The main aim of the course is to provide an interdisciplinary overview of EU-Russia relations through showcasing its dynamics and multi-vectorness from economics, security, political science, and media studies perspectives; as well as to demonstrate the impact of both actors’ policies on the post-Soviet space.
The temporal focus is on the period between November 2013 and May 2015. The course is organized into five lectures and covers such key events in EU-Russia relations as the Eastern Partnership Summits in Vilnius and Riga; the Sochi Olympics; the annexation of Crimea; as well as the imposition of EU’s sanctions on Russia and the Kremlin’s food embargo on European goods. The course also discusses and explains such theoretical concepts as ‘state identity’, ‘soft annexation’ and the main principles of economic sanctions.
In addition, the course includes video interviews with external experts, varying from academic researchers to Estonian MEPs.
