tigers"; India, Latin America, the Middle East).
The study of new and old protagonists will be preparatory to the analysis of the most recent challenges and changes that have invested the world order: think, only by way of example, of the economic and commercial impact of phenomena such as terrorism, the emergency healthcare Covid and the conflict in Ukraine.
The second part of the course will analyze the events of international trade starting from the creation of the WTO: the lessons will reconstruct the aims and objectives
of the organization, its functioning, the solutions to international controversies, the periodical "caesuras" (Uruguay Round, Seattle Conference and Doha Round) and the challenges that the WTO has had to face in the last twenty years, also starting from the study of international reports, statistics and official documents.

1. Vittorio Valli, L’Europa e l’economia mondiale. Trasformazioni e prospettive, Carocci, pp. 248, ISBN: 9788843023639. 
2. Antonio Parenti, Il WTO, il Mulino, pp. 152, ISBN: 9788815149787 (available also in e-book format).

The verification of learning will take place during the course (on the occasion of the presentations and the debate in the classroom on the topics covered in class) and at the end of the course, when the students will be guided in the preparation of a research (individually or in work groups) on one of the topics covered. The presentation of the research will be an integral part of the final evaluation and may be accompanied by an oral interview on the other parts of the programme.

Economic integration between the 19th and 20th centuries; The new powers; The Decline of Europe; deglobalization; The global effects of the two world conflicts; The bipolar order; international economic cooperation; the WTO; The European Common Market; The Rise of the East.