Bachelor
2024/2025
Russia as Actor of International Development
Type:
Elective course (International Program 'International Relations and Global Studies')
Area of studies:
Public Policy and Social Sciences
Delivered by:
Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs
When:
4 year, 3 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
4
Contact hours:
40
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course aims at unpacking Russia as an emerging and important actor of international development, focusing on its conceptual vision, strategy and practices. Russia is a relatively new actor in this field. However, its international development strategy draws not only on the extant Western approaches but also on the long history of development aid provided by the USSR. With this continuity in mind, important changes in the institutional set-up and priorities of the current Russia's international development strategy have importantly contributed to its growing actorness and recognition by both old and new aid recipients. One of Russia’s strong comparative advantages relates to a whole array of communities of practice, some of which linger from the times of Soviet development aid, that facilitate new initiatives. Relevant state bodies promote existing and initiate new partnerships, including public-private ones, with a view to sustain development projects across countries and regions. Russia also creatively applies appropriate techniques of brand management, such as the project “Russia is with you”, the web-platform “Russia4progress”, etc. Yet, many challenges are still ahead. Through exploration of such challenges, discussion of potential solutions and overall conceptual reflection focusing on Russia’s development efforts, this course will help students gain important knowledge about the rich and diverse field of international development and the role that Russia plays therein.