POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND AREA STUDIES Course syllabus. A two-semester course, HSE and UoL Parallel-degree program International relations

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1 NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY HIGHER SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND AREA STUDIES Course syllabus A two-semester course, HSE and UoL Parallel-degree program International relations Lecturer: Andrei Skriba Class teacher: Andrei Skriba Course description: Political Geography and Area Studies is a two-semester course developed for the paralleldegree bachelor program International Relations (UoL and HSE). The course aims at introducing students to the main economic and political regularities at a regional level, geographical dimension and historical background of current states interests and their relations. In contrast to the regional level, the international level analysis usually tells us general political and economic laws. Thus, on the one hand it lacks countries and regional peculiarities, which are extremely important in IR studies. To make general conclusions about international system one needs deep knowledge of the regional diversity of its history and current development. Finally, contemporary international relations in most cases are limited with the regional frames. Thereby regional studies give us basic and at the same time huge portion of information for further analysis. Fundamental to the course is a geographical and historical background of the state as an institute and relations between states. We start with history of the statehood and explain how and when the states we see nowadays appeared. We will consider questions of space and power in contemporary political geography, territoriality, the state, geopolitics (was as one of the first IR theories explaining geographical factor of struggling for war and peace). We will also define the main sources of information that can help in studying counties and regions characteristics the first step toward a more deep and comprehensive scientific analysis of states and their relations. The course gives a clear understanding of the world s regional diversity. It can help students to choose regional specialization and at the same time to decide what area of international relations they want to focus on. The lectures and seminars for the course are conducted in English.

2 Learning Objectives: After successfully completing this course the student should: 1. to learn the emergence of the nation-state system as a dominant mode for organizing territory and people 2. to know the difference of political order in various regions and its reasons 3. to investigate regional peculiarities 4. have a broad overview of the political and economic geography of the world 5. know the political map of the world; 6. have knowledge of regions and states peculiarities based on history, economic and political analysis, political and cultural trends; 7. identify key publications, data sources and terms on the topic of political and economic geography; 8. be able to find data statistics and analyze political texts; 9. be able to apply geopolitical approach to explain regional conflicts and states interest, to use historical and comparative analysis to explain countries behavior and their relations; 10. have improved discussion, presentation, and writing skills. Course organizational structure: Lectures o theory o history o current politics Seminars o traditional o presentations and groups work o role-playing game o 40% of final grade Quizes o terms and definitions o quotations o historical events o laws and patterns o 20% of final grade Map tests o 30% of final grade Final exam o 10% of final grade Course structure:

3 Political geography and political order Geopolitics and geoeconomics Area studies and political diversity Integration, globalization, regionalization Seminars: traditional o home reading (articles, book chapters) o list of questions o to prepare answer (may not be in the home reading) presentations and groups work o groups of 3 or 4 (with or without leader of a team) o everyone presents the result o no excuses for absence o the same score for each student o extra scores for questions o 2 types of presentation: state study and comparative study role-playing game o imitation of negotiations Presentations: General rules: Time management (up to 15 minutes each) Usually three countries and one comparison presentation per seminar No full sentences in the slides. Everything must be understandable and made in short. Slide must be as a short resume of what the presenter is talking about, therefore bullet-points are welcomed. No copy/paste. It is easy to find out whether the text in the slides was copy/pasted or not. No WIKIPEDIA. Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information. Instead, you can use Encyclopedia Britannica. Usually the most reliable sources of information are marked by.org in the link. o Note: Wikipedia may be used to know brief information or basic facts about the topic. But citations from Wikipedia are totally forbidden. Use schemes, tables, maps. OR other ways to visualize the information presented. It will hold attention of the listeners and make a good impression Make graphs yourselves. Readable slides. Use such color combinations and size of the text that it will cause no problems to read. Try to avoid reading. Reading the text is considered as a bad form, moreover the attention of the audience will be definitely lost. Make a short list of bullet-points in case you need.

4 Structured talk. Plan your presentation in advance and try to stick to the certain structure. State study: Political order: form of government, leaders, political parties, ideology o brief history if appropriate o information about the last elections o parties with ideologies (necessary to know), must be able to explain the differences Social structure: population: ethnic groups, languages, religion, level of life o more graphs and charts o population tendency (growth or reduction) o a few interesting facts if there are Economy block: level of economic development, specialization (comparative or absolute advantage if there are such; infant and developing industries if there no), infrastructure, trade organizations and partners. o make charts and graphs on any information you have o show the tendencies Foreign policy: priorities, goals, participation in international organizations, relations with other countries (partners or counterparts) o Information about the relations between countries should be in brief o All the abbreviations of names of the international organizations put in the slides should be learned Comparative study: Each graph should be accompanied by the explanation Graphs should also contain the numbers All the graphs should contain ALL THE COUNTRIES of the topic Good and reliable sources: World Bank, IMF, COMTRADE, OECD data, Trading economics, WEF, Transparency international, HRW Quizes: Socrative platform questions taken from previous lecture and forthcoming seminar At the beginning of the seminar (up to 10 minutes) Room name: SKRIBAHSE Map tests: Flag State Capital (late October, 7,5%) Location Borders Neighboring states (late December, 7,5%)

5 Comparison: area, population, total GDP PPP (late March, 7,5%) o top-25 ( 40 overall) o Russia and neighbors International organizations and forums participation and status (late May, 7,5%) Class policies: The course includes: 72 academic hours of lectures and 68 of seminars. Students are expected to contribute to class discussion, to know the political map of the world, and write four political map tests. Course schedule: Week 1 Introduction to the course. Why geography and regional studies matter? Lecture What is political geography? o Definitions (region, area) o Geography and politics o The scope of Political Geography Three levels of geographic studies: state, regional and international Territory and IR: regions in international politics o Geographic division (map) o Religious and linguistic diversity (map) o Relations between the states: distance, borders, different economic levels (scheme) o Decolonization, globalization and borders disappearance (map/video) o IR after globalization back to regions Territory and regions: why do we need area studies? o Core of regional diversity o Multidisciplinary approach in area studies o Comparative politics: no single model of state modernization and development o Regional IR and its peculiarities Territory and state: how the state is organized? o From territory to single functional unit o Homogeneity o Coherence o Viability and Nationalism as its option Seminar 1. An Introduction to Political Geography: pp Political geography / Mark Blacksell: pp A Companion to Political Geography: pp ( Territory )

6 Week 2 Towards state level: birth of the state. Lecture History of first states: why the state was organized? o Tribalism Motives to create the state. o Theories of state appearance Conflict between tribal and political structures o Transit from tribal relations to political order o Family vs State State and geography: why countries are so different? Religion, property and law o Their influence on the state development and peculiarity What is sovereign state and why did it appear? o Sovereign state in Europe o Sovereign state elsewhere Seminar 1. Hobbes: o Leviathan explanation of the basic theory o Social contract, rule of an absolute sovereign (aim: protection of the commonwealth) o The war of all against all = state of nature ( A man is a wolf to another man ) 2. Locke: o The necessity to use the minimum power to create a peaceful commonwealth, that must be controlled o The role of Natural Law o Classical liberalism : sanctity of private property, minimal government 3. Marx: o Separation of the state and civil society; Basis and superstructure o The role of bourgeoisie in the state: the more individuals grow the more debts the state has 4. Fukuyama: o Discussion of Origins of Political Order o Moving from tribal society towards institutionalized state Week 3 Nation State and State level in political geography. Lecture From sovereign state to the Nation-state Appearance of Nation-state (cases) Theories of nationalism and principles of Nation-state Problems of nation-building Nationalism yesterday and today (cases)

7 Seminar Political and geographical dimensions of nation-state or Nationalism and Nation-building today (cases) Week 4 Towards international level. Nation-building and expansion of European states. Lecture Great powers and the great game Age of discoveries and its influence on state-building Discoveries, trade and political order Discoveries, geography and power Discoveries and nationalism Crisis of distant governing: towards struggle for independence Seminar Gap between the West and the Rest: why the latter lost the war? Role-play: comparing national anthems Week 5 Revenge of regionalism, or Back to regional level. Lecture Collapse of colonial system and appearance of new states Legacy of empires and foreign territories Territorial states vs nation-states Globalization and bipolar competition hide regionalism Regional division in XXI century Seminar Introduction to Area studies: Grand theories vs. Regional specific knowledge Regional level and Comparative area studies: Methods Week 6 Subregional level and failed states. Separatism and secession definition Nation, state and separatism in UN Charter International level: struggle for legal status and recognition (cases) Theories: why separatism happens? Separatism and state order Seminar Separatism of inner regions (Scotland, Catalonia, Xinjiang-Uygur) Separatism and secession (Crimea, Kosovo, Northern Cyprus)

8 Week 7 Map test Preliminary course outline 1. Political Geography and State Order Introduction to the course. Why geography and regional studies matter? Towards state level: birth of the state. o History of first states: why the state was organized? Nation State and State level in political geography. o From sovereign state to the Nation-state. Problems of nation-building Towards international level. Nation-building and expansion of European states. o Great powers and the great game. Age of discoveries and its influence on statebuilding. Crisis of distant governing: towards struggle for independence. Gap between the West and the Rest: why the latter is still losing? Revenge of regionalism, or Back to regional level. o Introduction to Area studies: Grand theories vs. Regional specific knowledge. Regional level and Comparative area studies: Methods Subregional level and failed states. o Theories: why separatism happens? Separatism and state order 2. Geopolitics Geopolitics of the struggle for lands. Examples of the struggle for land (Sudan), water (Mekong) and other resources (The Cod wars and Kuril Islands) o Falkland Islands, islands near China, Golan Heights Geopolitics of the straits and canals. Briefly name all of them (including Nicaragua). Significance of the issue on the examples of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, Gibraltar: the involved parts and conflicts of interests. o History of the construction and conflicts over the Strait of Malacca, Panama and Suez Canals Geopolitics today. Geoeconomics, trade routes, trade flows. o Silk Road. History of the issue. Modern project Marine territories and Marine law (an example of the islands near China), Arctic and Antarctic regimes o The Cod wars, Kuril Islands, Arctic, Chinese islands End of History and Clash of Civilizations (religions map) o Discussion, critics of the concepts 3. Area Studies and Political Diversity Nations of the state and the first revolutions. England and France (The Netherlands?)

9 o England, France, The Netherlands Empires and their collapse. Portugal, Spain, Austria-Hungary, Germany o Portugal, Spain, Italy o Switzerland, Germany, Austria o Norway, Sweden, Switzerland Statehood in the Eastern Europe. Reforms. The breakup of Yugoslavia and the states of the Southern Europe. o Poland, Czech Republic and the Baltic States o Southern Europe. Serbia, Croatia (надо ли?) Russia and the history of bureaucracy through the empire and the USSR (перевести Вселенский опыт говорит ) o Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. Three paths, three models of reforms and state transformations. Post-soviet space. Reforms. Separatism. Conflicts. Phenomenon of a failed state. o Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan; o Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan The USA history in detail. The Struggling for independence (or American War of Independece) and The Civil War. o USA, Canada, Greenland The USA as a model nation-state. Detailed information about the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and the negotiations. o Constitution. The system of checks and balances. The Civil War and the amendments. Amendments in the XX century. Statehood in the Latin America o Mexico, Brazil, Argentina/Chile China + Taiwan (see Fukuyama Origins of political order ) o Two countries - two systems (+ еще что-то?) Japan, North and South Korea, Singapore. o Economic experience of Asian Tigers Southern Asia (+ the topics on Goa, Sri Lanka) o India, Pakistan, Bangladesh Southeastern Asia, Indochina o Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia Turkey from the Ottoman Empire with the maps. o Turkey (presentation), Kemalism, role of the army, Erdoğan and the reforms, Turkey and the European Union. Iran, Egypt, Israel. Palestine and the demarcation rule at the Jordan river o Israel, Iran (presentations). Opposite example of the power in Iran (not as in Turkey) The states of the Persian Gulf. A broader oil context, the conflict of Sunnis and Shias (map). o Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq Africa. Scramble for Africa (colonial division); + the map of ethnicities; o South Africa, Nigeria (as the biggest), какая еще? 4. Integration, globalization, regionalization Regional economic Integration + all the possible examples

10 o The table of integrations comparison and contrast by the parameters (as an additional task- learn all the organizations members by heart) The European Union o Institutes and how they work + the challenges of development Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) o The balance of the interests struggle + institutions and how they work Alliances in International Relations + Walt and Morgenthau (how the alliances work- the main rules and laws) o Walt, Schweller, David + Soft Balancing (as an additional task learn all the organizations members by heart) Exam questions: Each exam card contains two questions from each of the two parts: PART 1 1. History of state. Political legitimacy, theories of state s origins, rights and powers of the state 2. History of nation-state. Definition, origins, historical examples, The UN Charter about nation-state and rights of nations 3. Geopolitics. Main authors (Mackinder, Spykman, etc.) and their theories (Heartland, Rimland, the Monroe Doctrine, etc.), why geography matters in international politics 4. Geopolitics of 20 century. German and Nazi geopolitics, Cold war geopolitics (The Truman Doctrine and The Brezhnev Doctrine), present-day geopolitics (case of the Silk road concept) 5. History of European statehood. The Roman state, church, feudalism, the emergence of the state, national economies and mercantilism, the constitutional state 6. History of Eastern Europe. Reasons of state s instability, Cold war and Eastern Europe, economic reforms and comparison with present-day Post-Soviet space 7. Straights and Canals. Important for IR (historical overview), history of The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, Gibraltar, Panama Canal, Nicaragua Canal, Suez Canal, The Strait of Hormuz) 8. Legal regimes of sea area. UNCLOS, cases of Arctic and Antarctic 9. Regions in IR. End of History and Clash of civilizations. End of History by F.Fukuyama, Clash of civilizations by S.Huntington, civilizational approach and other classifications of states, types of civilizations, critique of the concept 10. Separatism. Definition of separatism and secession, influence of economic factors, cultural and political reason to separate, cases 11. Resources. Why resources matter in IR, theories to explain the role of natural resources in conflict, types of resources, the resource curse, cases 12. Regional integration. Approaches to regional economic integration, levels of integration, integration and sovereignty, what states are more likely to start integration and why 13. Cases of regional economic integration. History of regional economic integration unions and initiatives, members and main characteristics

11 14. European union. Theoretical origins, reasons to integrate, history and member-states and relations with neighbors, current development, competences of Eurasian economic commission, conflict between a nation-state and supranational institutions 15. Post-Soviet Space and economic integration. Economic integration (examples), comparison with EU, problems and conflicts, history and current development of Eurasian economic integration (member-states), competences of Eurasian economic commission 16. Theory of alliances. Balance of power and foreign policy: balancing, bandwagoning, omnibalancing - preconditions and cases. 17. Alliances in IR. NATO, CSTO, SCO: origins, documents and collective response to threat (for NATO and CSTO), member-states PART 2 1. Western Europe. France, Great Britain, Germany: history and current politics* 2. Eastern Europe. Transition from communist model to democracy and market economy; Czech republic, Poland: history and current politics 3. Southern Europe. Fall of Yugoslavia; Italy, Spain, Bulgaria: modern history and current politics 4. Post-Soviet Space: West. Problems of Post-Soviet transition; Belarus, Ukraine: modern history and current politics 5. Post-Soviet Space: Caucasus and Central Asia. Problems of Post-Soviet transition; Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan: modern history and current politics 6. Russia. Russian statehood, history, transition from soviet model to democracy, current political situation 7. North and South America. Colonialism, independence and statehood, difference between North and South American states (history, development, institutions) 8. North America. USA, Canada: history and current politics 9. Latin America above equator. Mexico, Cuba: history and current politics 10. Latin America below equator. Brazil, Venezuela, Chile: history and current politics 11. China. Chinese statehood, history and current political situation, status of Hong Kong and Macao, problem of Taiwan 12. East Asia. Japan, South Korea, North Korea: history and current politics 13. South Asia. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: history and current politics 14. South-East Asia. Indochina; Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore: history and current politics 15. Middle East. Political reforms in Turkey and Iran; Turkey: history and current politics 16. Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran: history and current politics 17. Africa. Egypt: history and current politics; Nigeria and South Africa: modern history and current politics *current politics means current political structure (system, political parties) and foreign policy priorities

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