Russia-European Union Relationships

2025/2026

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

Delivered at:

Department of Political Science and International Affairs

Course type:

Elective course

When:

1 year, 1 module

Instructor

Sorbale, Aleksei

Course Syllabus

Abstract

By studying this course students will learn to reflect in a critical way on the Russia-EU relations. The course content will cover all dimensions of relations between Russia and the European Union – political, economic and cultural. At the end of the course, students will: Understand fundamental terminology; Understand institutional systems of Russia and the EU and be able to compare them; Understand decision-making processes in foreign policy in Russia and the EU and be able to compare them; Be able to discuss various policies and dimensions in this dyadic relations.

Learning Objectives

• 1. The primary aim of the course is to form a complete understanding of approaches to studying relations between two major powers in Europe and to test them by using different examples from Russia-EU current relations
• The primary aim of the course is to form a complete understanding of approaches to studying relations between two major powers in Europe and to test them by using different examples from Russia-EU current relations

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Is able to analyze historical sources, scientific texts and reports, to review scientific literature in Russian and foreign languages
• Able to perform research with modern research methods and techniques, using knowledge of the humanities and social sciences and close scientific fields of knowledge
• Is able to use social and multicultural differences to solve problems in professional and social activities
• Ability to analyse, verify and assess the completeness of information in the course of one’s professional activity, as well as replenish and synthesise any missing details
• Ability to engage in professional activities, including research, in the multicultural environment
• Able to create new theories, invent new methods and instruments of professional activities
• Able to engage in and manage multilateral communication
• able to generalize, analyze, perceive information, set goals and choose ways to achieve it
• Able to make managerial decisions and bear responsibility
• Able to perform interdisciplinary interaction and cooperation with representatives of other fields of knowledge while solving research and applied tasks
• Able to reflect on (assess and interpret) acquired research methods and work modes
• able to social interaction based on the moral and legal norms accepted in society, capable of respectful and careful attitude to the historical heritage and cultural traditions of different peoples, be responsible for maintaining partnership, trusting relationships
• Able to upgrade one’s intellectual and cultural horizons, build the trajectory of professional development and career
• Able to use social and multicultural differences to solve problems in professional and social activities.
• Is able to create and edit scientific and popular science texts in the humanities and social sciences
• Student can distinguish between the EU an EAEU
• Student is familiar with common background of Russia and EU
• Student is familiar with institutional design and the scope of supranationality in the EU and EAEU
• Student is familiar with IR theories and their application to the Russia–EU relations
• Student is familiar with process of development of Russia-EU relations
• Student knows about Council of Europe's role in Russia-EU relations
• Student knows about sanctions' role as a power instrument
• Student is capable of retrieving, collecting, processing and analyzing information relevant for achieving goals in professional field
• Student is able to work in a team
• Student is capable of executing applied analysis of the political phenomena and political processes by using political science methods - and in support of practical decision making process
• Student is able to conduct professional activities in the international field

Course Contents

• From the Eastern Partnership initiative through Crimea to the current crisis
• Colour revolutions of 2003-2005 as a challenge for the EU-Russia relations
• Russian-Georgian conflict of August 2008 and the PfM initiative
• Crisis in EU-Russia relations and the issue of sanctions
• First gas disputes between the EU and Russia, and the failed PCA renewal
• Enlargement and the ENP as a challenge for the EU-Russia relations
• The issue of Chechnya in the EU-Russia relations at the turn of the century
• EU-Russia relations at the turn of the century and the Kosovo crisis
• Entering the relationship: PCA and TACIS as the basis for cooperation in the 1990s
• The Soviet period in the relations between the EC and the SU

Assessment Elements

• Weekly Quizzes
  Mini-quizzes contain 10 questions to be answered in 8 minutes. The questions are MCQ with one correct answer to be picked among several. These questions are based on the class materials (lectures and mandatory readings for the DGs) for each topic.
• Written Exam
  The exam makes up 25% of the final grade. The exam comes in the form of a test. This test consists of two parts and lasts 1 hour 20 minutes. Part one is a simple one correct answer quiz. Part two consists of open questions where students have to demonstrate their deeper knowledge of the subject. While wrinting an exam, the use of AI tools for any purpose (including text translation, grammar checking, etc.) is prohibited.
• DG Participation
  25% of the final grade comes from work in class during DGs, which includes the assessment of student's quantitative and qualitative contribution to discussions based on readings and lecture materials.
• Review Essay
  The grade for the review essay adds 25% to the final grade. A student picks a topic for her/his review essay her/himself. The essay has to be an analysis of how some distinct event in the EU-Russia relations (the Kosovo crisis, the Chechen war, the EU enlargement and the issue of Kaliningrad, the color revolutions in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, the gas crises of 2006 and 2009, the Russia-Georgian conflict, the launch of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Ukrainian crisis and sanctions, etc) has influenced the particular policy area of the EU-Russian cooperation. The list of the policy areas follows below: • Security and Defence • Science, Education and Culture • The ‘Common Neighborhood’ and Regional Cooperation • Justice and Home Affairs • Energy • Economy • Environment The review essay (total word count is 3000-3500 words inclusive of citations (Chicago in-text citations); with bibliography excluded) is to be submitted to the DG instructor. If the essay’s word count is less than 3000 words, one point is taken away for each «not written» 100 words. If the essay’s word count is more than 3500 words, one point is taken away for each extra 100 words. The total number of academic sources which have to be reviewed in the essay is no less than 10-12 pieces. If the total number is less than 10 pieces, one point is taken away for each «not reviewed» piece. While wrinting an essay, the use of AI tools for any purpose (including text translation, grammar checking, etc.) is prohibited.

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 1st module
  0.25 * DG Participation + 0.25 * Review Essay + 0.25 * Weekly Quizzes + 0.25 * Written Exam

Authors

• Sorbale Aleksei Borisovich