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Russia in World Politics
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:1.00
Study Course Accepted:22.02.2024 16:03:22
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | SZF_026 | LQF level: | Level 6 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 2.67 | ECTS: | 4.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Food Science | Target Audience: | Political Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Andris Sprūds | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 10 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 20 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 10 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 20 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 40 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | General understanding of processes of international relations and politics. | ||||||||
| Objective: | The course aims to introduce and conceptualize Russian foreign policy processes, priorities and tools in the context of global and regional political and economic processes. At the first part, domestic factors of Russian foreign policy are identified. The second part of the course is intended to examine Russian foriegn policy directions, priorities and tools. The Baltic and Latvian foreign policy dilemmas should be identified in the context of Russian foreign policy ambitions and policies. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Issues of historical development and identity of Russia | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 2 | Post-Soviet Russia’s challenges: political and economic processes | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 3 | Putin’s system and Putin 2036? | Classes | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 4 | Individual consultations | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Russian foreign policy: empire or “normal” great power? | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 6 | Russia’s relations with the European Union: dialogue or conflict? | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 7 | Russian foreign policy thinking and goals | Classes | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 8 | Individual consultations | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Russian foreign policy’s Eastern vector | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 10 | Russia’s priorities, opportunities and challenges in Post-Soviet Space. Russia’s Post-Soviet neighbors | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 11 | Russian relations with the Post-Soviet neighbors. Eastern partnership countries. Relations with Belarus | Classes | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 12 | Assessment of Russia-Latvia relations | Classes | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 13 | Russian foreign policy Instruments: from “hard” to “soft” power and back? Russia’s cyber-activities | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 14 | Russia’s foreign policy instruments: energy | Lectures | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 15 | Simulation and discussion: actors in Russian foreign policy | Classes | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 16 | Russian foreign policy actors and factors: conclusions | Classes | 1.00 | E-Studies platform | |||||
| 17 | Individual consultations | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 18 | Exam | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | Students engage into literature review and assessment and prepare analytical opinion pieces. Essays-tests intend to demonstrate the knowledge of the material. Individual project (8-10 pages) intends to demonstrate skills to manage the material, distinguish the most important messages, formulate own opinions and structure and elaborate analysis. In order to evaluate the quality of the study course as a whole, the student must fill out the study course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | Study course grade is based on the following requirements and grading criteria: Active participation during classes/seminars: 25%; individual project: 25%; tests: 25%, exam: 25% Assessment criteria: - knowledge of the provided study material; - skills managing the material, distinguish the most important messages, formulate own opinions and stucture an elaborate analysis; - skills to manage the material, distinguish the most important messages and formulate own opinions within a group. | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | |||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Students acquire knowledge of and are able to assess Russian foreign policy factors, actors and major directions. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Students facilitate their opinion formulation and expression in an international setting as well as digital skills. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | Students acquire the ability to carry out an independent research and interdisciplinary analysis. Students demonstrate the ability to analyse the role of an international actor in the international setting and prioritize influencing factors and actors. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Visa literatūra ir angļu valodā un piemērota gan latviešu, gan angļu plūsmas studentiem | ||||||||
| 2 | Ian Bond, "Russia, Ukraine and the West", CER Report, April 2021 | ||||||||
| 3 | Kristi Raik, Andras Racz, Post-Crimea Shift in EU-Russia Relations (Tallinn: ICDS, 2019) | ||||||||
| 4 | Andis Kudors and Jānis Hermanis (eds.) The Russian Economy: Prospects for Putin 4.0 (Riga: APPC, 2020) | ||||||||
| 5 | Vladimir Gelman, “The Rise and Decline of Electoral Authoritarianism in Russia”, Demokratizatsiya, 2014 | ||||||||
| 6 | Valdai Discussion Club, National Identity of the Future of Russia, February 2014 | ||||||||
| 7 | OSW Commentary, “ ‘The Everlasting Putin’ and the Reform of the Russian Constitution”, March 2020 | ||||||||
| 8 | Sergei Lavrov, “Russian Foreign Policy in Historical Perspective”, in Russia in Global Affairs. March 2016 | ||||||||
| 9 | Charles Dick, “Russian Ground Forces Posture towards the West”, Chatham House Report, April 2019 | ||||||||
| 10 | Sergey Karaganov "Where to Go and with Whom to Go: Russia’s Foreign Policy on the Threshold of a New Decade” in Russia in Global Affairs, January 2020 | ||||||||
| 11 | Bobo Lo, “The Return: Russia and the Security Landscape of Northeast Asia”, IFRI Report, March 2020 | ||||||||
| 12 | Arkady Dubnov, “Reflecting on a Quarter Century of Russia’s Relations With Central Asia”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2018 | ||||||||
| 13 | Kalev Stoicescu, “Russia’s “Allies””, ICDS Report, January 2018 | ||||||||
| 14 | Arseny Sivitsky, “Belarus-Russia: From a Strategic Deal to an Integration Ultimatum”, Foreign Policy Research Institute Report, December 2019 | ||||||||
| 15 | RAND Report “Deterring Russian Aggression in the Baltic States”, January 2019 | ||||||||
| 16 | Viljar Veebel, Zdzislaw Sliwa, “Kaliningrad, Suwalki Gap and Russia’s Ambitions in the Baltic Region” in Journal of International Studies, October 2019 | ||||||||
| 17 | Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, International Security and Estonia, 2021 | ||||||||
| 18 | Alina Polyakova, Spencer P. Boyer, “The Future of Political Warfare: Russia, The West, and The Coming Age of Global Digital Competition”, Brooking – Robert Bosch Foundation Report, March 2018 | ||||||||
| 19 | Tatyana Stanovaya, “Unconsolidated: The Five Russian Elites Shaping Putin’s Transition”, Carnegie Commentary, February 2020 | ||||||||
| 20 | George Friedman. The Next 100 Years. New York: Doubleday, 2009 | ||||||||
