Are we doomed? Is the future - tyranny, corruption, and war? Is the nature of great power competition fatal for democracy, the rule of law, and liberalism? And why did Vladimir Putin, a mediocre mid-level secret police agent from the backwaters of the Cold War, come to symbolize the urgency of these questions in the mid-2020s? These are just some of the questions we will cover in the Russian Politics class. Our discussion will be organized around a select few turning points that determined the trajectory of the Russian journey and its global consequences, including the biggest war in Europe since WWII, with an eye also on how social science informed - and learnt from - these developments. In the process, we will learn a lot about Russia, even more about how democracies and autocracies work and fail, and, simultaneously, will unlearn many myths that continue to surround all these subjects, starting with the claim that Putin was inevitable and is irreplaceable. Come to learn which lessons Putin took from oligarchs who engineered his rise to power, which from Stalin, and which from his former comrades-in-arms at the KGB foreign intelligence directorate. Stay to discover how Russians live aside from Putin and what are the prospects of democratization in Russia and peace in Europe.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-SI
Are we doomed? Is the future - tyranny, corruption, and war? Is the nature of great power competition fatal for democracy, the rule of law, and liberalism? And why did Vladimir Putin, a mediocre mid-level secret police agent from the backwaters of the Cold War, come to symbolize the urgency of these questions in the mid-2020s? These are just some of the questions we will cover in the Russian Politics class. Our discussion will be organized around a select few turning points that determined the trajectory of the Russian journey and its global consequences, including the biggest war in Europe since WWII, with an eye also on how social science informed - and learnt from - these developments. In the process, we will learn a lot about Russia, even more about how democracies and autocracies work and fail, and, simultaneously, will unlearn many myths that continue to surround all these subjects, starting with the claim that Putin was inevitable and is irreplaceable. Come to learn which lessons Putin took from oligarchs who engineered his rise to power, which from Stalin, and which from his former comrades-in-arms at the KGB foreign intelligence directorate. Stay to discover how Russians live aside from Putin and what are the prospects of democratization in Russia and peace in Europe.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.