What makes a small, shallow and cold sea surrounded by very poor farming land stand out? Can we talk about a sea surrounded by nine countries as a single unit? This course traces and analyzes the interconnectedness and interdependence that shaped the region, side by side with the cataclysms that repeatedly fragmented it from the Viking marauders; warring empires; WWI and the Russian Revolution; WWII and the totalitarian nightmare of Nazi & Soviet policies; the Cold War and present-day geopolitics.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
What makes a small, shallow and cold sea surrounded by very poor farming land stand out? Can we talk about a sea surrounded by nine countries as a single unit? This course traces and analyzes the interconnectedness and interdependence that shaped the region, side by side with the cataclysms that repeatedly fragmented it from the Viking marauders; warring empires; WWI and the Russian Revolution; WWII and the totalitarian nightmare of Nazi & Soviet policies; the Cold War and present-day geopolitics.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.