Wednesday, January 15: The USSR from Stalin's death (1953) through perestroika (1985-1991).

Reading:

• Shiraev ch 3.

Study questions:

• What was perestroika and glasnost?
• Why did Gorbachev think they would save the Soviet Union?
• What went wrong?

Quiz:

• Course policies, Shiraev chs 2 & 3 and Monday's class.

Soviet industrial poster art, 1920s and 1930s.

Monday, January 20: MLK Day.

Wednesday, January 22: The Yeltsin years (1992-1999). The wrenching transition; the westward orientation; political, social and economic decay.

Reading:

• John Dunlop, "Sifting Through the Rubble of the Yeltsin Years" <e-reserve>.

Study questions:

• What is the "rubble" of the Yeltsin years?
• What are the legacies of his presidency, both positive and negative?

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Leaders of the Soviet Union and Post-Communist Russia. Refer to this table. I will provide you with an identical blank table. Note: you must get the names correct within two letters. Last names are sufficient.

Monday, January 27: Putinism I (2000-present). The "power vertical." Capitalism.

Reading:

• Shiraev chapter 4.

Study questions:

• Why did Putin and his (many) supporters believe that the restoration of the "power vertical" was necessary?
• What measures did he take to restore it?

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Wednesday's class.

Boris Yeltsin denouncing the attempted coup by anti-reform figures in the Communist Party, 1991.

Wednesday, January 29: Putinism II (2000-present).

Reading:

• Shiraev chapter 10.

Study questions:

• How capitalist is Russia's post-communist economy?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the economy?

Quiz:

• Basic geographical information on the former Soviet Union. Refer to this table. I will provide you with an identical table with only the country names filled in. You will be responsible for the information contained in the other three columns in the table.

Monday, February 3: Economy and society.

Reading:

• Shiraev chapter 11.

Study questions:

• Russia largely dismantled the Soviet social contract after the collapse of the Soviet Union. What kind of social policies replaced it?

Quiz:

• Geography/Map quiz. Refer to the map of "The Countries of the Former Soviet Union" on the Maps page. You need to learn the 15 countries that are colored (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan). I will provide you with the same map (in black and white) for the quiz, but with the country names removed and a number provided instead. You will be asked to name each country - and spell it very close to correctly (two wrong or misplaced letters are acceptable).
• You must also know the capitals of all 15 countries. A list is here.

Wednesday, February 5: Catch-up.

Reading: none.

Quiz:

• Shiraev chapters 10 and 11 and Monday's class.

Monday, February 10: Exam I (first hour). Frozen conflicts I.

Exam study guide.

Reading: none.

Wednesday, February 12: Frozen conflicts II.

Reading:

• Euractiv, "Post-Soviet ‘frozen conflicts’."

Listen:

• "Frozen Conflicts And Disputed Borders Create Uncertainty In Russia's Shadow" (NPR, 7:02). Click on the play button on the left (or read the text if you prefer).

Look:

• The Euractiv article has maps, but here are more detailed ones of each of the frozen conflicts:
• Ukraine, Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk
• Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia
• Moldova and Transdniester
• Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nogorna-Karabakh

Quiz:

• Today's readings and NPR story.

Pro-unification billboard during Crimean referendum, 2014.

Monday, February 17: Russia and the world.

Reading:

• Alexander Lukin, "How the United States Got Russia Wrong," National Interest (February 1, 2019).
• Shiraev chapter 12.

Study questions:

• The article by Lukin sums up the Russian position on what they view to be American interventionism, arrogance and hypocrisy. According to Lukin, what did the US do in the 1990s that led to the rise of anti-Americanism in Russia?
• Lukin also argues that Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin went through the same evolution (and change) in their thinking about relations with the US. How so?

Quiz:

• Today's readings and Wednesday's class.

Wednesday, February 19: Post-communist diversity.

Reading:

• Cummings chapter 2.
• Uuriintuya Batsaikhana and Marek Dabrowskia, "Central Asia - twenty-five years after the breakup of the USSR," Russian Journal of Economics 3 (2017) 296–320.

Quiz:

• Today's readings and Monday's class.

Saturday, February 22: Assignment I due at midnight [11:59 pm + one minute].

Monday, February 24: Color revolutions: a contagion with mixed results.

Reading:

• Cummings chapter 3.
• Alexander Cooley, "These colors may run." From After the Color Revolution, 63-69 <e-reserve>.
• Georgi Derluguian, "The color revolutions betrayed." From After the Color Revolution, 79-84 <e-reserve>.

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Wednesday's class, and Central Asian leaders. Refer to this table. I will provide you with an identical table with the left column left empty. You will be asked to provide the names in that column. Note: you must get the names correct within two letters. Last names are sufficient.

Rose Revolution demonstrations in Georgia, 2003

Wednesday, February 26: Sultanism: personalized politics. 

Reading:

• Cummings chapter 4.
• Annette Bohr, "Independent Turkmenistan: from post-communism to sultanism," in Sally Cummings (ed), Oil, Transition and Security in Central Asia. RoutledgeCurzon, 2003; 9-24 <e-reserve>.

Study questions:

• What is Sultanism and how does it differ from other types of non-democratic states?
• What is a "cult of personality"? What were the features of Niyazov's cult of personality?

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Monday's class.

Monday, March 9: Electoral authoritarianism: elections without democracy.

Reading:

• "Validating autocracy through the ballot," Freedom House.

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Wednesday's class.

Wednesday, March 11: Central Asia and the World

Reading:

• Ilan Berman, "Central Asia's encouraging development," Foreign Affairs, August 8, 2017 <e-reserve>.
• Kemal Kirişci and Philippe Le Corre, "The new geopolitics of Central Asia: China vies for influence in Russia’s backyard," Brookings, January 2, 2018.

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Monday's class.

2015 presidential election results in Belarus. Note how uncompetitive they were.

Monday, March 16: Exam II (first hour).  Oil and gas pipeline politics: connecting supply to markets.

Exam study guide.

Reading: none.

Wednesday, March 18: The geopolitics of water.

Reading:

• Cristina Maza, "Central Asia’s pipeline politics: a quest for energy independence," Christian Science Monitor, September 24, 2015.
• Paul Kubicek, "Energy politics and geopolitical competition in the Caspian Basin,"  Journal of Eurasian Studies 4 (2013), 171–180 <e-reserve>.
• "Water pressures in Central Asia," International Crisis Group, Europe and Central Asia Report N°233 (September 11, 2014).

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Monday's class.

Saturday, March 21: Assignment II due at midnight [11:59 pm + one minute].

Irrigated field in Uzbekistan.

Monday, March 23: Identity.

Reading:

• Cummings chapter 5.
• Aidos Sarym, "Nation-building in Kazakhstan," Central Asia at 25, 43-47.

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Wednesday's class.

Wednesday, March 25: Religion. Gender.

• Alima Bissenova, "The return of Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia: evaluating the past, looking to the future," Central Asia at 25, 77-78.
• Galym Zhussipbek, "Political Islam in the Central Asian context: after 25 years of independence," Central Asia at 25, 90-95.
• Diana Kudaibergen, "Objects and subjects of gendered temporalities," Central Asia at 25, 47-48.
• Ainabat Yaylymova, "One step forward, two steps back: 25 years of Turkmen women’s rights," Central Asia at 25, 48-51.

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Monday's class.

The logo for Kazakhstan's modernization of society project called "Spiritual Renewal"

Monday, March 30: Clans and informal institutions.

Reading:

• Cummings chapter 6.
• S. Frederick Starr, "Clans, authoritarian rulers, and parliaments in Central Asia," Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program. 6-25.

Study questions:

• What are clans and what are the various types?
• Why was the Soviet leadership unwilling or unable to replace clan politics with more modern forms of governance?
• Does Starr view the post-Soviet presidents in Central Asia as weak or strong? Why?

Quiz:

• Today's readings and Wednesday's class

The new Nur-Astana Moqsue, Astana, Kazakhstan

Wednesday, April 1: Central Asia looking forward.

Reading:

• Cummings chapter 7.
• Sobir Kurbanov, "The economy of Central Asia in retrospective, past, present, and future," Central Asia at 25, 29-31.
• Kostiantyn Bondarenko, "A long transformation: Central Asian countries on the threshold of change," Central Asia at 25, 107-109.

Quiz:

• Today's reading and Monday's class.

Saturday, April 4: Assignment III due at midnight [11:59 pm + one minute].

Monday, April 6: Catch-up.

Reading: none.

Quiz:

• Wednesday's class.

The Hissar Gate (ruins), Tajikistan

Wednesday, April 8: Diplomatic Forum I. See Forum page.

Monday, April 13: Diplomatic Forum II. See Forum page.

Wednesday, April 15: Diplomatic Forum III. See Forum page.

Final exam: Monday, April 20 from 7:15-9:15.

• Study guide.