EU policy towards Russia: Between a normative actor and realist policy. EU-Russia relations: Current most pressing problems + PP1 and seminar discussion.

The lecture and the subsequent seminar discussion will discuss the most important problems and questions concerning current EU-Russia relations. What did both actors achived in mutual relations in recent history and what are the most serious problems? What are the solutions for these problems (from short-term and long-term perspective)? Which aims and strategy should the EU adopt in relation to Russia, and vice-versa?

Required readings:

• Delcour, L. (2018): "Dealing with the elephant in the room: the EU, its ‘Eastern neighbourhood’ and Russia, Contemporary Politics, 24:1, pp. 14-29 (17 pages)
  
• Giusti, S. (2016): "The EU´s policy towards Russia. National interests and path dependency”. In: Cladi, Lorenzo and Locatelli, Andrea (eds.; 2016): International Relations Theory and European Security. We thought we knew. Routledge, pp. 177 - 196. (19 pages)
• Nitoiu, C. (2017): "Still entrenched in the conflict/cooperation dichotomy? EU–Russia relations and the Ukraine crisis." European Politics and Society, 18:2, pp. 148-165. (19 pages)

Recommended:
EEAS (2019): The Russian Federation and the European Union (EU). On-line: (https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/35939/european-union-and-russian-federation_en) 

Topic of Position paper 1:

EU-Russia relations: Most pressing problems

Try to think about following questions and problems in your position paper: Moments of conflict and cooperation between the EU and Russia - What are the most important and serious current problems in mutual relations? What are the roots or causes of these problems (in your view)? Are there any possible solutions and/or perspectives for a renewal of cooperation? Try to explain your ideas and support with arguments.

In the folder PP1 you will find 2 texts (Nitoiu 2017; Delcour 2018). You can use them as a basis for your PP, but you are encouraged also to the usage of some other relevant sources. List of sources must be included!

Position paper must be uploaded to the particular folder  no later than 6 p.m., 15 October 2019.