This policy seminar is designed to enable students to better understand the sources and manifestations of Russian foreign and security policy. Through course readings, class discussions, assignments, and a scenario exercise, students will assess how a variety of theoretical perspectives can or cannot explain Russian foreign policy choices and actions and Moscow's evolving relationships around the world. They will build on that to develop their own perspectives on how Russian foreign policy can be improved and how other states can develop more effective policies towards Russia

This course explores foreign policies of China and the USSR from the Second World War to the present. It thus provides students with an understanding of the Cold War, the post-Cold War, and the post-post-Cold War, seen "from the other side." It is a counterpart course to another course run simultaneously by the same instructor: American Foreign Policy. Unlike AFP, GP largely ignores American foreign policy (though, of course, US actions or non-actions are addressed, because they form an important backdrop for understanding foreign policies of China and the USSR; of the two, the USSR is given more weight throughout). We begin in 1945, seeking to uncover sources of Soviet conduct and understand the origins of the Cold War from a Soviet perspective. We then proceed to consider China's road to revolution, the origins of the Sino-Soviet alliance, and the Korean War. Subsequent lectures explore Khrushchev's foreign policy, including his misadventures in the Middle East and his efforts to be recognized and accepted by the United States. The Sino-Soviet split is also closely considered. The 1960s chapter look at Cuba and Vietnam (primary as seen from Moscow). We then delve into detente and the reasons for its demise. Lectures on the 1980s look at both the dangerous superpower crises (during the so called "Second Cold War") and the peaceful end of the Cold War on Gorbachev's watch. The course then explores Russia's foreign policy in the 1990s, and the unrealized promise of Russia's integration in the West. The final lecture covers Putin's years in power. We also will look at the dynamic of Sino-Russian relations, and the outlook for the Sino-American strategic competition.

The purpose of the course is to provoke debate on the state of the world. Issues discussed range from current or potential international crises (for example, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or the state of US-China relations), to broader problems, such as nuclear proliferation or climate change. The course aims at improving the students’ ability to analyze these issues, to go “behind the headlines,” to debate them in public. The course does not offer in-depth training in debating or public speaking, but does allow students to acquire practical skills and experience in those areas; in other words, to “learn by doing.” The course consists of formal, public, four-person debates based on some of the topics listed below, and others suggested by the class. Students submit their preferences and are grouped together at the beginning of the semester. Each debate lasts one class session, plus a period of general discussion. The course includes ten regular debates and two crisis simulations.