Russia and Its Neighbors: Ukraine, the Baltics

Russia and Its Neighbors: Ukraine, the Baltics, the Caucasus, and the -Stans

As current events surrounding Russia shock and puzzle, the world tries to understand, why. This class offers a historical survey of Russia’s relationship with its neighbors, from the time of Russia’s emergence as a nation and a state, through its imperial and Soviet periods, through the turbulent years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and up to the tragic events of today.

We’ll focus on Ukraine, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), and the -stan states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan). The class will illuminate the beginnings of all involved nations and their political and cultural trajectories throughout history.

We will focus on the point when these nations’ paths became intertwined with that of Russia and analyze ways in which their relationships with their gargantuan neighbor have affected their fates.

Nina Wieda teaches at Northwestern University. She received her PhD in Russian literature from Northwestern University and her MA in nationalism studies from Central European University.

Materials List

No required materials and no first reading assignment.