Comparative International Poltics in Central and Eastern Europe

The following content of the module will be divided into individual topics in accordance with the number of students attending the course. These topics will be prepared in the form of a project presentation by students or groups. Each topic will be also discussed during the class.

1. Central, Eastern, and South-eastern Europe. Space, borders, perceptions.

Milan Kundera (1984) The Tragedy of Central Europe, New York Review of Books.

Jacques Rupnik (2017) Evolving or revolving? Central Europe since 1989 https://www.eurozine.com/evolving-or-revolving-central-europe-since-1989/

John O'loughlin (2001) Geopolitical Visions of Central Europe, In. M. Antonsich, V. Kolossov, M.P. Pagnini, Europe between Political Geography and Politics.

Sorin Antohi (2000) Habits of the Mind: Europe’s Post-1989 Symbolic Geographies, In. S. Antohi and V. Tismaneanu (ed.), The Revolutions of 1989 and their Aftermath, CEU Press.

2. Defining events – the collapses of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia; causes, consequences.

Vladislav Zubok: A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev; 2007, chapters 9, 10.

- Vladimir Goati: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00905999708408518?journalCode=cnap20

3. The civic and the political after the end of Cold War. Political elites, civic participation and problems with politics.

Martin Palouš (2000) Between Idealism and Realism: Reflections on the Political Landscape of Postcommunism, In. Sorin Antohi and Vladimir Tismaneanu (ed.), The Revolutions of 1989 and their Aftermath, CEU Press.

Tsveta Petrova (2011) Citizen Participation in Local Governance in Eastern Europe: Rediscovering a Strength of Civil Society in the Post-Socialist World? Europe-Asia Studies

Volume 63(50).

Grigore Pop-Eleches, Joshua A. Tucker (2013) Associated with the Past? Communist Legacies and Civic Participation in Post-Communist Countries, East European Politics and Societies, 27(1), pp. 45 – 68.

John Higley, Judith Kullberg, Jan Pakulski (2002) The Persistence of Post-Communist Elites, In. L. Diamond and M.F. Plattner (eds.) Democracy after Communism, The Johns Hopkins University Press.

4. Evolution of Central Europe and Eastern Europe after the end of Cold War – the main trends and milestone events.

- Zbigniew Brzeziński: A Plan for Europe: How to Expand NATO, Foreign Affairs, January/February 1995, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/1995-01-01/plan-europe-how-expand-nato

- Vladimir Putin: Russia at the Turn of the Millennium, December 1999, http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/Putin.htm

- Ognian Hishow, Economic Effects of EU Eastern Expansion, SWP Research Paper 2004/S 26, July 2004, https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/economic-effects-of-eu-eastern-expansion/

5.(5.1). Nation-states and ethno-national relations in the region. How collective identities have been used for political purposes.

James Hughes, Gwendolyn Sasse (2001) Comparing Regional and Ethnic Conflicts in Post-Soviet Transition States: An Institutional Approach, ECPR Joint Sessions, Grenoble 7-11 April 2001

Ekaterina Klimenko (2018) Protracted Armed Conflicts in the Post-Soviet Space and Their Impact on Black Sea Security, SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security

Florian Bieber, Sören Keil (2009) Power-Sharing Revisited: Lessons Learned in the Balkans? Review of Central and East European Law 34, pp. 337-360.

Cvete Koneska (2017) On peace negotiations and institutional design in Macedonia: social learning and lessons learned from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peacebuilding, 5(1), pp. 36-50, DOI: 10.1080/21647259.2016.1264919

6.(5.2). Nation-states and ethno-national relations in the region. How collective identities have been used for political purposes.

Yuri Slezkine (1994) The USSR as a Communal Apartment, or How a Socialist State Promoted Ethnic Particularism, Slavic Review, 53(2), pp. 414-452.

Cristina Chiva (2006) Ethnic Minority Rights in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of the Hungarian 'Status Law', Government and Opposition, 41(3), pp. 401-421.

Zsuzsa Csergo, James Goldgeier (2013) Kin- state activism in Hungary, Romania, and Russia: The politics of ethnic demography, In. T.J. Mabry, J. McGarry, M. Moore, B. O’Leary, Divided Nations and European Integration, University of Pennsylvania Press.

Brosig Malte (2010) The Challenge of Implementing Minority Rights in Central Eastern Europe. Journal of European Integration 32(4), pp. 393–411.

7. Political regimes across the region. Democratization and democratic backsliding. Captured states and new authoritarianism.

Alina Mungui-Pippidi (2015) The Splintering of Postcommunist Europe, Journal of Democracy, 26(1), pp. 88 – 100.

Licia Cianetti, James Dawson and Seán Hanley (2018) Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe – looking beyond Hungary and Poland, East European Politics, 34(3), pp. 243–256.

Antoaneta L. Dimitrova (2018) The uncertain road to sustainable democracy: elite coalitions, citizen protests and the prospects of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, East European Politics, 34(3).

Zselyke Csaky (2020) Nations in Transit 2020, Freedom House.

Leon Runje (2017) State Capture in the Western balkans, Perspectives – political analyses and commentary – Heinrich Boll Stiftung.

8. External actors – their current goals, aims, strategies and policies.

- N. Kuhrt, V. Feklyunina (eds.): Assessing Russia's Power: A Report, 2017; http://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/231713/A8E19C50-A49A-4703-84CB-EE81B4D02428.pdf

- Victoria Nuland: Pinning Down Putin, Foreign Affairs July/August 2020, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2020-06-09/pinning-down-putin

- Margarete Klein; Russia’s Military Policy in the Post-Soviet Space. SWP Research Paper 2019/RP 01, January 2019, https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/russias-military-policy-in-the-post-soviet-space/

9. Current international relations in Central Europe and Eastern Europe – characteristic features, dynamics over time.

- Barbara Lippert, A Geopolitically Aware EU and Its Eastern European Neighbours: More Realism, More Investment, SWP Comment 2019/C 44, November 2019, https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/a-geopolitically-aware-eu-and-its-eastern-european-neighbours/

- Kirsten Westphal, Aurélie Bros, Tatiana Mitrova, German-Russian Gas Relations, SWP Research Paper 2017/RP 13, December 2017 (chapter: Qualifying and Quantifying the Impact of the Crisis in and over Ukraine), https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/german-russian-gas-relations/

- Russia's Relations with the South Caucasus, ISN ETHZ, 2019, https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/328891

10. The future – determining factors, likely evolution of main trends.

- Fredrik Wesslau, Andrew Wilson: Russia 2030: A story of great power dreams and small victorious wars, http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/russia_2030_a_story_of_great_power_dreams_and_small_victorious_wars

- The Kremlin Playbook, CSIS 2016, https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/1601017_Conley_KremlinPlaybook_Web.pdf

- Jonathan Masters, Ukraine: Conflict at the Crossroads of Europe and Russia, CFR, February 5, 2020, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ukraine-conflict-crossroads-europe-and-russia

Obligatory literature:

1.

Milan Kundera (1984) The Tragedy of Central Europe, New York Review of Books.

Jacques Rupnik (2017) Evolving or revolving? Central Europe since 1989 https://www.eurozine.com/evolving-or-revolving-central-europe-since-1989/

John O'loughlin (2001) Geopolitical Visions of Central Europe, In. M. Antonsich, V. Kolossov, M.P. Pagnini, Europe between Political Geography and Politics.

Sorin Antohi (2000) Habits of the Mind: Europe’s Post-1989 Symbolic Geographies, In. S. Antohi and V. Tismaneanu (ed.), The Revolutions of 1989 and their Aftermath, CEU Press.

2.

- Vladislav Zubok: A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev; 2007, chapters 9, 10.

- Vladimir Goati: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00905999708408518?journalCode=cnap20

3.

Martin Palouš (2000) Between Idealism and Realism: Reflections on the Political Landscape of Postcommunism, In. Sorin Antohi and Vladimir Tismaneanu (ed.), The Revolutions of 1989 and their Aftermath, CEU Press.

Tsveta Petrova (2011) Citizen Participation in Local Governance in Eastern Europe: Rediscovering a Strength of Civil Society in the Post-Socialist World? Europe-Asia Studies

Volume 63(50).

Grigore Pop-Eleches, Joshua A. Tucker (2013) Associated with the Past? Communist Legacies and Civic Participation in Post-Communist Countries, East European Politics and Societies, 27(1), pp. 45 – 68.

John Higley, Judith Kullberg, Jan Pakulski (2002) The Persistence of Post-Communist Elites, In. L. Diamond and M.F. Plattner (eds.) Democracy after Communism, The Johns Hopkins University Press.

4.

- Zbigniew Brzeziński: A Plan for Europe: How to Expand NATO, Foreign Affairs, January/February 1995, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/1995-01-01/plan-europe-how-expand-nato

- Vladimir Putin: Russia at the Turn of the Millennium, December 1999, http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/Putin.htm

- Ognian Hishow, Economic Effects of EU Eastern Expansion, SWP Research Paper 2004/S 26, July 2004, https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/economic-effects-of-eu-eastern-expansion/

5.

James Hughes, Gwendolyn Sasse (2001) Comparing Regional and Ethnic Conflicts in Post-Soviet Transition States: An Institutional Approach, ECPR Joint Sessions, Grenoble 7-11 April 2001

Ekaterina Klimenko (2018) Protracted Armed Conflicts in the Post-Soviet Space and Their Impact on Black Sea Security, SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security

Florian Bieber, Sören Keil (2009) Power-Sharing Revisited: Lessons Learned in the Balkans? Review of Central and East European Law 34, pp. 337-360.

Cvete Koneska (2017) On peace negotiations and institutional design in Macedonia: social learning and lessons learned from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peacebuilding, 5(1), pp. 36-50, DOI: 10.1080/21647259.2016.1264919

6.

Yuri Slezkine (1994) The USSR as a Communal Apartment, or How a Socialist State Promoted Ethnic Particularism, Slavic Review, 53(2), pp. 414-452.

Cristina Chiva (2006) Ethnic Minority Rights in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of the Hungarian 'Status Law', Government and Opposition, 41(3), pp. 401-421.

Zsuzsa Csergo, James Goldgeier (2013) Kin- state activism in Hungary, Romania, and Russia: The politics of ethnic demography, In. T.J. Mabry, J. McGarry, M. Moore, B. O’Leary, Divided Nations and European Integration, University of Pennsylvania Press.

Brosig Malte (2010) The Challenge of Implementing Minority Rights in Central Eastern Europe. Journal of European Integration 32(4), pp. 393–411.

7.

Alina Mungui-Pippidi (2015) The Splintering of Postcommunist Europe, Journal of Democracy, 26(1), pp. 88 – 100.

Licia Cianetti, James Dawson and Seán Hanley (2018) Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe – looking beyond Hungary and Poland, East European Politics, 34(3), pp. 243–256.

Antoaneta L. Dimitrova (2018) The uncertain road to sustainable democracy: elite coalitions, citizen protests and the prospects of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, East European Politics, 34(3).

Zselyke Csaky (2020) Nations in Transit 2020, Freedom House.

Leon Runje (2017) State Capture in the Western balkans, Perspectives – political analyses and commentary – Heinrich Boll Stiftung.

8.

a.) N. Kuhrt, V. Feklyunina (eds.): Assessing Russia's Power: A Report, 2017; http://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/231713/A8E19C50-A49A-4703-84CB-EE81B4D02428.pdf

b.) Victoria Nuland: Pinning Down Putin, Foreign Affairs July/August 2020, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2020-06-09/pinning-down-putin

c.) Margarete Klein; Russia’s Military Policy in the Post-Soviet Space. SWP Research Paper 2019/RP 01, January 2019, https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/russias-military-policy-in-the-post-soviet-space/

9.

a.) Barbara Lippert, A Geopolitically Aware EU and Its Eastern European Neighbours: More Realism, More Investment, SWP Comment 2019/C 44, November 2019, https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/a-geopolitically-aware-eu-and-its-eastern-european-neighbours/

b.) Kirsten Westphal, Aurélie Bros, Tatiana Mitrova, German-Russian Gas Relations, SWP Research Paper 2017/RP 13, December 2017 (chapter: Qualifying and Quantifying the Impact of the Crisis in and over Ukraine), https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/german-russian-gas-relations/

c.) Russia's Relations with the South Caucasus, ISN ETHZ, 2019, https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/328891

10.

a.) Fredrik Wesslau, Andrew Wilson: Russia 2030: A story of great power dreams and small victorious wars, http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/russia_2030_a_story_of_great_power_dreams_and_small_victorious_wars

b.) The Kremlin Playbook, CSIS 2016, https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/1601017_Conley_KremlinPlaybook_Web.pdf

c.) Jonathan Masters, Ukraine: Conflict at the Crossroads of Europe and Russia, CFR, February 5, 2020, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ukraine-conflict-crossroads-europe-and-russia

Supplementary literature:

The Revolutions of 1989 and their Aftermath, ed. by Sorin Antohi and Vladimir Tismaneanu, Central European University Press 2000.

Civil Society and Social Capital in Post-Communist Eastern Europe, ed.by Terry Cox, Routledge 2015

Democracy after Communism, ed. by Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner, The Johns Hopkins University Press 2002

F. Bieber, The Rise of Authoritarianism in the Western Balkans, 2020 Palgrave

Heather A. Conley, Donatienne Ruy, Ruslan Stefanov, Martin Vladimirov, The Kremlin Playbkook 2: The Enablers, CSIS, 2019, https://www.csis.org/analysis/kremlin-playbook-2-enablers-0

Bobo Lo, Russia and the New World Disorder; 2015.