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Regular version of the site

Russia-European Union Relationships

2022/2023
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
6
ECTS credits
Course type:
Elective course
When:
2 year, 1, 2 module

Instructors


Dekalchuk, Anna A.

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

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

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
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Introduction and Main Concepts
  • Evolution of Russia-EU relations: 1994 - 2018
  • Sanctions as Power Instrument
  • Russia, EU and the Common Neighborhood
  • Comparing Integration Projects: The EU and the EAEU
  • Russia and the Council of Europe
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking 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.
  • non-blocking 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.
  • non-blocking 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 by March 8, 2021 via the LMS system. 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.
  • blocking 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. The exam takes place online on the MSTeams platform.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2022/2023 2nd module
    0.25 * Review Essay + 0.25 * Weekly Quizzes + 0.25 * DG Participation + 0.25 * Written Exam
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Busygina, I. (2018). Russia–EU Relations and the Common Neighborhood : Coercion Vs. Authority. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1560734
  • Busygina, I. (2018). Russian foreign policy as an instrument for domestic mobilization. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.3E5BF2D2
  • Casier, T. (2013). The EU——Russia Strategic Partnership: Challenging the Normative Argument. Europe-Asia Studies, 65(7), 1377–1395. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2013.824137

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Busygina, I., Filippov, M., & Shvetsova, O. (2011). Risks and Constraints of Political Modernisation in Russia: The Federal Problem. Perspectives on European Politics & Society, 12(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15705854.2011.546140
  • Helmus, T. C. . V. (DE-588)116357239X, (DE-576)508061792, aut. (2018). Russian social media influence : understanding Russian propaganda in Eastern Europe / Todd C. Helmus, Elizabeth Bodine-Baron, Andrew Radin, Madeline Magnuson, Joshua Mendelsohn, William Marcellino, Andriy Bega, Zev Winkelman ; Rand Corporation. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.508065879
  • Laruelle, M. (DE-588)133464083, (DE-576)188853340. (2015). The “Russian world” [Elektronische Ressource] : Russia’s soft power and geopolitical imagination / Marlene Laruelle. Washington/D.C: Center on Global Interests. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.46822730X
  • Leonard, M. (2007). A power audit of EU-Russia relations / Mark Leonard and Nicu Popescu. Berlin: ECFR. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.389632228
  • Maksim Karliuk. (2015). The Eurasian Economic Union: An EU-Like Legal Order in the Post-Soviet Space? HSE Working Papers. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.p.hig.wpaper.53.law.2015
  • Rácz, A. V. (DE-588)1011154722, (DE-576)341035920, aut. (2018). EU-Russia relations in the new Putin era : not much light at the end of the tunnes / András Rácz, Kristi Raik ; International Centre for Defence and Security, Estonian Foreign Policy Institute. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.508034523
  • Smeets, M. (2018). Can economic sanctions be effective? Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.7702D84E
  • Tsygankov, A. P. (2018). Routledge Handbook of Russian Foreign Policy. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1735577