CAS IR 543 THE CHANGING FACE OF EASTERN EUROPE Fall 2016, CAS 214 Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 p.m. 2 p.m. Igor Lukes 154 Bay State Road 617.358.1776, lukes@bu.edu SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES Focused on the period from the fifties to the present, this course analyzes the domestic and foreign policies of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Eastern Europe has undergone significant economic and political reforms. Their objective was the introduction of market economy and democracy. Some reforms have been successful, others have failed. The course seeks to provide you with the necessary tools for discerning and understanding both the successes and the failures. Since the collapse of Communism, Eastern Europeans have been able to live, think, and act as free human beings. All but the Ukrainians have regained their sovereignty, most have become members of NATO and the European Union. These are historic achievements. At the same time, the region has been confronted with a long list of new challenges: the privatization of centrallyplanned economies provided countless opportunities for theft of public wealth; international organized crime has spread throughout the area; corruption has infected post-communist law-enforcement organizations and government ministries to a degree that would have been unimaginable under the old Communist regimes; intellectual shallowness has invaded the media, and trashy entertainment has choked off many sources of genuine culture. The course studies the nature of these positive and negative processes and places them within the context of each nation s political and historical evolution. IMPORTANT DATES 6 September 2016 First day of class 19 September 2016 Last day to add a course 12 October 2016 Last day to drop a class without a W
20 October 2016 The midterm hand out 25 October 2016 The midterm essay due 10 November 2016 Last day to drop a class with a W 8 December 2016 Last lecture, the final hand out 21 December 2016 The final essay due 2
3 OFFICE HOURS My office is at 154 Bay State Road, room 101. I am available for consultations every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:15 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Of course, you can always talk to me before and after each lecture. If you are unable to see me during my office hours, send me an email and I will be happy to make a prompt arrangement for us to meet shortly. COURSE REQUIREMENTS There will be a take-home midterm and a take-home final examination. Both involve a five-page analytical essay on a theme you will choose from a list of three or more topics. The topics are selected to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your command of the material covered in the assigned texts and discussed in class. Your essay has to demonstrate that you have developed a critical understanding of the assigned texts and are familiar with the points made during class lectures and discussions. You should be able to engage the texts and lecture themes and also, when appropriate, to develop and present your own point of view. You are also asked to select one of the lecture dates and start the class with a short (10 min) summary of the most current events that pertain either to Eastern Europe as a region or to one of the specific countries covered in this course. A sheet with available dates will be circulated; please sign up early. Finally, there will be several short reading quizzes before some lectures. Their purpose is to test your familiarity with the assigned texts. Attendance and active participation are required. I start each lecture with a review of the material covered so far. Please come prepared to be challenged. GRADING Midterm: 30 percent Final: 40 percent Reading quizzes: 20 percent Current events presentation: 10 percent. GRADUATE STUDENTS Please come to see me (154 BSR) as soon as possible at the beginning of the semester to discuss how you can best profit from taking this course. I will be happy to try and match your scholarly interests and professional plans for the future with the requirements of this course.
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5 REQUIRED READINGS J. F. Brown. The Grooves of Change: Eastern Europe at the Turn of the Millennium. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001. J. F. Brown. Hopes and Shadows: Eastern Europe After Communism. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994. Sharon L. Wolchik and Jane L. Curry (eds.). Central & East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2015. ADDITIONAL READINGS László Borhi, Dealing with Dictators: The United States, Hungary, and East Central Europe. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2016. Timothy Garton Ash. The Magic Lantern: The Revolution in 89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague. New York: Random House, 1990. Timothy Garton Ash. The File: A Personal History. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. J. F. Brown. Surge to Freedom. Durham: Duke University Press, 1991. Sabrina Ramet. Eastern Europe: Politics, Culture, and Society Since 1939. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1998. ACADEMIC CONDUCT CODE It is your responsibility to know and understand the provisions of the Academic Conduct Code; a copy can be obtained on the website of the CAS Dean s Office. All cases of suspected academic misconduct will be referred to the Dean. Please observe the no eating or drinking in the classroom rule. If you wear a baseball hat, take it off for the duration of the class. And please turn off your cell-phones. Your laptop is for taking notes only. Do not under any circumstances check your email and turn off all your browsers. Please consult the following website: http://www.bu.edu/academics/policies/academic-conduct-code/ POLICY ON INCOMPLETES
No incomplete grades will be reported unless the student has presented a plausible explanation why the coursework could not be finished on time. 6
7 COURSE OUTLINE CAS IR 543 THE CHANGING FACE OF EASTERN EUROPE Fall 2016 1. 6 September Introduction 2. 8 September Cold War Ends: Outside Factors v. Local Actors 3. 13 September Stability Above All: The Case of Colonel Kukliński 4. 15 September 1989: The Miracle Year and Its Mysteries 5. 20 September After the Jubilation: The Reality of Today 6. 22 September Economic Reform: Challenges and Solutions 7. 27 September Restitutions, Dutch Auctions & Vouchers 8. 29 September What to Do With an Ugly Past? 9. 4 October Transitional Justice: the Lustrace Law 10. 6 October Eastern Europe in NATO and the European Union 11. 13 October Ukraine 12. 18 October Poland, 1945-1970 13. 20 October Poland: 1971-1981 14. 25 October Poland: From Defeat to Victory 15. 27 October Czechoslovakia: From 1945 to Normalization 16. 1 November Czechs and Slovaks: the Velvet Divorce 17. 3 November Germany, East and West 18. 8 November The Stasiland: German Democratic Republic 19. 10 November Hungary, 1945-1989 20. 15 November Hungary: An Uneven Recovery 21. 17 November Bulgaria 22. 22 November Romania 23. 29 November The Baltic Countries 24. 1 December Yugoslavia: 1945-1989 25. 6 December Slovenia, Croatia, BiH, Serbia, Montenegro 26. 8 December Kosovo
8 Lecture 1 6 September Introduction Course requirements, attendance, participation, readings, policy on incompletes, and grading. Lecture 2 8 September Cold War Ends: Outside Factors v. Local Actors Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 3-32. Lukes: The End of the Cold War: The Night the Masks Fell. Lecture 3 13 September Stability Above All: The Case of Colonel Kukliński Benjamin Fischer, The Vilification and Vindication of Colonel Kukliński, Studies in Intelligence 9 (Summer 2000): 19-33. Mark Kramer, Jaruzelski, the Soviet Union, and the Imposition of Martial Law in Poland: New Light on the Mystery of December 1981, Cold War International History Bulletin 11 (Winter 1998): 5-15. Lecture 4 15 September 1989: The Miracle Year and Its Mysteries Garton Ash, The Magic Lantern, 11-23 and 131-156. Brown, Surge to Freedom, 26-43. Lectures 5 20 September After the Jubilation: The Reality of Today
9 Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 515-525. Brown, Hopes and Shadows, 1-21. Falkowski, Marching Democracy, Visegerad Insight 1, 9 (2016): 80-83. Lecture 6-7 22-27 September Economic Reform: Restitutions, Dutch Auctions and Vouchers Brown, The Grooves of Change, 60-72. Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 67-97. Ehl, The State and the Economy: The Old Relationship Revisited, Visegerad Insight 1, 9 (2016): 32-35. Lectures 8-9 29 September-4 October Dealing With an Ugly Past and the Lustration Law Maddrell, The Opening of the State Security Archives of Central and Eastern Europe. Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 169-185. Lecture 10 6 October Eastern Europe in NATO and EU Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 189-206, 213-229. Lukes, NATO Expands into Central Europe: The Continuing Search for a More Perfect Habsburg Empire. Allied Solidarity in Europe, Visegerad Insight 1, 9 (2016): 12-15. Lecture 11
10 13 October Ukraine Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 481-509. Snyder, The Battle in Ukraine Means Everything. The Wall Street Journal, Ukraine and the Shame of Europe.
11 Lectures 12-14 18-25 October Poland Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 235-262. Brown, Grooves of Change, 111-115. Benjamin Fischer, Solidarity, the CIA, and Western Technology. Foy, Illusive Intermarium, Visegerad Insight 1, 9 (2016): 64-65. Lectures 15-16 27 October- 1 November Czechoslovakia Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 265-288. Brown, Grooves of Change, 115-122. Brown, Hopes and Shadows, 51-66. Lectures 17-18 3-8 November Germany Ramet, Eastern Europe, 94-119. Garton Ash, The File, 176-180. Brown, Surge to Freedom, 125-147. Benjamin Fischer, The CIA and Germany Lectures 19-20 10-15 November Hungary Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 293-311.
12 Brown, Grooves of Change, 122-128. Brown, Hopes and Shadows, 80-92. Borhi, Dealing with Dictators, 111-132. Lecture 21 17 November Bulgaria Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 341-367. Brown, Hopes and Shadows, 105-114. Brown, Surge to Freedom, 181-197. Lecture 22 22 November Romania Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 373-400. Brown, Grooves of Change, 128-132. Brown, Hopes and Shadows, 94-105. Lecture 23 29 November The Baltic Countries Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 317-336. Lectures 24-25 1-6 December Yugoslavia and its Collapse Wolchik and Curry, Central & East European Politics, 433-468.
13 Brown, Grooves of Change, 144-170. Brown, Hopes and Shadows, 229-270. Lecture 26 8 December Kosovo, the War of 1999 and Its Consequences Brown, Grooves of Change, 170-199.