Russia In World Politics

Mode of Delivery

Face to Face

Prerequisites and Co-Requisites

None

Recommended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

This class discusses two subjects: the state and the society. On the one hand we will investigate how the state in Turkey has transformed itself from an Islamic multi-ethnic empire to a secular Turkish nation state. On the other hand, we will pay close attention to the process which transformed Ottoman subjects into Turkish citizens. By discussing continuities and ruptures that have happened during these transformations, this class seeks to shed light on major issues of contemporary Turkey.

Weekly Schedule

1) Russians and Russia in history (discussion of the roots of Russians and Eastern Slavs and their culture)
2) The Russian Empire, period of the Romanovs, Russia becoming a major power in Eastern Earope, the end of the Romanov Dynasty and fall of the Czarist regime
3) The 1905 Revolution and the constitutional regime experiment (political parties in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century and the October Manifesto). World War I and the 1917 Revolution (general condition of the war from fall 1915 to spring 1917). Establishment of the Provisional Government and the Soviet Union (Bolshevik Revolt, V.I Lenin's coming to power, Civil War and foreign interference)
4) Establishment of the Provisional Government and the Soviet Union (Bolshevik Revolt, V.I Lenin's coming to power, Civil War and foreign intervention). The recognition of the Soviet Union by Western powers, the political structure of Soviet Russia, restructuring of the economy, Industrial Revolution, collectivization in agriculture
5) Communist International (Comintern) and Soviet Foreign Policy (the Soviet Union in the 1930s, the rise of Hitler and its influences on Soviet foreign policy, Soviet-German Non-Agression Pact). Russia in the Second World War (Soviet Russia as Neutral, setting up the Western borders, affects of the war on Russia and end of the war)
6) 1947-1991 Cold War Period (Stalin, Krushchev, Kosygin, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko periods, Russia's status in the global arena as a Super Power)
7) 1947-1991 Cold War Period (Stalin, Krushchev, Kosygin, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko periods, Russia's status in the global arena as a Super Power)
8) Midterm examination/Assessment
9) Fall of the Soviet Union (Establishing Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, Gorbachev's 'glasnost', 'perestroika' concepts and the Russian Federation under the presidency of Boris Yeltsin)
10) The period of Vladimir Putin in Russian politics (supression of big business groups, interrogation of elite oligarchs, control of opposition media, restrenghtening the federal center, Russian economy gaining stability)
11) Medvedev in power (Democratization and modernization movements, protecting national interests)
12) Main elements of Turkish-Russian relations
13) Russia's policies towards the Caucasus and its reflections in relations with Turkey
14) Russia's policies towards Central Asia and its reflections in relations with Turkey
15) General Review
16) Final Exam

Recommended or Required Reading

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1) Lecture
2) Question-Answer
3) Discussion
4) Group Study
5) Self Study

Assessment Methods and Criteria

Contribution of Midterm Examination to Course Grade	50%
Contribution of Final Examination to Course Grade	50%
Total	100%

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Work Placement(s)

Not Required