US-Russia Foreign Policies

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

The U.S. and Russia did not have an easy relationship during the 20th century. During the Cold War, the conflict between two ideological systems — Communism, which the Soviet Union sought to expand, and democracy, which the United States has used to counter Communism — has led to a number of direct and indirect clashes between these two superpowers, including wars in Vietnam and Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Blockade, and the creation of the Berlin Wall. The collapse of the Communist system, along with the perception of the “End of History,” spread a feeling of optimism about U.S.-Russian relations. Originally, optimism strengthened due to initially amicable relations between the Russian and U.S. presidents. However, subsequent relations took a wrong turn and went through a downward spiral, worsening after each crisis (including the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, the Color Revolutions in the post-Soviet space, Russia’s wars with Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria in 2008, 2014, and 2015, respectively, Russia’s interference in the U.S. elections in 2016 and Russia’s ongoing 2022 war in Ukraine). As of today, U.S.-Russian relations are at the lowest point since the end of the Cold War. Many observers wonder to what extent such an outcome was inevitable and who is to blame for it. This course will address this and related questions in depth by analyzing the foreign policy between the U.S. and Russia. We will cover U.S.-Russian foreign policy, Russian geopolitics, the influence of Marxist-Leninist theory, the Cold War, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia’s foreign policy under Putin, and the recent U.S. responses to Russia’s assertive behavior on the international stage. We will also reflect on the future of the U.S.-Russian relations. Some of these topics intersect with issues related to international relations (IR), national security, political theory, political economy, geopolitics, and, of course, history.