Bio
Francesco N. Moro is Adjunct Professor at SAIS Europe
Head of Department, Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS), University of Bologna
Professor of Political Science, University of Bologna
Francesco Moro is Professor of Political Science and serves as Head of Department in the Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS) of the University of Bologna. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University (Europe Campus).
Francesco has been teaching and/or researching at the University of Warwick, University of Milan-Bicocca, LUISS Guido Carli in Rome, AgroParisTech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Florence, Istituto di Scienze Militari Aeronautiche of the Italian Air Force, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (SUM), Dickinson College, and at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler's Research Project on International Politics and Conflict resolution (CeRPIC).
His research primarily focuses on collective violence, organized crime, and defense and national security policies, and has been published in, among others, the
Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Terrorism and Political Violence, European Sociological Review, PlosOne, and
World Politics. The latest book Moro co-authored,
Reluctant Remilitarisation: Transforming the Armed Forces in Germany, Italy and Japan After the Cold War, was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2023.
Francesco has also been collaborating with/or advising NATO Allied Command Transformation, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and the World Food Program.
Courses
- Civil Wars and Interventions
The course aims to discuss key concepts and theories for analyzing the various phases and facets of intra-state wars, and to show how international interventions can affect the course of these conflict and peace processes. In order to do so, the course first analyzes the causes of civil wars and other major episodes of collective violence, the dynamics of violence in these conflicts, and early warnings measures that allow to “predict” the onset of conflict. It then examines the different ways in which external/international actors can intervene in domestic conflict, management techniques that may be introduced at various stages of conflict to halt escalation, minimize violence, and to move conflicts toward a sustainable peaceful settlement. This includes an analysis of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and state-building practices, and transitional justice. The course provides students with an advanced understanding of the thriving literature on civil wars and interventions, looking at both qualitative and quantitative scholarship, and offers students the possibility to engage with case studies to explore the real-world conflicts from their origin to their solution. In particular, the course offers detailed treatment of conflicts across continents, such as the wars in Bosnia, Colombia, Sahel region and Syria. Each case study will cover different aspects of the conflict, from their onset to evolution and the role of external actors. The expected outcome is that students will be able to engage with both academic and policy relevant literature in their quest to gain a better understanding of the conflict cycle.
