Course info

The course is aimed at presenting and discussing the changing politics of Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War, with special emphasis led on the roots and impact of the present war in Ukraine.

The course will start with discussing the concept of Central Europe as distinct both from the Western and Eastern Europe in terms of its culture, historical development, constitutional traditions, and political and economic history. This will be achieved by discussing the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early-moderns age and the region’s history in the 20^th century.

The main thrust of the course will be directed at discussing a systemic transformation across the region in 1990s-2000s and emergence of the NATO and EU integration as a model for this process. This will be followed by discussing the strategies of CE countries in the EU and the roots of the region’s evolution from a centre of Euro-enthusiasm to a Eurosceptic one.

Subsequently the region’s quickly changing position within the EU, a broader European system and a global system will be discussed, with special emphasis laid on analysis of its engagement with the Brexit process, with rise of Russia, and the impact of the Russian 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Finally, the students will be encouraged to discuss the prospects for the region in the future, both during the closing seminar and during an Oxford debate on a topic connected to the courses’ theme.

The course does not require prior academic knowledge of the subject.