States and Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space

Recommended Prerequisites

General knowledge of contemporary international politics.

Knowledge of English (reading and comprehension).

Knowledge of techniques and styles of academic writing.

Teaching Methods

This seminar privileges the analysis of academic bibliography, in-class debates conducted by teacher, case study analysis and evidence-based teaching, as well as peer-learning.

Learning Outcomes

The course aims to:

- Familiarise students with the political and security dynamics in the post-Soviet space;

- Supply students with the relevant theoretical frameworks to analyse these dynamics;

- Analyse the formation of state entities in the post-Soviet context;

- Analyse the violent conflicts in the post-Soviet space, including the role of international actors.

The students should be able to:

- Identify the main events shaping the political and security processes of the post-Soviet period;

- Apply the relevant analytical frameworks to the formation of state entities and conflicts in the post-Soviet space;

- Relate the security dynamics to the consolidation of states in the region.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Part I. Nationality and Territory – from the USSR to independence

Part II. Armed Conflicts and State Building

Part III. International actors and the reconfiguration of the former-USSR

Head Lecturer(s)

Licínia Maria dos Santos Simão

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Brubaker, Rogers (1994) “Nationhood and the national question in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Eurasia: An institutionalist account”, Theory and Society 23(1): 47-78.

Cornell, Svante (2001) Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus. Londres: Cuzon Press.

Donaldson et al (2015) The Foreign Policy of Russia. Changing Systems, Enduring Interests. Nova Iorque: Routldege.

De Waal, T. (2004) Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War. Nova Iorque: NY University Press.

Simão, Licínia (2018a), The EU's Neighbourhood Policy towards the South Caucasus: Expanding the European Security Community. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Caspersen, Nina (2012) Unrecognized States. The struggle for sovereignty in the modern international system. Cambridge: Polity Press.

German, Tracey e Bayramov, Agha (2019) “The (re)-politicisation of international relations in the post-Soviet space”, East European Politics, 35(2): 117-121.