This seminar partially works with the conceptual basis of the previous seminars (EU as an actor of international politics; concepts of civilian power, normative power etc.) and also partially builds on the critique of these concepts from realist positions (i.e. calling for either more pragmatic foreign policy or for further development of the security dimension in the EU external policy). These critical evaluations will be discussed in the context of recent events in the EU´s neighbourhood and with the usage of particular example of the EU policy towards Russia. We will look at the development of EU-Russia relations (previous alternations of the moments of crises and cooperation, various positions of the EU member states towards Russia; Russia as a disputed topic in some EU member states; role of media and medial framing in particular events etc.), including current most serious and pressing problems concerning the conflict in Ukraine. 

We will discuss the following questions: 

Which were the positive achievements in mutual relations between the EU and Russia in the past? Which have been the most serious problems of mutual relations? What are the roots of this problems? What can be (in your view) the solutions (short-term, long-term solutions)? What should be the EU´s long-term strategy and short-term goals in relations to the Russian Federation? 

Can we say that Russia has behaved as a "revisionist power"? What are the scenarios of future developments?

 
Readings:

• DeBardeleben, Joan (2018): "Alternative Paradigms for EU-Russia Neighbourhood Relations". In: Casier, Tom and DeBardeleben, Joan (eds.): EU-Russia Relations in Crisis. Understanding Diverging Perceptions. Routledge, pp. 115-136.
  
• Orenstein, Michael A. (2019) The Lands In Between. Russia vs. the West and the New Politics of Hybrid War. Oxford University Press, pp. 151-172
  
• Morozov, Viatcheslav (2018): "Identity and Hegemony in EU-Russia Relations. Making Sense of the Asymmetrical Entanglement." In: Casier, Tom and DeBardeleben, Joan (eds.): EU-Russia Relations in Crisis. Understanding Diverging Perceptions. Routledge, pp. 30-49.

Recommended:

HOLZER, Jan and Petra KUCHYŇKOVÁ. Russia in the Era of B. Yeltsin: A Case Study of An Uncertain Regime. In Prague Perspectives II. A New Generation of Czech East European Studies. 1st edition. Praha: National Library of the Czech Republic – Slavonic Library, 2007. s. 277-308. ISBN 978-80-7050-534-2.

Further recommended:

• Casier, Tom (2018): "EU-Russia Relations in Crisis. The Dynamics of a Breakup." In: Casier, Tom and DeBardeleben, Joan (eds.): EU-Russia Relations in Crisis. Understanding Diverging Perceptions. Routledge, pp. 13-29.
HOLZER, Jan, Miroslav MAREŠ, Tomáš ŠMÍD, Martin JIRUŠEK, Petra KUCHYŇKOVÁ, Lucie COUFALOVÁ, Libor ŽÍDEK, Tomáš VLČEK, Jiří GAZDA, Josef ŠAUR, Pavel BOČEK a Radomír VLČEK. Czech Security Dilemma : Russia as a Friend or Enemy? 1st ed. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. 235 s. New Security Challenges. ISBN978-3-030-20545-4.

• Schewe, Christoph (2019): "Defending its rights or testing the limits? Trade relations and disputes between Russia and the EU before and after the Ukraine crisis". In: Hoffmann, Thomas and Makarychev, Andrey (eds.): Russia and the EU. Spaces of Interaction. Routledge, pp. 191-206.
• Yalamov, Todor (2019): "Russian influence, trust in media and media capture". In: Shentov, Ognian; Stefanov, Ruslan and Vladimirov, Martin (eds.): The Russian Economic Grip on Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge, pp. 43-65.
• Tsygankov, Andrei, P. (ed.; 2018): Routledge Handbook of Russian Foreign Policy. Routledge, pp. 123-232.

Recommended websites:

EEAS (n.d.): The Russian Federation and the European Union (EU). On-line: (https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/35939/european-union-and-russian-federation_en)  

President of Russia (n.d.): www.kremlin.ru

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (n.d.): https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/?fltr=&lang=en&pageOn=1

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