Overview

Description

COURSE DETAILS:

Selected Topic - Russia, NATO, and the War in Ukraine

Course Description:

Vladimir Putin, a liberator or a conqueror of Ukraine? Since 2014, Russia has claimed that in Ukraine it’s protecting Russians against the “Nazi genocide,” and that it seeks to defend itself against NATO encroachment. So, is the Russian Goliath in Ukraine to defend itself, or for something far more sinister – to expand its empire?  Russian elites for generations have shared Putin’s sentiment that Ukraine actually never had stable traditions of real statehood. [That it] was entirely created by Russia…[and that] It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.” Will the War in Ukraine end in Russia’s defeat or will Ukraine be “encouraged” to surrender even more territories to Russia?

In this course, as we explore Russia’s foreign and security policies in the post-Cold War era, we will learn that the War in Ukraine was 30 years in the making.  That it was not Russia’s first, nor perhaps Russia’s last war in the former Soviet space. Over the course of the semester, we will study the general principles that guide Russia’s foreign and security policies (e.g., geopolitics, nationalism, great power status, security strategy). We will examine the role Russia plays in its key spheres of influence (former Soviet republics, and the Balkans). We will analyze how NATO’s enlargement and interventions, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, have shaped Putin’s understanding of threats and opportunities to Russia and Russian strategies to countering NATO. We will conclude the course by evaluating various scenarios for the end of War in Ukraine, and what Russia’s invasion means for NATO/European security.

 

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