This section of Y681 is NOT OPEN to Political Science Graduate Students

With over 20,000 nuclear warheads, territory spanning 1/7 of the globe's
land mass, and 150 million people, Russia is surely one of the states in
which developments could most directly affect the lives and liberties of
Americans and citizens of other countries.  Through a combination of
lectures, readings, films and in-class exercises, students will examine
possible causes of the political instability that has plagued Russia since
its Communist regime collapsed in 1991.  Factors to be studied include
history, culture, economic reforms, ethnic strife, political institutions,
and leadership.  Related questions to be addressed include:  What drove the
USSR to disintegrate and why did no prominent figure accurately predict it?
Why has the Russian economy been so troubled and what are its future
prospects?  Is President Vladimir Putin a budding dictator or a clever
democrat?