Special Topics in International Studies (390-0-22)

Topic

Politics, Media and Society in Post-Soviet Russia

Instructors

MARIA LIPMAN

Meeting Info

Annenberg Hall G01: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

Politics, Media and Society in Post-Soviet Russia

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of the Russian Federation marked the end of the Cold War and sparked hopes for a new, post-Communist Russia that would become a democratic state with a market economy, a peaceful foreign policy, and an ally of the West. The domestic and global developments of the 1990s soon belied those expectations.

The rise of Vladimir Putin was marked by Russia's return to its habitual pattern of a strong, centralized state and acquiescent public, and its resurgence on the global stage. The large-scale invasion of Ukraine brought a decisive end to the vision of Russia as a cooperative let alone friendly partner of the West.

This course traces the key political and societal transformations of post-Soviet Russia over the past three and a half decades, with particular attention to state-society relations and the evolution of the Russian media. Through this lens, we will seek to understand how the hopes of the early 1990s gave way to authoritarian consolidation and open confrontation with the West.