THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

PSC 417 (Spring 2015) Prof. Nicolai N. PetroTuesday & Thursday 14:00-15:15 Washburn Hall 224in Washburn 208 Web site: www.npetro.net

Russian Foreign Policy

A quarter of a century after the collapse of the USSR, and the end of Cold War, Russia and the West are once again confronting each other. In this course we will look at the concerns that drive Russian foreign policy, and why Russia remains so important to America and the globe.

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Texts for

Purchase at the URI Bookstore

Andrei Tsygankov, Russia’s Foreign Policy (New York: Rowman & Littlefied, 2013), Third edition. ISBN 978-1-4422-2001-0

Andrei Tsygankov, Russia and the West from Alexander to Putin (Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2012). ISBN 978-1-107-02552-3

Integrate and Apply Knowledge (SLO D1, Full Coverage)

1. Transferring Skills: You will learn to apply knowledge gleaned from the texts, and from current events, to develop an internally coherent view of Russian foreign policy.

2. Connecting Knowledge: You will integrate various aspects of Russian foreign policy, and theories about Russian foreign policy, drawing on their knowledge of cognate disciplines like history, economics, and religion.

3. Creating Knowledge: You will design and write a final academic paper that makes connections to current events, and draws upon a sophisticated knowledge of various theories about Russian foreign policy.

Global Responsibilities (SLO C2, Full Coverage)

1. Global Identity: You will develop your sense of global identity by gaining new knowledge of Russian foreign policy and, through a critical analysis of texts and current events, learn to assess it independently and analyzes it critically.

2. Global Communication: You will demonstrate your knowledge of global differences and the importance of global communication by becoming aware of the concerns of Russian foreign policymakers.

3. Global Impact: You will develop a global perspective by learning the perspective of key Russian and other CIS actors.

N. Petro, Russian Foreign Policy 2 of 5Both books have been ordered through the URI bookstore, but you may wish to do some comparison shopping online.

University Policies: URI has specific guidelines for accommodations for special needs, academic honesty, academic enhancement, the writing center, standards of behavior, and religious holidays. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with these by going to http://web.uri.edu/teach/syllabus/.

Course Requirements

A final paper. This will be a 4,000-6,000 word rewrite and expansion of your best mini-essays, complete with a 100-150 word synopsis, footnotes, and bibliography that follows the Chicago Manual of Style (http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html ) . Utilizing your previous essays, you are expected to make a consistent thematic argument about current Russian foreign policy.

Four mini-essays (1500-2000 words each including citations and bibliography), and one paper proposal that is due on April 9th.

Regular class attendance.

In your mini-essays you should comment on the assigned readings, then add a postscriptum describing some recent event and evaluating it as an example of either continuity or discontinuity in Russian foreign policy. Thus, your mini-essays should always contain three sections: (1) a summary and comment on the Tsygankov readings; (2) more recent information from the past four years; (3) an interpretation of recent events from the perspective of continuity or discontinuity of the themes discussed by Tsygankov.

Your mini-essays are to be posted in the appropriate Box.com folder, so that they can be read by everyone in the class in preparation for class discussion. They should be thoroughly sourced using the Chicago Manual of Style (footnotes not in-text citations), and include at least one source from each of the following two categories:

Category I: an article or book chapter published within the last four years from one of the “Sources for Category I.”

Category II: a news item about Russian foreign policy from the past year.

Some sources for Category I

The URI Library subscribes to several services that allow full text of academic articles online. Among the most valuable for this course are: Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost), ArticleFirst (FirstSearch), JSTOR, and PAIS International (CSA). Available at: http://www.uri.edu/library/reference_databases/title.html

Communist & Post-Communist Studies HX1. S74East European Quarterly D901. E3Europe-Asia Studies DK266. A2S74

N. Petro, Russian Foreign Policy 3 of 5Foreign Affairs D410. F6Foreign Policy E744. F75International Affairs (Moscow) D839. I465Post-Soviet Affairs HC335 S588 Slavonic & East European Review D377. A1 S65The National Interest E840. N34

Some sources for Category II

ITEM WEB SITEJohnson’s Russia List http://russialist.org

To subscribe email: davidjohnson@starpower.net. A contribution of $20 for the semester is recommended.

Russia Beyond the Headlines http://rbth.comFortRuss http://fortruss.blogspot.com/

Extensive collection of Russian news sites available in English.

The Russian Foreign Ministry http://mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/main_eng RT http://rt.com

The world’s most popular Youtube news channel (over two billion hits!). The “first 24/7 English-language news channel to bring the Russian view on global news.”

GoogleNews http://news.google.com Searchable archives, customizable

URI newspaper databases LexisNexis Academic; National Newspapers (ProQuest); Newspaper Source (EBSCOhost), available via the URI library’s reference databases.

You should also make use of my publications. Many are available online at my web site (www.npetro.net) and at the Social Science Research Council (http://tinyurl.com/np-ssrc).

Week Readings Assignment Due

Jan 22 IntroductionJan 27-29 Part I: Theory in Russia and the WestFeb 3-5 Chapters 1 and 2 in Russian Foreign Policy First essay 2/10Feb 10-12 Part II: Honor and Cooperation in Russia and the West Feb 17-19 No class on February 17th. Resume discussion on the 19th.Feb 24-26 Chapter 3 in Russian Foreign Policy; and Nicolai N.

Petro, “Russian Foreign Policy, 2000-2011,” University of Bologna Papers Series, No. 12 (July 2011). ISSN: 2038-632X. (download at: http://tinyurl.com/pecob)

Second essay 2/26

Mar 3-5 Part III: Honor and Defensiveness in Russia and the WestMar 10-12 Chapters 4 and 5 in Russian Foreign Policy Third essay 3/12Mar 17-19 Spring Break WeekMar 24-26 Part IV: Honor and Assertiveness in Russia and the West

N. Petro, Russian Foreign Policy 4 of 5Mar 31-Apr 2

Chapters 6 and 7 in Russian Foreign Policy Fourth essay 4/2

Apr 7-9 Final chapters in Russia and the West and Russian Foreign Policy

Paper proposal 4/9

Apr 14-16 Class discussion of your paper proposalsApr 21-23 Class discussion of your paper proposalsApril 28 Last Day of Class (your final papers are to be posted to

Box.com by midnight)Final papers due

I suggest that you read “Obiter scripta: Suggestions on How to Succeed as a Student,” which is available on Box.com. It describes class policies, including my policy on late submissions (all late work is penalized 1/3 of a letter grade for each half day of tardiness). Please do not ask me if you can submit work late. I will always accept your work, but after one week the highest grade that it can receive is an “F.”

Grading Scale: A 96; A- 92; B+ 88; B 84; B- 80; C+ 76; C 72; C- 68; D+ 64; D 60.

Your final course grade will be based on your final paper, bolstered by the consistency of your mini-essays and attendance. As in life, diligence is rewarded. You earn a significant bonus of up to 2/3 of a letter grade on your final paper if you submit all of your mini-essays and paper proposal on time.

There are, however, three ways that you can squander your bonus (sadly, most students do).

(1) If you fail to post your mini-essay your bonus is reduced and eventually turns into a penalty, according to the following formula: +1/3 for one missing essay; “0” for missing two essays; -1/3 for missing three essays; etc.

(2) By submitting your mini-essays late (two late essays are regarded as one missing essay), or if they do not fulfill the criteria stipulated for use of sources, organization, or reference style.

(3) By being absent or late to class. I will take attendance only sporadically, but each absence and tardiness will detract from your grade.

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