International relations

Putin, Power, Populism: Russia and Eurasia in Global Politics

Module code: L2071S
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

Why is the Kremlin meddling in Western elections and supporting right-wing populists across the globe? What is the ‘Putin system’? What drove Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine and what are the regional and global consequences of the ongoing war? What role does Russia play in global politics and what does this tell us about the changing nature of state power and international order?

You will explore how Russia’s international agency is rooted in developments in the Eurasian region since the end of the Cold War – and what this tells us about the current crisis of the liberal West. You will examine:

  • the role of identities and political imaginaries, oligarchic state networks and ‘virtual democracy’
  • legacies of empire and persistent conflicts in the region
  • the changing geopolitics of oil and gas in Eurasia
  • Russia, the West and local struggles for democracy
  • the evolving Russian-Chinese relationship and the Belt and Road project vs the Eurasian Economic Union
  • Russian ‘hybrid warfare’ and changing forms of power in global politics
  • the Kremlin’s global challenge to liberal norms and LGBTQI rights
  • the role of Russia in the rise of the far right and populism in Europe and the US.

Paying attention to the legacies of non-Western empires and Soviet modernisation in the region, you’ll learn how Russia and Eurasia are shaped by and contribute to global trends. You will critically examine debates around power, identity, and empire. 

Core skills you learn in this module include:

  • researching and critically evaluating complex empirical evidence
  • presenting to an audience
  • writing and arguing at an advanced level in relation to current developments in world politics.

Module learning outcomes

  • Evaluate theoretical and conceptual debates with reference to the global role of Russia and work with suitable concepts in arguments on the place of the region in global politics
  • Have formed a broad understanding of the historical background and recent developments of Russia’s post-Cold War transformation as an international actor –i.e. an understanding of the contexts, pressures and constraints (international and domestic) which Russian foreign policy makers have to deal with.
  • Have formed an intellectual sensibility to historical, political and cultural specificities of Russia and the region.
  • Have formed abroad understanding of how Russian actions and regional developments reflect and affect globaldynamics