Russian Foreign Policy

POLISCI 394Z
Summer 2019
Course Instructor Office Hours
Online; July 8– Paul Musgrave By appointment
August 16, 2019 musgrave@umass.edu
Course Overview ................................................................................................ 2
A Note on the Syllabus ............................................................................................ 3
Learning Outcomes ........................................................................................... 4
Fundamental (Basic) Outcomes.............................................................................. 4
Intermediate Outcomes ........................................................................................... 4
Advanced Outcomes................................................................................................ 4
Course Logistics ................................................................................................ 5
Netiquette and Expectations................................................................................... 5
Class Materials and Recordings Policy ................................................................... 5
Professor’s Office Hours.......................................................................................... 5
Course Assessments and Grading ..................................................................... 6
Assignments............................................................................................................. 6
Grade Appeals.......................................................................................................... 7
Extra Credit ............................................................................................................. 7
Course Readings ................................................................................................ 8
Course Units and Assignments ......................................................................... 9
Unit 1: Introduction to the Course ........................................................................... 9
Unit 2: Introduction to Russia ................................................................................ 10
Unit 3: Identity, Status, and Foreign Policy ........................................................... 10
Unit 4: Vladimir Putin ............................................................................................ 11
Unit 5: Russia and the Former Soviet Union .......................................................... 12
Unit 6: Russia and Europe...................................................................................... 12
Unit 7: Russia and China ........................................................................................ 13
Unit 8: Russia and the United States ...................................................................... 14
Unit 9: Russia and the Middle East........................................................................ 15
Unit 10: Russia and the Future ............................................................................... 16
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Course Overview

T his course will discuss the history and contemporary politics of

Russian Foreign Policy. In particular, we will draw on scholarship
about how factors like identity and narrative shape how policymakers in
the Russian Federation approach their foreign-policy decision-making.
We will begin with an overview of Russian history (including the Soviet
era) as it pertains to foreign policy and a summary of contemporary
Russian politics (including the career of Vladimir Putin). We will then talk
about how Russian narratives about Russia’s place in the world have
changed in response to—and to produce—changing circumstances in
Russian diplomacy. We will conclude by surveying major issues in Russian
foreign policy now and in the immediate future.
This course takes place at a moment when Russian foreign policy is more
important than it has been in your lifetimes (assuming you’re less than
about 25). It also takes place in the shadow of a presidential election in
the United States in which Russian influence was present (although the
scope and effectiveness of those operations have been much debated,
exaggerated, and even dismissed). To put it bluntly, Russian foreign policy
matters. This course (and this instructor) cannot tell you everything you
need to know about this important topic—a country of more than 140
million people with thousands of nuclear weapons and millions of square
miles in area—but it can give you a good start.
I have two principal aims for this course. The first is for you to learn the
basics of how to analyze the foreign policy of any country using Russia as
an example. I want you to begin to think about concepts like identity and
history not as things to be taken for granted but as products of complex
social action designed to make the world to appear to be a particular way.
These artifices seek to do everything they can to disclaim their own
origins, but recognizing that history, identity, culture, and so on are
human-made rather than natural kinds will help you appreciate how other
countries exhibit the same dynamics.
The second goal is to acquaint you with the basic facts about Russian
policy. There’s a lot of misinformation and outright disinformation out
there at the moment, especially for Americans. My goal is not to convince
you that any particular interpretation of Russian policy is right, and
certainly not that the Russians’ own stories about their policy are entirely
accurate, but to give you the tools and background you’ll need to sift

2
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

between more and less factually grounded theories about why Russian
foreign policy has taken the forms it does.

A Note on the Syllabus

I do not expect to make major changes to the syllabus after the course
begins, but if any amendments become necessary, I will notify you in a
timely manner. This course deals with current events, however, so
additional readings may appear on short notice.

3
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Learning Outcomes
Fundamental (Basic) Outcomes
• Demonstrate that you can accurately identify correct information
describing Russian history, strategy, culture, and economics relating
to the foreign policy of the Russian Federation
• Define and identify key terms and figures associated with the
foreign policy of the Russian Federation
• Explain arguments presented in complex written forms

Intermediate Outcomes
• Apply theories of foreign policy to analyze particular cases of
Russian behavior in diplomacy and other international realms
• Distinguish arguments about the causes and consequences of
Russian foreign policy
• Extrapolate expectations about behavior and/or outcomes of
actors in Russian foreign policy from particular arguments to
different situations
• Critique different arguments and compare and contrast their
weaknesses and strengths

Advanced Outcomes
• Analyze foreign policy theories in light of particular facts and
arguments to find areas that need additional testing or research
• Develop original theses exploring particular empirical areas in the
study of Russian foreign policy
• Write cogent and persuasive arguments that engage with other
arguments

4
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Course Logistics
Netiquette and Expectations
Please see the separate class handout on netiquette for my guidelines about
how to handle online interactions. The brief, Twitter-length version is: be
excellent to each other. We’re all here to learn, and I look forward to
guiding our online interactions to be supportive, engaging, and welcoming
for everyone.

Class Materials and Recordings Policy

The materials I have prepared for this course remain my personal
intellectual property. You have permission to use them for course-related
and personal purposes but not to re-distribute them in any way. Students
are permitted to electronically record course materials using audio and
video recorders for personal use only. These may not be distributed or
sold to other persons.

Professor’s Office Hours

I will be available for office hours consultation on an as-needed basis.
These can take the form of email or Skype conversations. You can email
me at musgrave@umass.edu. I try to respond to all email within 24
“business” hours (that is, I may not reply to an email on a Friday evening
or a Saturday until Monday). We can also set up times to talk via Skype
audio; a standard Skype call lasts 15 minutes (although it can go longer). I
am available for these by appointment, usually between 9:00 am and 6:30
pm Eastern time but also at other times if you need that.

5
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Course Assessments and Grading

Assignments
Due dates for assignments are listed with the readings. Assignment due
dates may shift slightly, but you will be told about this in advance.
Online Participation (25 percent of grade)
Routinely throughout the course, you will be required to submit one
journal essay and take part in online discussions for each unit of the
course. The journal will be shared only with me; in the journal, you will
lay out your personal reactions, questions, lessons learned, and
uncertainties about the subject. The online discussions will be shared with
your classmates; you will participate by making one major post (100-300
words) and engaging with your classmates a handful of times. These
assignments will be graded on a complete/not complete or check-
plus/check/check-minus basis. I will allow you to drop your lowest grades
on two of these for each assignment type.
Reading Assignments (15 percent of semester grade)
You will complete five brief assignments focused on one or two particular
readings from the course. You will practice how to read and analyze
nonfiction texts to develop your reading skills at a high level.
Essays (25 percent of semester grade)
You will complete two essays that engage with the material from the
readings. Each essay will be about 1,000 words long. You will engage with
several (four or five) readings from various units in the course. You will
explain how they address a common topic and how they agree or disagree
about that topic. You will also assess which of the various claims you find
to be most persuasive (if any) and explain why.
Final Paper (35 percent of semester grade)
Your final paper will be a maximum of 3,000 words and a minimum of
2,500 words exploring an original thesis about a subject that interests you
in Russian Foreign Policy based mostly on the readings and videos
assigned in this course. You will write this in stages. By July 15, you will
prepare a 500-600 word proposal laying out the topic and scope (5 percent
of the grade). By July 29, you will present a revised 600-800 word proposal
(5 percent of the grade), including a summary of proposed resources to
be drawn on for that paper. By August 2, you will give me an update,

6
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

including how you have drawn on library resources to find two or three
high-quality sources for your paper and what problems you are facing in
completing it.

Late Work
This is an online course, and so what constitutes “late” is a little different
than in a regular, in-person classroom. In general, you should try to hit
each deadline for the essays and the final paper (both the final deadline
and any intermediate deadlines for proposals and revised proposals).
Grades for the papers and essays will become a zero if not received
within one week of the deadline. All other work must be completed by
the end of the course. Any work not completed by the end of the
course will become a zero. Please note that it takes me more time to grade
your work if you do not submit it with the rest of the class; if you turn in
unit assignments late, your feedback will be correspondingly later.
If you absolutely cannot make a deadline, please email me in advance and
let me know. We may be able to make an arrangement. But please note
that there will be no incompletes given in this course—you must submit
all work by the end of the class.

Grade Appeals
You may appeal any grade, but except in case of outright error (which
does happen) you should know that I will treat these discussions more as
a teachable moment for you to explain your grade more fully than as an
actual appeal. That said, I do make mistakes, so please contact me with
your questions.

Extra Credit
There is no extra credit.

7
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Course Readings
I’ve listed articles and readings in the order that I think you should read
them. Please note that recommended readings are just that:
recommended! They’re not required!
Most readings will be available online via Blackboard, but there are three
texts you should purchase:
• Colton, Timothy J. Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know. (Oxford
University Press.) ISBN 978-0-19-991779-2.
https://www.amazon.com/Russia-What-Everyone-Needs-
Know/dp/0199917795 (About $15 on Amazon, new.) 288 pages.
• Wood, Tony. Russia Without Putin. (Verso.) ISBN 9781788731249
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0796D9JX6/ref=dp-kindle-
redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (About $17 on Amazon,
new.) 225 pages.
• Trenin, Dmitri. What is Russia Up to in the Middle East? (Polity.)
ISBN 9781509522316 https://www.amazon.com/What-Russia-
Up-Middle-East/dp/150952231X (About $13 on Amazon, new.)
144 pages.

8
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Course Units and Assignments

The course is divided into ten units. Each unit will have two to four
“lessons” related to them, which roughly correspond to a little less than one
day in an in-person course. The readings will be posted before the
beginning of the course. Lectures and assignments will be posted at the
beginning of the week corresponding to each unit.
• Week 1 (July 8-14): Units 1 and 2
• Week 2 (July 15-21): Units 3 and 4
• Week 3 (July 22-28): Units 5 and 6
• Week 4 (July 29-August 4): Unit 7
• Week 5 (August 5-11): Units 8 and 9
• Week 6 (August 12-16): Unit 10 + final paper (Note: short week!)
You should be aiming to catch up with the course so that you complete
each unit by the end of the week it is assigned.

Unit 1: Introduction to the Course

Subject
How the course will work; expectations of professor and students;
overview of assignments and evaluation; goals for the course
Unit Objectives
Students will understand how to succeed in this course; how to
contact the instructor; how to make use of course resources; and
how to use the Blackboard interface
Offline Coursework/Homework
Read the syllabus and netiquette documents
Topol, Sarah. 2019. “What Does Putin Really Want?” The New
York Times Magazine 25 June 2019.
Online Coursework
Complete an introductory journal entry and participate in
discussion forum.

9
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Unit 2: Introduction to Russia

Subject
Recent history of Russian politics and governance; the basics of
Russian culture and society; an introduction to Vladimir Putin’s
biography.
Unit Objectives
Students will understand the changes and continuities between
Soviet and Russian foreign-policy objectives; the transitions
between the Soviet and Yeltsin eras; and the major shifts in
Russian foreign policy since 1993.
Offline Coursework/Homework
• Colton, Russia (entire—don’t worry, you’ll be guided
through how to read this!).
• Vox.com “From Spy to President: The Rise of Vladimir
Putin”. 2017. (Online video.)
• Kotkin, Stephen. “Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics.” Foreign
Affairs May/June 2016.
• Trenin, Dmitri. 2016. “Russia’s Post-Soviet Journey.”
Foreign Affairs.
• Optional: Legvold, Robert. 2001. “Russia’s Unformed
Foreign Policy.” Foreign Affairs.

Unit 3: Identity, Status, and Foreign Policy

Subject
How national identity affects foreign policy; how national identity
is constructed and understood; how different groups understand
national identity differently; how “national” identity may not be
the same as “state” identity; how desires for international status
affect states’ behavior
Unit Objectives
Students will engage with theories of identity, status, and world
politics, summarize how Russian identity has changed (and stayed
the same), and contrast identity-based explanations with
institutional ones

10
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

Offline Coursework/Homework
• Soroka, George. 2018. “Blessings and Curses from
Constantinople.” Foreign Affairs 25 October.
• Gunitsky, Seva. “One Word to Improve U.S. Russia
Policy.” The New Republic 27 April 2018.
• Hopf, Ted. 2012. “The Evolution of Russia’s Place in the
World: 1991-2011.” Demokratizatsiya.
• Clunan, Anne L. 2014. “Historical aspirations and the
domestic politics of Russia’s pursuit of international
status.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies.
• Zevelev, Igor. “Russian National Identity and Foreign
Policy.” CSIS
• Lavrov, Sergey, “Russia’s Foreign Policy: Historical
Background”
• Gunitsky and Tsygankov, “The Wilsonian Bias in the Study
of Russian Foreign Policy”, Problems of Post-Communism 2018

Unit 4: Vladimir Putin

Subject
How Vladimir Putin rose to power; how Putin maintains power;
how Putin’s personality shapes foreign policy; how Putin’s power
is limited by other actors and institutions in Russia
Unit Objectives
Students will place Vladimir Putin’s style and strategies within the
logic of institutionalist and identity frameworks; students will
identify the bases of Putin’s power and its limits; students will
explain why outside observers misinterpret or exaggerate Putin’s
power
Offline Coursework/Homework
• McFaul, Michael. 2018. “Is Putinism the Russian Norm or
an Aberration?” Current History
• Gais, Hannah. 2017. “Who’s Afraid of the Russian Soul?”
The Baffler
• Sperling, Valerie. 2015. “The Purpose of Putin’s
Machismo.” Current History

11
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

• Russia Without Putin (selections—you will be guided through

how to read this!)

Unit 5: Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Subject
How Russia relates to the rest of the former Soviet Union; how
Russia came to violently intervene in Georgia and Ukraine; how
the rise of China has affected Russian ties with Central Asia; how
Soviet legacies influence Russian behavior
Unit Objectives
Students will explain the consequences of the Georgian War and
ongoing conflict in the Ukraine; will debate potential explanations
for Russia’s behavior throughout the near abroad; and analyze
how Chinese influence has remade Central Asian relations.
Offline Coursework/Homework
• Dubrov, Arkady. 2018. “Reflecting on a Quarter Century
of Russia’s Relations with Central Asia.” U.S.-Russia Insight.
• Götz, Elias. 2017. “Putin, the State, and War: The Causes
of Russia’s Near Abroad Assertion Revisited.” International
Studies Review.
• Friedman, Jeremy. 2017. “The Revolutionary Roots of
Russian Foreign Policy.” Current History.
• “Putin’s Revenge,” Part 1 and 2, Frontline 2017. (Online
library streaming.)
• Vice, “The Russians are coming: Georgia’s creeping
occupation.” Online video.

Unit 6: Russia and Europe

Subject
Economic and security relations between Europe and Russia;
divisions between different parts of Europe over approaches to
Russia; changes in European-Russian relations since the Ukraine
war
Unit Objectives
Students will identify which parts of Europe feel greater security
threats from Russia and why; will analyze why the Ukraine war

12
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

has had such profound effects; and will debate theories about
what European strategies toward Russian interests should be
Offline Coursework/Homework
Readings (all available online):
• Pezard et al, European Relations with Russia: Threat Perceptions,
Responses, and Strategies in the Wake of the Ukrainian Crisis,
RAND, Chapters 1, 2, and 4
• V.V. Putin, “Munich Speech,” 2007
• Mearsheimer, John J. 2014. “Why the Ukraine Crisis is the
West’s Fault.” Foreign Affairs
• DeutscheWelle. 2019. “Is Germany making Europe
dependent on Russia?” Online video.
• The Guardian, “Europe’s frontline: the Latvians caught in
Russia and Nato’s Baltic war games”. Online video.

Unit 7: Russia and China

Subject
The history and present of Sino-Russian relations; the changing
economic center of gravity of Sino-Russian relations; whether
security relations between Moscow and Beijing will form a lasting
alliance or are merely a tactical alignment
Unit Objectives
Students will identify major turning points in the Sino-Russian
relationship; describe Russian perceptions of the important
advantages and threats of the relationship; and evaluate
contending assessments of the future of the relationship.
Offline Coursework/Homework
Readings (all available online):
• Quested, Rosemary. Selections from Sino-Russian Relations:
A Short History.
• National Bureau of Asian Research Special Report #66,
July 2017, Russia-China Relations: Assessing Common Ground
and Strategic Fault Lines

13
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

• Gabuev, Alexander. 2018. “Why Russia and China are

Strengthening Security Ties.” Foreign Affairs.
• Aron, Leon. 2019. “Are Russia and China Really Forming
an Alliance?” Foreign Affairs
• Deutsche Welle. 2012. “Boom and bust along Chinese-
Russian border.” Online video.
• Al-Jazeera. 2018. “Can Russia and China Trust Each
Other?” Online video.
• Stronski, Paul, and Nicole Ng. 2018. Cooperation and
Competition: Russia and China in Central Asia, the Russian Far
East, and the Arctic. Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace.
o Read the Summary, Introduction, History, Implications,
and one of the following: Central Asia, The Russian Far
East, The Arctic.

Unit 8: Russia and the United States

Subject
The move from partnership to hostility in U.S.-Russian relations;
how and why Moscow decided to intervene in the U.S.
presidential election of 2016; whether the current hostilities
constitute a new Cold War.
Unit Objectives
Students will discuss major recent events in U.S.-Russian relations;
analyze the security relationships as seen from both sides;
summarize the arguments for and against the proposition that “a
new Cold War” is beginning.
Offline Coursework/Homework
Readings (all available online):
• Graham, Thomas. 2019. “U.S.-Russian Relations in a New
Era.” The National Interest. January 6.
• Ashford, Emma. 2018. “How Reflexive Hostility to Russia
Harms U.S. Interests.” Foreign Affairs 20 April.

14
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

• Osnos, Remnick, and Yaffa, “Trump, Putin, and the New

Cold War”, The New Yorker
• Dorfman, “The Secret History of the Russian Consulate in
San Francisco”, Foreign Policy
• The Mueller Report, Introduction and Executive Summary,
Volume 1
• Oliker, Olga. 2018. “Moscow’s Nuclear Enigma: What is
Russia’s Arsenal Really For?” Foreign Affairs
• Westad, Odd Arne. 2018. “Has a New Cold War Really
Begun?” Foreign Affairs
• OPTIONAL: Sokolov, Boris, Ronald F. Inglehard, Eduard
Ponarin, Irina Vartanova, and William Zimmerman. 2018.
“Disillusionment and Anti-Americanism in Russia: From
Pro-American to Anti-American Attitudes, 1993-2009.”
International Studies Quarterly.

Unit 9: Russia and the Middle East

Subject
Russia’s intervention into Syria; Russian relations with Israel;
Moscow’s policy toward the Arab Muslim world.
Unit Objectives
Students will identify reasons for Russia to intervene into Syria;
will evaluate why relations between Moscow and Israel have
improved; and will explain how identity, status, and domestic
politics contribute to Russian behavior.
Offline Coursework/Homework
• Gibbons-Neff, Thomas. 2018. “How a 4-Hour Battle
Between Russian Mercenaries and U.S. Commandos
Unfolded in Syria.” The New York Times.
• DeutscheWelle, 2019, “Syrian War trophies on a
propaganda tour,” Online video.
• Trenin, What is Russia Up to…?
• “Russia’s Deepening Military Involvement in Syria”, 2018,
panel by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

15
SUMMER 2019 RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY PROFESSOR MUSGRAVE

• Krasna, Joshua. 2018. “Moscow on the Mediterranean:

Russia and Israel’s Relationship.” Foreign Policy Research
Institute.

Unit 10: Russia and the Future

Subject
The future of Russian foreign policy in a changing world.
Unit Objectives
Students will synthesize the previous eight sections to reflect on
what will be the most important and consequential features of
Russian foreign policy.

16