SEES0108: Post-Soviet Politics (21/22)

The aim of this module is to examine the social, political and economic development of the fifteen post-Soviet states since 1991. It will examine why reform has been so much more difficult than in CEE, discuss whether ‘post-Soviet’ is still a valid concept and whether common patterns (corruption, oligarchs, informal politics, political technology) can still be found in the various successor states. The largely failed ‘coloured revolutions’ of 2003-05 will be examined; as will the crisis around Ukraine in 2014 as a turning point for would-be reformers, for the prospects for developing relations with the EU, and for Russia’s continuing influence in the post-Soviet space.