Political Sciences and International Security

MATTEO MARCONI

The maritime dimension of power presents geopolitical features strongly divergent from the prevailing model on the mainland. The conquest of the territories is counterposed to the control of the neuralgic points within which the marine traffic is carried out. Due to these simple differences there have been held completely divergent political and social systems, that experienced for centuries the contrast between thalassocratic powers (United States, Great Britain) and continental powers (Germany, Russia).
The purpose of the course will be the explanation of the power dynamics affecting the sea in its various aspects: economic, political and military.
Firstly, it will explore the thought of Alfred Thayer Mahan, the most fruitful among the geopolitical scholars of the sea.
Subsequently, the main political issues that arise within the sea will be discussed, focusing on the control of the access points (or bottlenecks) and the ways of struggle and succeed of power interests.
Finally, the course will deepen the doctrines and strategic concepts that characterise the use of military naval force in the 21st century in order to grasp its relationship with political power.

The student will be able to analyse critically the contemporary maritime reality. Strategic, philosophical and territorial reflections will give depth of field to the geopolitical analysis thanks to their combination.

Familiarity in the use of the Atlas, mastery of the basic concepts of political and economic geography.

- Strategy and geopolitics

- Fundamentals of sea power

- Sea power and classic geopolitical theory

- Thalassocracy as special form of the relationship between maritime space and power

- Strategic and geopolitical features of the oceans

- Oceanic pivots and their evolution

- Maritime hegemony on trade routes

- Transport geopolitics and global relations

- Chinese and Southeast Asian roles

- Geoeconomics role of ports

- Maritime strategy and geopolitics in XXI century

- Bottleneck points and their relevance in maritime global security

- The Wider Mediterranean concept

- Arctic and Antarctic

C. Schmitt, Terra e mare: una riflessione sulla storia del mondo, Adelphi, Milano, 2006.

C. Schmitt, Stato, grande spazio, nomos, Adelphi, Milano, 2015 (pp. 101-198).

M. Marconi e P. Sellari (a cura di), Geopolitica e Spazi marittimi, Nuova Cultura, Roma, 2021.

F. Zampieri, Manuale di geostrategia marittima, Nuova Cultura, Roma, 2025.

Lectures

Seminars

in attendance

Oral exam: Three questions, thirty minutes of oral examination. Only for the attending students, it will be possible to replace the text Geopolitics and Maritime Spaces with a paper. Details will be provided during the course.

Ongoing evaluation: written test with one open questions. One hour.

The relevance of bottleneck points in the control of global maritime traffic.

Continuity between the Schmittian critique of the nation-state and the concept of hybrid warfare.