RUSSIA’S FOREIGN POLICY

Description:

This course focuses on sources of change and continuity in Russian foreign policy, and it reviews major theoretical debates concerning the issue. It is not meant to avoid policy debates. Rather, its theoretical orientation should serve as a guide to understanding the content of various policy options. We will therefore explore policy issues, but in the light of political science approaches. These approaches will assist us in attempting to answer questions, such as “What are the forces behind continuity and changes in Russian foreign policy?”; “What is the future of Russia’s foreign policy?” ; “Is Russia becoming more assertive and imperialist or more cooperative and pro-Western?”

Requirements: 

Attendence and participation – 10%

Paper (20 pages) or paper proposal (10 pages) – 50-40%

In-class presentation (15-20 minutes) – 20%

Midterm exam – 30%

The format of proposal and presentation will be discussed separately.

Readings: 

Tsygankov, A.P. Russia’s Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity. Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.

Legvold, R., ed. Russian Foreign Policy in the 21st Century and the Shadow of the Past. Columbia University Press, 2007.

Trenin, D. Getting Russia Right. Carnegie EIP, 2007.

Articles on electronic reserve (e-r), by email, and through SFSU electronic library (e-l) (the link: http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sfsu/a-z/sfsu)
 

For additional background, I recommend the following three books.

Petro, N. N. and A. Z. Rubinstein. Russian Foreign Policy. Longman, 1997 (particularly useful for historical background on regional issues).

Donaldson, R. H. and J. L. Nogee. Foreign Policy of Russia. M. E. Sharpe, 2005

(a more detailed historical overview).

Melville, A. and T. Shakleina, eds. Russian Foreign Policy in Transition: Concepts and Realities. Central European Univ Press, 2005 (key documents and official statements)

Calendar (tentative):

The course schedule (tentative):

1. Intro – Jan 28

I. ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVES

Week 2 Feb 4 Russia’s Foreign Policy Objectives

Legvold: intro; McDonald; Rieber (around 200 pp)

Week 3 Feb 11 Analytical Perspectives: Culture, Power and Perception

Tsygankov, chap. 1

Clover, C. Dreams of the Eurasian Heartland. Foreign Affairs, 72, March 1999.

Rose, G. Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy. World Politics 51, 1, 1998.

MacFarlane, N. Realism and Russian Strategy after the Collapse of the USSR. In: Unipolar Politics, ed. by E. B. Kapstein and M. Mastanduno. NY, 1999 (e-r).

Ringmar, E. The Recognition Game. Cooperation and Conflict 37, 2, 2002.

Feb 11 Paper topic

Week 4 Feb 18 Designing a Paper

Hopf, T. The Promise of Constructivism in IR Theory. International Security 23, 1, 1998.

Tsygankov, A. Putin’s Vision of Russia. Post-Soviet Affairs 2005

Drulak and Kratochvil, Partners, Rivals, and Friends. ISA 2007

II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Week 5 Feb 25 Before the Cold War

Wohlforth, W. Honor as Interest: Reputation and Prestige in Russian Decisions for War (email).

Lenin, V. Imperialism (e-r)

Wohlforth, W. The Elusive Balance. Ithaca, 1993, chap. 3 (e-r).

Jacobson, J. When the Soviet Union Entered World Politics. Berkeley, 1994, intro, chaps. 1-2

Feb 25 Bibliography

Week 6 March 3 The Cold War

Novikov vs. Kennan Telegrams (e-r)

X (George Kennan). The Sources of Soviet Conduct. Foreign Affairs, July 1947 (e-r).

Pipes, R. Misinterpreting the Cold War. Foreign Affairs 74, 1, 1995.

Banerjee, S. Attribution, Identity, and Emotion in the Early Cold War. ISQ 35, 1, 1991.

Ringmar, E. The Recognition Game. Cooperation and Conflict 37, 2, 2002.

Week 7  March 10 Gorbachev

Tsygankov, chap. 2

Gorbachev, Perestroika. NY, 1987, chap. 3 (e-r).

Brooks, S. G. and W. C. Wohlforth. Power, Globalization, and the End of the Cold War. International Security 25, 3, Winter 2000/01.

English, R. Power, Ideas, and New Evidence. International Security 23, 2, 2002.

Larson, D. W. and A. Shevchenko. Shortcut to Greatness: The New Thinking and the Revolution in Soviet Foreign Policy. International Organization 57, Winter 2003.

 March 10 Lit review

Week 8 March 17 MIDTERM  

Week 9 BREAK

Week 10 March 31 NO CLASS: Cesar Chavez Day observed

III. CONTEMPORARY TURNS

Week 11 April 7 The 1990s: Yeltsin and Primakov

Tsygankov, chaps. 3-4

Kozyrev, Russia: A Chance for Survival. Foreign Affairs 71, 2, 1992.

Primakov, International Relations on the Eve of the 21st Century (e-r)

Brzezinski, Premature Partnership. Foreign Affairs 73, 2, 1994.

Clover’s Dreams of the Eurasian Heartland. Foreign Affairs, 72, March 1999.

Legvold, Russia’s Unreformed Foreign Policy. Foreign Affairs 80, 5, 2001.

April 7 Hypotheses, design, sources

Week 12 April 14 Putin

Tsygankov: chap. 5

Putin, Russia at the Turn of the Millennium (e-r)

Putin, Address to the Federation Council. March 2006 (email).

Cheney, R. Vice President's Remarks at the 2006 Vilnius Conference. The White House, Office of the Vice President, May 4, 2006, at <http://www.whitehouse.gov>

Charap, S. The Petersburg Experience: Putin’s Political Career and Russian Foreign Policy. Problems of Post-Communism 51, 1, 2004.

Tsygankov, Two Faces of Putin’s Pragmatism. SPSR 2007

IV. GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGES

Week 13 April 21 West

Legvold: Stent; Wallander (100 pp) / Trenin: all book (100 pp)

Week 14 April 28 Asia

Legvold: Rozman (50 pp) / Tsygankov, chap. 6

Week 15 May 5 Presentations Begin

Week 16 May 12 Paper Due