Unit HISTORY AND GEOPOLITICS OF THE RUSSIAN BALKAN AREA
- Course
- International relations
- Study-unit Code
- A001432
- Curriculum
- Cooperazione internazionale e state building
- Teacher
- Francesco Randazzo
- Teachers
-
- Francesco Randazzo
- Hours
- 63 ore - Francesco Randazzo
- CFU
- 9
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2023
- Offered
- 2023/24
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Storico
- Academic discipline
- SPS/06
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- italian language
- Contents
- The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has brought important political figures such as Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky into the limelight. The course aims to trace the traits of the two civilisations, their political, cultural and ideological entanglements to get to the root of the conflicts. This will be done by analysing international responsibilities and the role assumed by other European and non-European players from the end of the Cold War to the present day. A course that will attempt to unravel some important knots in the intricate story that has seen two peoples confront each other so fiercely. The course will analyse the various points of view on the history of a conflict that risks becoming a point of no return for 'European peace' between Russia and the West.
- Reference texts
- A. Graziosi L'Ucraina e Putin tra storia e ideologia, Laterza, 2022 (E-book);
F. Bettanin, La Russia, l'Ucraina e la guerra in Europa, Donzelli, 2022
Inoltre, un libro a scelta tra:
A Politkovskaja, La Russia di Putin, Adelphi, 2015
S. Ventura Come nasce un leader. Volodymyr Zelensky: da attore-presidente a eroe nazionale, 2022
G. Fenwick, Volodymyr Zelensky. Lottare per il futuro, Libreria Pienogiorno, 2022
M. Pizzuti, Attacco all'Europa. L'altra faccia della guerra in Ucraina. Ciò che i media non dicono. Le trame USA per colpire la Russia e destabilizzare il Vecchio Continente, 2022
N. Lilin, Putin. L'ultimo zar. Da San Pietroburgo all'Ucraina, Piemme, 2022
G. Breccia, A. Frediani Le guerre della Russia, Newton Compton Editori, 2022
D. Fertilio, O. Ponomareva, Lettere dal Donbas. Le voci e i volti della guerra in Ucraina, Mauro Pagliai Editore, 2022
S. Romano, Putin e la ricostruzione della grande Russia, Longanesi, 2016
G. Chiesa PUTINFOBIA. Lucida, acuta, profetica: un’analisi del primo conflitto in Ucraina, della russofobia 2.0 e della crisi dell'Occidente, Piemme, 2022 - Educational objectives
- Understanding current events and being able to understand the knots of history becomes a fundamental step for any student entering the world of research, to be able to understand historical truth and its possible ideological manipulations
- Prerequisites
- It is essential, but not compulsory, that students have taken courses such as Contemporary History and History of International Relations in their Bachelor's degree, as they are preparatory to the simplified learning of the concepts that will be referred to during the course.
- Teaching methods
- Teaching activities include classroom lectures, participation in conferences and seminars on topics related or relevant to the course, and video or film screenings that enrich the course content. Furthermore, in the second part of the course, students are expected to be able to discuss in groups or individually specific topics on which the lecturer will propose in-depth studies.
- Other information
- Attendance at the course is optional, though recommended and encouraged.
- Learning verification modality
- The examination includes an oral test consisting of a discussion lasting approximately 30-40 minutes and aimed at ascertaining the student's level of knowledge and comprehension of the theoretical and methodological contents indicated in the syllabus. The oral test will have to verify the student's communication skills, language property and autonomous organisation of the exposition on the same theoretical topics and notions learnt. The following will be strongly appreciated: the ability to synthesise, clear and coherent exposition as well as the ability to be able to link the topics with leading threads and logical-deductive reasoning.
- Extended program
- The war between Russia and Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022 with the invasion of the country by Putin's troops, has been going on for over a year despite various diplomatic attempts to stop it. The reasons for the conflict, however, cannot be ascribed only to Moscow's entry first into the Donbass and then into the rest of Ukrainian territory: the causes of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis are deeper and have their roots in the past and recent history of the two countries. The real cause of the conflict lies in the fact that Putin's Russia has always been opposed to Ukraine's desire to join NATO and, in general, to move closer to US and Western influence. Moscow strenuously opposes this possibility, fearing that Western countries, the US in primis, could use Ukrainian territory to establish bases and radars there, with new anti-missile interceptors, such as those deployed in Romania and Poland. In other words, the Kremlin wants to maintain its sphere of influence in the area, and wants NATO to give up its activities in Eastern Europe; in doing so, it has made the grave mistake of using weapons instead of diplomacy. How it will come out of this is still a great mystery to everyone, but above all, it will be really difficult to understand. how it will manage to recover the relationship of trust painstakingly rebuilt with the West after decades of communism and still shipwrecked in the war.
- Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- high-quality education ob. 4