Russia's Political Economy Transformation (PZK_164)

This course will introduce students to the economic and political transformation of Russia from the early days of Yeltsin to current-day Putin. We will examine Yeltsin’s breakthrough transformation and key economic reforms of the 1990’s, as well as their early results ten years later. Then we will focus on Putin’s political trajectory; economic growth and development from 1999; the oligarchs; the energy sector, and Russia’s foreign policy in the near abroad and in Europe. We will conduct rigorous analysis of reform and policy design in post-Soviet Russia. Among the key topics are privatization and property rights, shadow economy and corruption, peculiarities of political system, and the model of capitalism that emerged in Russia as a result of transformation.