The course will discuss the development of Russian foreign policy from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to
the present, i.e. Russia’s foreign policy strategies under Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev.
Attention will be paid to its transformation after the end of the Cold War, when Russia lost its status as one of the
two superpowers and faced, at first, mainly American unilateral dominance in world politics and later the rise of
other powers such as China, India and others. Russia had already faced these new challenges under Boris
Yeltsin, when it promoted a multilateral policy in opposition to US unilateralism, sought to strengthen its role in the
world as a regional power, and built friendly and commercial relations with its partners, which increasingly
included China, India, Iran and others. From the outset, Russia also sought to strengthen its dominant position in
the former republics of the Soviet Union under the so-called Near Abroad policy and to strengthen its nuclear
capability. Much attention will be paid to Russia’s foreign policy under Vladimir Putin, when efforts to balance
efforts towards the West (especially the United States and the European Union) and East (China, India, Eurasian
policy) have increasingly turned into a hostile stance towards the West, especially since Putin’s third presidential
term in 2012. The events following the so-called Euromaidan, when Russia annexed Crimea and occupied parts
of the eastern territories of Ukraine, were a landmark. However, the course will also look at other important
relations, such as those towards the Middle East, Central Asia, the Far East, etc., in the form of case studies.
The course is divided into lecture and seminar part (1+1). Lectures will introduce main aspects and principles of
Russian foreign policy by the lecturer and open the space for seminar part, which include discussions over key
documents and sources of Russian foreign policy supplemented by scholarly articles of experts in the field.
Students will be required to be acquainted in advance of each lecture/seminar with the pre-announced documents
and sources (approximately 20-25 pages) and able to discuss them during seminar part of the course. Activity of
students and their ability to discuss the questions during seminar part will consist 30 % of their final grade, while
70 % will consist final essay (2.000 words).
Literature - Czech
Last update: Bc. Markéta Karlasová (25.09.2023)
Alexandrov, M.: Uneasy Alliance. Relations betwen Russia and Kazakhstan in the Post-Soviet Era, 1992-1997. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Diesen, G. - Lukin, A.: Russia in a Changing World. London: Springer Singapore, 2020.
Donaldson, R. H. - Nadkarni, V.: The Foreign Policy of Russia: Changing Systems, Enduring Interests. London and New York: Routledge, 2018.
Freedman, L.: Ukraine and the Art of Strategy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Frye, T.: Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021.
Gvosdev, N. K. - Marsh, C.: Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors. Washington DC: SAGE Publications, 2014.
Headley, J.: Russia and the Balkans. Foreign Policy from Yeltsin to Putin. London: Hurst, 2008.
Jonson, L.: Vladimir Putin and Central Asia. The Shaping of Russian Foreign Policy, London - New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2006
Kanet, R. E. (ed.): Routledge Handbook of Russian Security. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.
Kazimirov, V. N.: Peace to Karabakh. Russia’s Mediation in the Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, Moscow: Ves’ mir, 2014.
Kramer, M.: The Soviet Legacy in Russian Foreign Policy, in: Political Science Quarterly 134/4, 2019, s. 585-609.
Kuhrt, N., Russian Policy towards China and Japan. The Eltsin and Putin Period. Abingdon: Routledge, 2007.
Legvold, R.: Russian Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century and the Shadow of the Past. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Lo, B.: Russia and the New World Disorder. Washington, DC: Chatham House, 2015.
Lucas, E.: The New Cold War. Putin’s Russia and the Threat to the West. Basingstoke: Chatham House, 2009.
Mankoff, J.: Russian Foreign Policy: The Return of Great Power Politics. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011.
Monaghan, A.: „An Enemy at the Gates“ or „From Victory to Victory“? Russian Foreign Policy, in: International Affairs 84/4, 2008, s. 717-733.
Neumann, Iver B.: Russian and the Idea of Europe. A Study in Identity and International Relations. London - New York: Routledge, 2017.
Nizameddin, T., Russia and the Middle East. Towards a New Foreign Policy. New York: Hurst, 1999.
Pikulecka-Wilczewska, A. - Sakwa, R. (eds.): Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives. Bristol: E-International Relations, 2015.
Rosefielde, S. - Hedlund, S.: Russia Since 1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Sakwa, R. (ed.): Russian Politics and Society. London: Routledge, 2008.
Sarotte, M. E.: Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate. New Haven - London: Yale University Press, 2021.
Starr, S. F. - Cornell, S. E. (eds.): Putin‘s Grand Strategy: the Euroasian Union and Its Discontents. Washington: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program--A Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), 2014.
Stent, A. E.: Restoration and Revolution in Putin’s Foreign Policy, in: Europe-Asia Studies, 60/6, 2008, s. 1089-1106.
Stoner, K. E.: Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Toal, G.: Near Abroad. Putin, the West and the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Trenin, D.: Russia. Cambridge: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019.
Tsygankov, A. P.: Russia’s Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
Tsygankov, A. P. (ed.): Routledge Handbook of Russian Foreign Policy. London: Routledge, 2018.
Wallander, C. A. (ed.): The Sources of Russian Foreign Policy After the Cold War. London - New York: Routledge, 2019.
Zubok, V.: Collapse. The Fall of the Soviet Union. New Haven - London: Yale University Press, 2021.
Аракелян, Г. Б.: Сирийский кризис: истоки и современность. Москва: Университетская книга, 2017.
Арбатов, А. Г.: Стратегическая стабильность - оружие и дипломатия. Москва: Весь мир, 2021.
Арбатова, Н. К. - Кокеев, А. М. (ред.): Стратегическая автономия ЕС и перспективы сотрудничества с Россией. Москва: Весь мир, 2020.
Лузянин, С. Г.: Восточная политика Владимира Путина. Возвращение России на "Большой восток" (2004-2008гг). Москва: АСТ, 2007.
Лузянин, С. Г.: Россия - Китай: формирование обновленного мира. Москва: Весь мир, 2018.
Лукин, А. В.: Поворот к Азии. Российская внешняя политика на рубеже веков и ее активизация на восточном направлении. Москва: Весь мир, 2014.
Лукин, А. В. (ред.): Россия и Китай: четыре века взаимодействия. История, современное состояние и перспективы развития российско-китайских отношений. Москва: Весь мир, 2013.
Медведев, Р.: Время Путина. Москва: Время, 2014.
Медведев, Р.: Дмитрий Медведев: двойная прочность власти, Москва: Время, 2009.
Мешков, А. Ю., Стратегическое планирование внешнеполитической деятельности Российской Федерации в интеграционных процессах. Москва: Проспект, 2019.
Неймарк, М. А., Эволюция внешнеполитической стратегии России. Москва: Проспект, 2020.
Олейников, И. В.: Внешняя политика России в отношении стран Восточной Азии. Новосибирск: Издательство НТГУ, 2020.
Спартак, С. А.: Исторические корни политического образа России в США. Москва: Проспект, 2021.
Requirements to the exam
Last update: PhDr. Stanislav Tumis, M.A., Ph.D. (04.10.2023)
Credits:
Activity in discussions over the required readings will be assessed up to 30 % of the final mark + Final Paper 1.000 words long (quality of final paper will be assessed up to 70 % of the final mark)
Examination:
Activity in discussions over the required readings will be assessed up to 30 % of the final mark + Final Paper 2.000 words long (quality of final paper will be assessed up to 70 % of the final mark)
Syllabus
Last update: PhDr. Stanislav Tumis, M.A., Ph.D. (04.10.2023)
1. Cold War Legacies and Gorbachev New Thinking
2. Key principles of Yeltsin’s Foreign Policy
3. Russian-American relations under Yeltsin
4. Russian-European relations under Yeltsin: Yugoslavian wars, EU, Central Europe
5. Russian policy of Near Abroad
6. Russian policy towards Asia and Middle East in Yeltsin times
7. Key principles of Foreign Policy in Putin/Medvedev era
8. Russian-American relations in Putin Era: from pragmatic cooperation to hostility
9. Russian-European (EU) relations in Putin Era
10. Russian-Chinese and Russian-Middle Eastern relations in Putin era
11. Russian Eurasian policy
12. Russian-Ukrainian conflict
13. Role of International organizations in Russian foreign policy strategies
