This class is a ruthlessly contemporary take on Russian politics designed to look beyond President Putin to understand political development. The central question the class will address is why the hopes for Russian democratization in 1991 gave way to war and authoritarian consolidation in 2025. We answer this question by examining the causes and consequences of war, from a focus on Russian political decision-making and development.

We will organize the first section of the class as a normal seminar: reading, lecture, discussion. In the second half, we will try something new. We will organize to produce four podcast sessions with an expert on the topic. In the early part of the class, we will develop four topics for the podcast inquiry. It can be anything the class is interested in but here are some suggestions:  Putin, Putinism, and War; Opposition to War; Societal Support for War; The Russian Orthodox Church and War; Propaganda and War; The Russian Economy and War; Nationalism and War; The Costs of War; The Russian Warfighting Capacity; Repression During War; or a deeper dive into Why War? There are many other questions that you might want to raise.

Learning Outcomes:  This class has three goals.  The first goal is to learn about contemporary Russia and think about its implications for what will come in the next decade. The second goal is to use social science theory to explain the outcomes we observe such as war, regime stability, public loyalty, hidden protest, the inconsistency of Russia’s warfighting machine. The third goal to learn how to communicate complex ideas in class discussion, short writing, and analysis. For example, in choosing topics that you think we should cover the second part of the class, think about what informed people most need to know to form their own opinion about the war.

Class Reading: Readings for the first section of class and the lectures during the podcast segments will be drawn from scholarly articles. The details of the reading are listed on CANVAS/Files/Full Syllabus. The texts are available through CANVAS/Files/Reading and articles and policy briefs linked directly from the syllabus document. 

Requirements and Grading:  Your grade will be based on three components – attendance and active participation (25 percent), small assignments (35 percent), and independent research to support our pod (40 percent). The details of each assignment and point distributions are at the Assignments Tab.