OCEU 2160 - Russia's Wars, Implications for European Security and International Relations

***UPDATED for 2026/27***

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has upset the unstable balance of security in Europe and the world. Vladimir Putin has chosen war against peace. This course examines the key questions that help understand why and how Moscow’s policies got derailed, and when relations with Ukraine and western democracies reached the point of no return. The following questions will be studied:

• Soviet foreign policy post-1945, U.S.-Russia relations, the USSR and the construction of the European community, détente and confrontation. The Soviet war in Afghanistan.
• The collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1989 and fall of the USSR in 1991. Gorbachev’s perestroika and preference for peace. The new independent states partnership with western countries, arms control and cooperation.
• Russia and the “in-between” countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia). The challenge to Europe and the Atlantic alliance.
• Russia’s wars in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Ukraine. Terrorism and counterterrorism.
• Conflict studies. New ways of waging war: subversion, disinformation and cyberattacks, economic embargo, energy dependence, low-intensity conflicts, waging an armed conflict without declaring war, disrespect for international law and conventions.
• Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the consequences for Russians, Ukrainians, Europeans, and beyond Europe. The criminal nature of the war. Ukrainian resistance. Democracies and international organizations’ support to Ukraine. The considerable human, military, economic, diplomatic cost of war for Russia.
• Dictatorships versus democracies. Political regimes and competition. Globalization and retrenchment. The challenge to European security. The Trump disruption. The China factor.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Russia and Ukraine: comparative post-Soviet transformation. The Putin autocracy vs Ukraine's democratic path.
• The preference for war. Methodology and study of Russia' wars in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Ukraine.
• European security. The impact of Moscow's wars on European and NATO strategies. Revisiting the concept and practice of human security.
• The changing role of the United States in regional and global affairs.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

Students will build a capacity to analyze ongoing crises and historical developments that mark the first quarter of the 21st century in Russia and Europe. They will acquire a precious skill: how to choose and check their sources, have a critical assessment of conflicts and wars, and better understand the notion of security

A background in European recent history and/or Soviet-Russian studies is recommended. Background summer reading may be assigned if needed

At each session, time is made for questions and discussion. After an oral presentation, I give feedback to the students. For each essay topic, I provide a few references and methodology. Individual in-person or zoom meetings are always possible.

• an oral presentation, in a group of two or three students (a draft outline is discussed with them during preparation, via email) (30% of final grade)
• a short reading note (20%) due mid-October
• a final essay, 2500 words, bibliography and appendices excluded, to be submitted early December (50%). There is a choice of five essay topics.

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 24 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 22 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 80 hours a semester