By the Soviet Perestroika which was started by Gorbachev in the mid of 1980s, the communist regimes of the world had great shook. Then, the Soviet Union was collapsed in the end of 1991, most of the former USSR the Eastern European countries abandoned communism; and the dream of communism seemed to be disappeared. However, the many communist regimes have been kept in East Asia and Southeast Asia, although many of their system have been modified. In addition, many of the former USSR states have been keeping the undemocratic regimes, and some of them are almost same to the communist regime in the different names. On the other hand, the pressures of democratization have been given not only from the international society, but from the people in some states, although there are many opinions if such pressures would be effective or not.
In this course, we will try to compare the political systems focusing on the political changes of the former USSR states after the end of cold war.
In addition, it seems to be extremely interesting to focus on the Russian elections, which are rarely focused on in the general media, and the political changes surrounding them, and we are planning to have a guest lecturer concerning this problem.
Note that taking this course in conjunction with "Regions and Society (Europe and CIS)," a course the instructor is offering in the spring semester, will provide a deeper understanding.