Aims

At the end of this course, students will be able to understand operational politico-institutional structures, and analyse the main forms of action adopted by present-day international organisations.

Main themes

The main themes to be addressed will be the theory of international organisations, the United Nations Organisation (the main bodies, peacekeeping missions and specialist institutions), politico-military organisations and regional organisations.

Content and teaching methods

Content
The section on the "theory of international organisations" will pose questions relating to the definition and classification of international organisations; there will then be an examination of factors associated with the resources of these organisations (e.g. competences, legal personality, bodies, finances and international civil servants).
The section on the UN is in three parts: 1) the institutional approach - history of the United nations and the UN Charter, aims and principles of the UN, admission and members, analysis of the main bodies (General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council); 2) questions relating to international peace - peacekeeping missions; 3) specialist institutions (e.g. UNESCO, WHO, ILO, and economic-financial institutions).
The section on politico-military organisations will deal with NATO, while the section on regional organisations will examine the Organisation of American States and the Organisation of African Unity. The choice of examples is subject to alteration.
Methodology
Te course will be delivered through talks in class (these will open the subjects up to discussion), analysis and discussion of a reading list, and, if possible, the organisation of conferences with international experts.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Pre-requirements: Ideas of international relations analysis.
Assessment: Short questions in a written or oral examination. The oral examination will be preceded by a period for preparation.
Basic text: C-A. Colliard and L. Dubouis, 1995, "Institutions internationales", Dalloz (Précis), Paris. Recommended additional reading: P. Weiss, 1998, "Les organisations internationales", Nathan-Université, Paris. There will also be a syllabus with a reading list.
This course is associated with the "Public international law", "Geopolitics" and "International relations from 1815 to the present day" courses.

Programmes in which this activity is taught

Other credits in programs