PI4575: SOVIET SUCCESSOR STATES IN GLOBAL POLITICS (2014-2015)

The main aim of the module is to introduce students to the broad range of political and security challenges facing the fifteen independent states of the former Soviet Union. The module will situate the politics of this region within debates in international relations and security studies, while encouraging students to critically examine political, societal and security challenges with reference to relevant concepts and examples. It will prepare students for assessing the political situation in a particular former Soviet state, and express their views in a form of presentation, a policy brief and during seminar discussion. The module will outline the impact of the Soviet past on the development of the Soviet Successor States, including the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The lectures and tutorials will engage students with the broad range of issues facing the former Soviet states from the cooperation with the NATO and the European Union to the discussion of 'frozen' conflicts, 'colour revolutions', energy politics, political unrest and a threat of Islamic terrorism. The underlying questions of this module can be summarised as such: how we can explain the political and security challenges of the Soviet Successor States? Are they better explained as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, or as a part of broader development in global politics and security?

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:
1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of politics and security challenges facing the Soviet Successor States;
2. Demonstrate ability to evaluate critically the political developments within the region using appropriate concepts from the areas of international relations, political science and security studies;
3. Develop ability to identify, assess and offer policy solutions of political and security challenges facing the region. 

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:
1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge and in-depth understanding of the regional problems and their global importance;
2. Demonstrate ability to identify, critically investigate and explain the political developments within the region using appropriate theories and methods from the studies of political institutions, comparative and global politics;
3. Demonstrate ability to integrate and assess information about the political situation in the region from a range of primary and secondary sources;
4. Develop ability to evaluate and present coherently and reflectively, orally and in writing, current political problems and their policy solutions.

The territory of the Soviet Successor States covers eleven time zones, and stretches from the Baltic Sea through Central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. This module will introduce you to political, economic and security developments in the fifteen independent states of the former Soviet Union, including Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The module begins with the discussion of the key issues of foreign and domestic politics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) from its birth in 1917 to its disintegration in 1990/1991. The main part of the module will explore the key political and societal issues associated with each of the former Soviet states. The structure of the module follows a geographical principle, and moves from the analysis of the Baltic States through Russia to the investigation of political and security concerns of the Central Asia States. This foray into Eurasian politics includes the analysis of the nation-building process, ?frozen? conflicts and the role of the NATO and European Union, the energy politic, and the region's integration within global political and security institutions from the 1990s to 2000s.

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

View PI4575 Timetable

More Information about Week Numbers

1st Attempt: Group presentation (10 % of module mark) 
Policy Report: 2,500 words (20% of module mark)
Seminar participation with a self-assessment form, moderated by the module convenor (worth 10% of module mark).
'Seen' exam is worth 60% of module mark.

Resit: 100% examination

This will include continuous assessment of seminar participation with a verbal feedback from peers and the module convenor. 

Students will receive a written and verbal feedback on their group presentation, and seminar participation within 3 weeks. The detailed written feedback will be provided on a policy reports in 3 weeks after the submission. The mark and written feedback on the exam scripts will be delivered after the exam panel in June.

None.