Knowledge and understanding: The student will have to demonstrate a good knowledge of the lines of development and the conditioning of the foreign policy of the main states of South Asia, and to have developed a sufficient ability to understand their implications. He/she will also have acquired knowledge of the complex interrelation between domestic and foreign policy issues in the shaping of South Asian strategic environment.
Applying knowledge and understanding: The student will be able to place the contemporary events of the region covered by the course in a historical perspective and critically analyze concepts such as hegemony, multilateralism, globalization, with reference to the South Asian context and in the international context.
Making judgements: The student will have to demonstrate the ability to integrate the knowledge acquired, as well as to formulate judgments, even on the basis of limited or incomplete information, with particular reference to historical-political developments and international relations in South Asia.
Communication skills: The student must possess the ability to communicate general traits and contents relating to historical-political developments and international relations in the area covered by the course.
Learning skills: The student will have to achieve the ability to develop and interpret concepts and data relating to the area under study, measuring similarities and differences, as well as the ability to carry out research and find materials regarding the aforementioned area.

Good knowledge of modern international history.

The course will address the historical intertwining of the domestic and foreign policy issues of the two major states of South Asia, India and Pakistan, at the regional and international levels. We will explore the origins of the competition between India and Pakistan and discuss how it has interacted with the pressures of international politics, from the Cold War to the present day. The course will first seek to establish the determinants of the foreign policy lines of India and Pakistan in the context of the Partition of British India in 1947. The political and cultural aspirations that underlie the foreign policy positions of the two states will be discussed. With reference to India, the discussion will focus on the nature of the Indian political system under Congress governments, Nehruvian secularism and Hindu-Muslim relations. The issue of Kashmir and its impact on relations between the two states will, of course, figure prominently in the discussion. The concept of non-alignment, the difficult relationship between India and the United States during the Cold War, Sino-Indian conflict and the crisis of non-alignment from the 1960s onwards will then be analysed. Ample space will also be given to establishing how the crisis of the political system of the Congress, and the rise of Hindu nationalism, have conditioned India's foreign policy. With reference to Pakistan, the discussion will examine the initial ambiguity between the concepts of the Islamic state and the Muslim nation-state, and how this ambiguity has influenced foreign policy. The entry into the alliance with the United States and its consequences on relations with the Islamic world will be discussed. The theme will be analysed in relation to the question of military weakness and the policy of rearmament of Pakistan. The theme of Islamabad's foreign policy will also be associated with the process of Islamisation, the growth of a sectarian mentality and the position of religious minorities. Moreover, the influence of the military on Pakistan's foreign policy will be discussed, especially since the 1970s-1980s. Finally, the course will discuss the scenarios created in the South Asia region by nuclearization and the rise of Chinese influence.

- C. Ogden, Indian Foreign Policy: Ambition and Transition, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2014.
- C. Jaffrelot (ed.), A History of Pakistan and its Origins, Anthem Press, London, 2002.
Further study material will be provided during the course.

Starting from the Partition of the Subcontinent in 1947, the course will aim to assess how the close interaction between domestic, regional and international issues have affected the regional balance in South Asia, from independence to the present day. In particular, the course will try to answer the following main questions:
- What have been the main foreign policy guidelines of India and Pakistan since 1947, and to what extent has the colonial legacy influenced their development?
- To what extent has the tendency towards the crystallization of opposing "Hindu" and "Muslim" identities and their politicization contributed to shaping the Indo-Pakistani conflict?
- What was the impact of the Cold War on the bilateral relations of the two states?
- To what extent has Nehru's vision of world order shaped Indian foreign policy?
- How has Indian multilateralism policy evolved after Nehru?
- How has the ambiguity between Islam and nationalism in Pakistan's state-building affected its foreign policy?
- To what extent has Pakistan's perception of insecurity influenced its foreign policy?
- Can the Kashmir issue be considered intractable for both India and Pakistan?
- What influence has military dominance had on Pakistan's foreign policy?
- What has been the overall political consequence of Pakistan's growing sectarian conflict?
- Through what strategies has Pakistan tried to respond to Indian hegemony since the 1970s and 1980s?
- What role did nuclear weapons play in the South Asian regional balance?
- With what strategies have both India and Pakistan tried to react to the rise of Chinese influence in Asia?
- Can India be considered a great power?
- What has been the role of the Afghan conflict in the political balance in South Asia?

Lectures, classroom discussions, essays. It is expected that about 40 hours will consist of frontal lessons, while the remaining 20 hours will be organized with discussions, individual and group work, also with the contribution of seminars held by external experts.

Discussions in class; essays on topics agreed with the teacher (optional); final exam. The final exam will take place in written form. The student will be asked to answer three open-ended questions concerning some of the main topics discussed during the course. The purpose of the exam will be to evaluate the depth and breadth of students' knowledge, their ability to analyze and critically discuss the main topics of the course, to measure their ability to articulate a topic, and to communicate it in written form. The exam will last three hours. The score of the exam is attributed by means of a vote expressed out of 30. The exam is passed with a score of 18/30. To achieve the minimum score (18/30) the student must demonstrate that he/she has acquired sufficient knowledge of the topics covered during the course. To achieve the maximum score (30/30 cum laude) the student must demonstrate that he/she has acquired an excellent knowledge of all the topics covered during the course.

This course explores topics closely related to one or more goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).