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Area studies : Caucasus

Code Cours
2324-ESPOL-GEOP-EN-2002
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Establishment
ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences
Language of instruction
French, English
This course occurs in the following program(s)
Licence Science Politique - Parcours Relations internationales - Crédits ECTS:
Training officer(s)
Giulia PRELZ OLTRAMONTI
Period
S3

Présentation

Goal

To understand some of the underlying dynamics of the conflicts that have taken place in the South and North Caucasus since the late 1980s.


To learn to analyse current events in historical perspective.


To become familiar with ongoing tensions in a "European neighbourhood".



Presentation


  1. General presentation of the course and of the Caucasus

  2. The history of the Caucasus: from Tsarist colonization to the break-up of the USSR

  3. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

  4. Abkhazia and South Ossetia: pre-2008

  5. The Russo-Georgian war and the post-2008 period

  6. The two Chechen conflicts

  7. The North Caucasus: violence, instability, and Islam


Modalités

Forms of instruction

Lectures on the topics of the course (with powerpoint presentations) during session 1 to 4 and 6 to 8. These lectures are meant to increase the familiarity of the students with the region and the issues analysed.

100% - In-course evaluation: this will take place during session 5 and session 9.

Students have 1 hour and 15 minutes to write a short essay on a specific assigned topic. They are allowed to bring the paper syllabus and other paper/printed material to class and use them to write the essay. Only one essay out of the two will count for the evaluation. The selection of the essay that will be considered for grading will be done randomly. Unjustified absences on those dates will be marked as 0/20.

The rest of session 5 and 9 is dedicated to a class discussion of the essay topics.

Evaluation
Contrôle continu : coeff. 100

Ressources

Bibliography

A comprehensive bibliography is available on ICampus, together with videos, podcasts, and other material meant to illustrate the topic and help students with their assignments. Students are also given a paper syllabus with the required readings.||