FF:CORE092 The paradigms of the Russian f - Course Information

CORE092 The paradigms of the Russian foreign policy

Extent and Intensity

2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

prof. Andrey Zubov (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

doc. Mgr. Tomáš Malý, Ph.D.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Hana Ambrožová
Supplier department: Department of History – Faculty of Arts

Timetable

Thu 16:00–17:40 C11, except Mon 18. 11. to Sun 24. 11.

Prerequisites

TYP_STUDIA(BM) && FORMA(P) && !(PROGRAM(B-HI_) || OBOR(FBHIpV) || PROGRAM(B-RS_) || OBOR(FBRSpV))
The course is open to full-time Bachelor's and five-year Master's students, with the exception of History and Russian Studies.

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 100 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 70/100, only registered: 1/100, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/100

Course objectives

Both Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and Post-Communist Russia have followed the same or similar patterns in international relations. The main principle of the Russian foreign policy was the enlargement of the territory of the state. Before the First World War it was the common principle of all great powers and some of them, for example Great Britain, were even more successful in this search for colonies than Russia.
But moral climate of the World started to change in the XX century. The 12 principles of the president Woodrow Wilson to the Versailles Conference and the Charter of the League of Nations constructed a new reality in which all nations rather large or small and all ethnical and religious groups had equal rights. These principles were terribly destroyed in 1920-45 by the totalitarian aggressive states – Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy and Japan. After 1945 Germany, Italy and Japan ceased to be aggressive and accepted the principles of peaceful coexistence and indestructible borders of the states. But the Soviet Union and other totalitarian countries continued to be the source of aggression as soon as they followed the obsolete principle of enlargement as a main goal of their foreign politics i.e. Napoleonic – “If the state is not growing it decreases inevitably”. New principles of international relations continued to be totally obscure to the Soviet state though they were signed by the USSR in Helsinki in 1975.
Gorbachev in the last years of the Communist regime and Post-communist Russia in 1990th tried to change this aggressive pattern, but step by step the previous goals and methods of the Imperial foreign policy were back. In 2010th Russia again start to be an aggressive state and now it run a terrible war in Ukraine. What is it? – A returnee to an eternal pattern of the Russian imperialism, or following the XIXth century fashion in the XXI? If so, there is a chance to modernize the Russian foreign policy together with the systematic decommunization of Russia after the end of Putin’s regime.

Syllabus

• I plan 12 lectures in this course from the 27 of September till 13th of December.
• The approximate themes of the lectures are following:
• 1. Before the Crimean (Eastern) war. The Russian international relations in the first half of the XIXth century. From the idea of unification of Europe on the principles of liberalism and equality of nations (1813-1825) to the union of three emperors against liberalism and rights of nations (1831-1855).
• 2. The Russian foreign policy in the period of Great Reforms (1858-1880). Russia, as a defeated nation. Striving for hands-off politics in Europe and “forced” colonialism in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Pan-Slavism of liberated Russian nation as a reason for return to an active international policy. Balkan war of 1877-78 as a “forced” war for Russia.
• 3. Russia in the world of competing empires (1881-1913) and the unexpected catastrophe of the World War (1914-1918). The Russian imperialism and the end of Empire. International relations of the Russian White governments. New principles of international relations – 12 points of Woodrow Wilson and equality of nations against an obsolete imperialism of the European Entente states.
• 4. Bolsheviks’ principles of foreign politics – “peace for the nations” as an ideological slogan and a cruel war for the world supremacy. Comintern and the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs – two faces of one regime. Aggressive and non-provoked wars against Ukraine, Finland, Poland, Baltic and Caucasian states in the first years of the Russian Bolshevism. The secret preparation for a new war in Europe – collaboration with Weimar Germany.
• 5. The new principles of the Stalin’s foreign policy. From the world revolution as an instrument for Global domination, to state aggression. The union with anti-Comintern pact states. International relations of the Bolshevik’s state in the Second World war.
• 6. Two principles of the post-war politics. Western principle of democratization and denazification of former aggressive totalitarian states and their fast reintegration into the union of nations on equal rights and the Soviet principle of making a new world-wide totalitarian empire. The first Berlin crises, the Korean War and the preparation of the Soviet block to the new World Nuclear war.
• 7. Shifts and continuity in the Soviet foreign affairs in the time of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. “Ottepel’” (Thaw), Hungary 1956, the Cuban crises and “Peaceful Coexistence”. Czechoslovakia in 1968 and “relaxation of international tension”. The Brezhnev’s doctrine. Soviet aggressive politics in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The Afghanistan war (1979-1988).
• 8. Détente of “Perestroyka”. Gorbachev’s principles of international affairs. The real lessening of international tension (1986-1991) for the first time in the Soviet history. Human values were proclaimed greater than class ones. The end of the Bolsheviks’ world empire and liberation of central and eastern Europe from the Soviet rule.
• 9. The Yeltsin’s era. The attempt to integrate of Russia to the world community and the acceptance of modern principles of international relations when the predominant mood of the Russian society after the disintegration of the USSR continued to be imperialistic and pro-soviet.
• 10. Putin’s gradually return to the principles of archaic Soviet international relations. An attempt to rebuilt empire by a soft means. The Munich speech of 2007 and the proclamation of new/old principles of anti-western politics. War with Georgia in 2008 and the aggression against Ukraine after 2014. War in Syria from 2015. An attempt to preserve semi-positive relations with the Western world and the creation of “Conservative International” as an alternative to modern international structures of the West – the European Union and NATO.
• 11. The full-scale war in Ukraine after the 24th of February 2022 as an attempt by Putin to realize his plan of the predominance of Russia in Europe. Military failure of the Russian army and the isolation of Putin’s Russia from the world community. Russia exists among the outcast countries now. Putin waits for the fatigue of the West. Are these his hopes real?
• 12. What perspectives have Russia after the end of the war in Ukraine? What will be with Russia after Putin - some intermedia before a new imperial attempt, or the fundamental change in principles of foreign and home affairs toward their real modernization and pacification?

Assessment methods

In the course of lectures I’ll give themes for papers. Papers ought to be about three-four pages. Besides this we can organize an oral exam in the end of the course.

Language of instruction

English

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