Course Catalogue

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This course is designed to provide students with an advanced introduction to the politics and international relations of post-Soviet Central Asia - a region that is here defined as the ensemble of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The course's core aim is to stimulate a critical reassessment of the external and internal facets of Central Asia's political evolution in the post-Soviet era.

10 x 2-hour sessions.

Open to postgraduate students only.

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This module will be formally assessed by means of:

■ Coursework in the form of an essay 3,000 words in length (50% of grade)

■ A written exam to be convened in class (50% of grade)

This course aims to present students with an advanced introduction to the politics and international relations of post-Soviet Central Asia - a region that is here defined as the ensemble of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The course offers an excursus into the principal dynamics that influenced Central Asia's socio-political evolution throughuot the post-Soviet era. The course aims in this sense at describing how the achievement of independence altered

1) the élites' perceptions of statehood;

2) the population's perceptions of nationhood and

3) Central Asia's place in the international relations of the post-Cold War era.

In this context, the seminars will outline the emergence of independent political processes in Central Asia, to facilitate the students' understanding of the divergent socio-political paths upon which the five republics have embarked since 1991.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ demonstrate coherent knowledge of the political evolution of post-Soviet Central Asia;

■ compare and contrast the principal connections between post-Soviet political developments and the region's historical evolution in the pre-independence era;

■ critically evaluate the different state approaches to post-Soviet socio-political transformation;

■ establish congruent relations between the domestic and the external facets of regional post-Soviet politics;

■ identify and assess the new security challenges facing Central Asia and explain how they inform international relations across the region; and

■ elaborate the knowledge acquired during the course in coherent, well-structured and sophisticated written essays and oral presentations.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.