International Relations of Russia, Europe and Asia

What role does Russia seek to play in the contemporary international system? Can NATO hold together as an effective military alliance willing and able to defend its member states? How is the rise of China affecting Russia, Europe and the international system? The seminar will discuss these and related questions, considering Russia’s evolving relations with the centers of global power West and East, its efforts to retain control in the former Soviet space and to extend its reach into the Arctic; its agendas in trying to influence US and European domestic politics through ‘soft’ power, and related topics.