Master
2022/2023
The EU–Russia Politics of Global Strategy
Type:
Elective course (Politics. Economics. Philosophy)
Area of studies:
Political Science
Delivered by:
School of Politics and Governance
Where:
Faculty of Social Sciences
When:
2 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Master’s programme:
Политика. Экономика. Философия
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
Contact hours:
56
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The EU–Russia relationship has been described as ‘troubled’, ‘contested’, characterised by strategic dissonance and geopolitical rivalry. The aim of this course is to explore the political experience of this relationship with a view to understanding and explaining the policy choices, conflict dynamics and peace talks associated with the making of the EU and Russia’s global strategies.
This course will cover the history of the EU–Russia relationship from the origins of a ‘strategic partnership’ in the shadow of NATO’s military interventions in the Balkans in the 1990s through to today’s crisis in Ukraine and the strategic condition of mutual distrust that exists between Brussels and Moscow.
In the process, this course will offer a fresh take on the practice and theory of strategic studies in the context of the political system of global governance.
Learning Objectives
- • Develop an understanding of the logical relation between political discourse, legitimation and purposeful action in strategic studies
- • Understand the foundations of ‘global’ security strategies in the EU and Russia’s opposing ‘regional’ worldviews as powers in global governance
- • Understand the interconnected (and unintended) political events of agreement, alliance, revolution and contestation in–between the EU and Russia that are the consequence of policy choices in peacemaking and regional governance
- • Understand and explain the logic to the geopolitical rivalry & failures of the EU–Russia ‘strategic partnership’
- • Understand the preventive problem of diplomacy in the EU–Russia relationship & the normative question this raises for the international theory of contemporary peacemaking
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Student is capable of retrieving, collecting, processing and analyzing information relevant for achieving goals in the professional field
- Student is capable of executing applied analysis of the political phenomena and political processes
- Develop a detailed understanding of the (geo)political origins and unintended consequences of rivalry in the EU–Russia relationship along with an understanding of the politics of global security strategies.
- Develop a detailed understanding of a discourse–based method for doing strategic studies and normative theorising on contemporary power politics.
- Student is able to conduct activities in the field of strategic studies with EU-Russia relations as a case study
Course Contents
- Lecture 1: The logic and politics to strategic studies
- Lecture 2: Global reform of regionalism: paradox to the representation of EU–Russia ‘strategic partnership’
- Lecture 3: Political constitutionalism of a regional ‘balance of power’: ‘rules–based order’, ‘modernisation’ and regional security
- Lecture 4: Humanitarian ‘missions’ of regional governance: the justification of ‘rights’ of EU peacebuilding and Russian imperialism
- Lecture 5: Worldview disagreement in preventive diplomacy: the dispute of normative ‘dialogues’ and geopolitical doctrines
- Lecture 6: Evaluating the EU–Russia conflict: the dilemma of a political experience for strategic studies
- Lecture 7: Contestation in peacemaking: the logic to preventive ‘dialogue(s) of the deaf’ in Russia–EU diplomacy
- Lecture 8: Border politics of rivalry: the failings of a regional order & the preventive problem of diplomacy
Assessment Elements
- Participation in seminars (10 in total, worth 1% each)Seminar Participation (10 in total, worth 1% each) Students’ participation in seminar discussions is assessed according to the “intensity” and thoughtfulness of their participation. It is not enough to just turn up. Active participation is required to get a good participation grade. Obtaining an excellent grade, requires demonstrating an ability to understand and analyse key ideas and concepts from (all) the required readings and the recommended readings (for one question) assigned for the seminar. A scorecard for participation will be kept by the seminar instructor and used to calculate a final participation score for each student. If a student misses a seminar, and has a valid reason for doing so, there will be an opportunity to complete a brief written task in order to obtain a participation grade for the class they have missed. Confirmation of the validity of absence must be provided to the study office. The written task is to be arranged with the seminar instructor.
- Seminar Written Answers (5 in total, worth 4% each)Seminar Written Answers (5 in total, worth 4% each) A min. 300-word written answer +/- 10% (the question and references should be included in the answer but they are not included in the word count) on the student’s choice of ONE seminar question for any five seminars in which they are not presenting. To be submitted to the seminar instructor no later than 24 hours before the seminar i.e. 18:10 the day before. Failure to submit on time = grade of 0. Failure to include references = grade of 0. Failure to write at least 270 words (not including references) = grade of 0. There is no maximum word count. Answers will be evaluated according to the grade sheet below. Each student will receive a grade sheet with feedback before the seminar in which the question they have answered will be discussed.
- Seminar Presentations (2 in total, worth 15% each)Two 15–20 minute PowerPoint presentation on the student’s choice of seminar questions from any two of the ten seminars. Preferences for questions should be discussed with the seminar instructor, Pavel Devyatkin. Not all students will be able to get their first choice of questions, so second and possibly third choices will have to be made, too, for each of the presentations. Details of the grading scheme will be shared by the seminar instructor, but they will follow the same lines of evaluation as the grade sheet below.
- Take Home Final Exam (1 in total, worth 40%)Take Home Final Exam (1 in total, worth 40%). The final exam will take the form of an essay of 2,500–3,000 words (not including the question and references) to be written at home. The exam paper will be handed out at the seminar on 7 Dec 2022. There will be a choice of essay questions in the exam paper. Students will be expected to choose ONE question. The questions will be (considerably) shorter versions of the kinds of questions included in this syllabus for discussions in the seminars. Failure to submit on time = grade of 0. Failure to include references = grade of 0. Failure to write at least 2500 words (not including references) = grade of 0. Answers will be evaluated according to the grade sheet below. Each student will receive a grade sheet with feedback that will include the grade for this assignment and their final grade.
Interim Assessment
- 2022/2023 2nd moduleGrade and Assignment: The final grade is made up of two seminar presentations, five seminar written answers, seminar participation (across the ten seminars) and a final exam. Seminar participation (10%), seminar written answers (20%), seminar presentations (30%) comprise the Cumulative Grade, which amounts to 60%. The Exam Grade is worth a further 40%. The formula for calculating the final grade is as follows: Gfinal= 0,6* Gcumulative+ 0,4*Gexam Gcumulative= 0,1 *Gseminar participation+ 0,2*G seminar written answers + 0,3*G seminar presentation
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- International relations, political theory and the problem of order : beyond international relations theory?, Rengger, N. J., 2000
- Strategy in the contemporary world : an introduction to strategic studies, Baylis, J., 2005
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Bull, H. (2012). The Anarchical Society : A Study of Order in World Politics (Vol. 4th ed). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1523322
- Political conduct, Philp, M., 2007