Russia in World Politics

2023/2024

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

6

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Political Science and International Affairs

Course type:

Elective course

When:

1 year, 1, 2 module

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is devoted to the analysis of various roles that Russia is claiming to play in the contemporary world politics, and Russian positioning at different scales global and regional. Theoretical part of the course is supported by empirical cases.

Learning Objectives

• • The main goal of the course is the analysis of Russia's role in world politics, its relations with the USA, the EU, African states, China etc. The course introduces students to Russia's strategies in international field and offers different perspectives on Russia's foreign policies

Expected Learning Outcomes

• develops proposals and recommendations for applied research and consulting
• uses relevant research results in political science and adjacent sciences, develops applications of political science for solving practical tasks
• knows Russia's place in world politics' hierarchy
• is familiar with Russia's direction in IR
• is familiar with notion of great power politics and its manifestation in Russia's case
• is familiar with Russia’s perceptions of the world order
• is familiar with Russia's pivot/turn to the East
• is familiar with Russia's view on relationship between Russia and the USA
• is familiar with notion of soft power and its use by Russia
• knows role and reasons for Russian engagement in Africa
• knows role and reasons for Russian engagement in Asia Pacific
• is familiar with modern state of Russia-EU relations
• is familiar with Sino-Russian relations
• is familiar with Russia's strategy in the post-Soviet region
• is familiar with Russia's role in the global economy
• knows Russia’s involvement in international institutions
• knows Russia’s interactions with de facto states and non-governmental actors
• is familiar with Russia's perspective in international conflicts

Course Contents

• Introduction to the course. Evolution of the Russian foreign policy in 1990-2023. Conceptual framework.
• Russia's perspective of the world order
• Russia’s pivot/turn to the East, Russia and the West
• Russia and the Post-Soviet space
• Regional aspects of Russia’s foreign policy (the EU, Africa, Asia Pacific)
• Russia’s Foreign Policy on International Conflicts Matter
• Russia in international institutions
• Russia and de facto states. Russia and non-governmental actors
• Russia in the global economy
• Russia’s “Soft Power”

Assessment Elements

• Сlass participation
  Contribution of a student to discussions during seminars, her / his knowledge of the subject and level of literature comprehension.
• Class attendance
• Presentation
  Each student is supposed to perform a presentation on the provided class topic. List of presentations will be provided by professor as well as guidelines for them. Presentation must be based on relevant to issue books, articles, reports and electronic resources. Each seminar students are supposed to ask questions about presentation and provide insightful comments. Both presentation and answers to questions will be assessed.
• Final test

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 2nd module
  0.25 * Class attendance + 0.25 * Final test + 0.25 * Presentation + 0.25 * Сlass participation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Busygina, I. (2017). Russia-EU relations and the common neighborhood. Coercion vs. authority. Taylor & Francis Group (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315443966
• Ohannes Geukjian. (2017). Explaining Russian Foreign Policy Behavior. Theory and Practice. Europe-Asia Studies, 4, 704. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2017.1314624
• 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

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• A twenty-first century concert of powers promoting great power multilateralism for the post-transatlantic era The 21st Century Concert Study Group. Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. (2014). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.427237939
• Newman, E., & Zala, B. (2018). Rising powers and order contestation: disaggregating the normative from the representational. Third World Quarterly, 39(5), 871–888. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2017.1392085

Authors

• STARODUBTSEV ANDREY VLADIMIROVICH