The first module will deal with the theories of the geographer Jean Gottmann, and in particular his analysis of the concept of territory understood both as a system of political compartments and as a space of networks, bringing the student closer to understanding the genesis processes of the geographical regions, of the State-nation and other forms of historical sovereignty.

In the second module, theories and geographical schools will be analyzed, divided into three historical periods:
1) between 1875 and 1945 there is a strong relationship between power and knowledge which sees political geographers at the service of their respective nation States;
2) during the Cold War, scholars place themselves in increasingly critical perspectives towards their own State;
3) after the break-up of the USSR, attention is focused on some of the main challenges for the modern nation-State, both on the demographic and migration level, and on the level of economic globalization.

- J. Gottmann, Il significato del territorio, Roma, Nexta Books, 2005.
- J. Agnew, L. Muscarà, Making political geography, Lanham, MD, Rowman e Littlefield, 2012.

The course aims to analyze and learn the basic concepts of geography and economic policy in the light of the changed situation and the profound changes in the human reality and the geopolitical world. After reviewing briefly what is the economic value of land it will address the study of the local territorial systems will be analyzed and the process of globalization of the economy, taking into account the issue of sustainable development and the latest theories on the green economy. We will deepen, with a focus on mountain areas, the impact of tourism on the natural environment and the socio-cultural and economic development of the territory.

- History of political geography and geopolitics: the classics, the modern age, the work of Friedrich Ratzel; political geography after Ratzel; the beginning of geopolitics; the geopolitical context of the post-war period and the main attempts at interpretation; recent trends in political geography and geopolitics; the evolution of the concepts of space and territory (two-three lessons)
- The powers on the territory: the elements of power; centripetal and centrifugal forces; physical-geographical, historical, economic, cultural and ethnic forces; form and size of the powers on the territory; the concept of relative position; federalism and regionalism: two realities compared; content and models of the federal principle; the evolution of the concept of regional state (two-three lessons)
- The concept of border: from classical concepts to their negation; natural boundaries and their measurement; territorial waters; the geographic-political implications of the regulation of marine borders; border changes as a reflection of historical events; the perception of borders in the Middle East; sovereignty over Antarctica; the most significant border friction points in the world (two-three lessons)
- Ethnic groups and ethnic conflicts: the ethnic phenomenon in the contemporary world; ethnic minority: a contested definition; degrees of perception of ethnic identity and socio-economic implications; the language; violent forms of the ethnic clash, reflections on the Balkan region and the Middle Eastern case (two-three lessons)
- Development geography: food emergencies and world hunger; overpopulation and underpopulation, development and underdevelopment; interpretative approaches to the North-South problem; urbanization and rural exodus; sustainable development and recent debates on the future of the planet (two-three lessons)
- Geoeconomics as a geographical science: between economic globalization and political regionalization; global cities; the war of resources; the idrogeopolitica; coal, oil and other energy sources; land and air transport; the main theories on the geographical analysis of transport; maritime navigation and inland navigation; communications networks (two-three lessons)

TESTI
- J. Painter e A. Jeffrey, Political Geography
- F. Lizza, Geopolitica delle prossime sfide
- slide fornite a lezione