Master
2020/2021
Post-Soviet Eurasia and SCO: Society, Politics and Integration
Category 'Best Course for Career Development'
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Elective course (International Relations in Eurasia)
Area of studies:
International Relations
Delivered by:
Магистерская программа "Международные отношения в Евразии", направление подготовки "Международные отношения" (Кент)
When:
2 year, 1 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Instructors:
Maxim Bratersky
Master’s programme:
International Relations in Eurasia
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
44
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course is designed for students in the international Master's program with concentrations in Political Science and International Relations. In contrast to international relations courses offered at other Russian universities, it is dedicated exclusively to Eurasia, and constructed according to the geographical and problem principle. This course aims to provide students with foundational knowledge and understanding of cooperative and competitive trends in Eurasia. According to the course basic idea, Eurasia does not limit itself to the territory of the former Soviet Union and the Russian Empire (a political and geographical concept widely used in the Western academic and expert literature). It follows the definition of “Eurasia in the broad sense” (“Eurasia in sensu latiore”) introduced by the German geographer and traveler Alexander von Humboldt. This concept has in fact coincided with the concept of “Greater Europe” (understood as a common space “from Lisbon to Vladivostok”) for some time. In recent decades (especially after several waves of EU enlargement) Europe has become associated with the EU membership, while numerous security and economic development problems of the entire Eurasian continent are much broader than the European integration agenda. Students will familiarize themselves with the main theoretical concepts of Eurasianism, their evolution as well as Eurasian integration projects (Eurasian Economic Union, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Shanghai Cooperation Organization). Students will be also able to analyze the logic of conflict resolution in the former USSR area and the Balkans and competition of security interests of various actors involved in the Eurasian developments. The course will enable students to evaluate policies, problems, and conflicts both from normative and non-normative (pragmatic) perspectives. The course consists of parts: the first part concerns the evolving discourses of Eurasianism, the second part covers various integration projects and their perspectives, the third part represents an analysis of the ethnopolitical conflicts in the post-Soviet space and the Balkans in a comparative perspective, fourth is devoted to the security interests of regional and external actors competing and cooperating in Eurasia.
Learning Objectives
- Knowledge: of goals and tasks of international relations in the eastern part of Eurasia from 1990 to the present; of the foreign policy strategies of the main players in the region.
- Ability: to use statistical data and academic, reference, and historical literature on the given theme to analyze conflicting situations in the region, foreign policy initiatives and economic interests of the main countries, and prospective future development of the region as a whole.
- Awareness: a conception of current problems facing the Asian part of the post-Soviet space and neighboring states, including those problems under discussion that call forth opposition among the main participants, and possible methods of their resolution.
- Skills: to critically evaluate analytical and scientific materials on the given issues.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- To know goals and tasks of international relations in the eastern part of Eurasia from 1990 to the present. Ability to use statistical data and academic, reference, and historical literature on the given theme to analyze conflicting situations in the region, To know a conception of current problems facing the Asian part of the post-Soviet space. To be able to critically evaluate analytical and scientific materials on the given issues.
Course Contents
- Concepts of Eurasia. Geography, History, and Ethnogenesis, PoliticsThis part of the course will inform the students on various concepts of Eurasia
- The Rise of the New States and Their International Orientation
- Attempts at Economic Modernization and Its Obstacles before Modernization
- The Energy Factor in Eurasia: Domestic and International Dimensions
- The Caspian and Central Asia – Knots of Problems
- Orange Revolutions and Post-Revolutionary Reaction: Georgia and Ukraine
- Regional conflicts in the post-Soviet space and former Yugoslavia
- Greater Eurasia: competitive and cooperative interests of regional and external actorsThe growing significance of Eurasia in international processes. Eurasia as a place where the centers of power, positioning themselves as alternatives to Pax Americana, is concentrated.
- The Future of Eurasia
Interim Assessment
- Interim assessment (1 module)0.3 * Attendance and participation + 0.7 * Final essay
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- “Frozen conflicts” in Europe Anton Bebler (ed.). (2015).
- Andrew C. Kuchins. (2018). What is Eurasia to US (the U.S.)? https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euras.2018.07.001
- Emerson, M. (DE-588)139153411, (DE-576)160860067. (2013). Towards a greater Eurasia : who, why, what and how? = Na nuti k “Bol’šoj Evrazii” ; Eurasia Emerging Markes Forum, September 10-11, 2013, Astana, Kazakhstan / Michael Emerson. Emerging Markets Forum.
- Emerson, M. V. (DE-588)139153411, (DE-576)160860067, aut. (2018). Prospects for ’Lisbon to Vladivostok’ : limited by a double asymmetry of interests / Michael Emerson ; CEPS.
- Mark Bassin. (2016). The Gumilev Mystique : Biopolitics, Eurasianism, and the Construction of Community in Modern Russia. Cornell University Press.
- Saifullin Rubin Gatufovich. (2012). Concept of L.N. Gumilev and Political Dynamics.
- Sakwa, R. (DE-588)13407565X, (DE-576)164471057. (2015). Frontline Ukraine : crisis in the borderlands / Richard Sakwa. Tauris.
- Starr, S. F. V. (DE-588)112823734, (DE-627)516472038, (DE-576)163166153, aut. (2020). Greater Eurasia Russia’s Asian fantasy by S. Frederick Starr ; Wilson Center, Kennan Institute.
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Maçães, B. (2018). Dawn of Eurasia : On the Trail of the New World Order. Yale University Press.