Totalitarianism Reborn: Russia, China and New Cold Wars
UndergraduateLTU-POL3INR2025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Price from
- $2,124
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Totalitarianism Reborn: Russia, China and New Cold Wars
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the evolution of post-1989 China and Russia and their impact on the world.
- Compare critically the evolution of the Chinese and Russian political systems.
- Conduct secondary source research to establish the scholarly context and the lines of debate surrounding issues of contention in post-1989 Chinese and Russian politics.
- Conduct original research, using English-language primary sources, on Chinese and Russian politics.
- The Crisis of Communism
- Russian Democratisation and Chinese Reform
- Nationalism and Separatism
- Oligarchs and Corruption
- Human Rights and Dissent
- The Contest for Central Asia
- Challenge to Western Hegemony
This subject examines the transformation of Russia and China from the reforms of the 1990s to the restoration of totalitarian controls under Putin and Xi Jinping. By a comparative approach, you will learn about how these states grappled with the legacy of communism, reformed political institutions, transformed their economies, and embarked upon expansionist projects. The course will illuminate the domestic challenges faced by these regimes, such as corruption, civic activism, ethnonationalism, and separatism. It will also pose questions about the significance of their collaboration on the international stage, their competition in Central Asia, and their relationship with the West.
This is a level 3 subject. Please consider the subject pre-requisites before enrolling. This subject includes live sessions with the expectation of student attendance and participation.
- 5 written tutorial engagement exercises (equivalent to 500 words), comprising critical responses to lectures and readings. Two of these will be presented orally in tutorials. (15%)
- One 1,800 word Argumentative Research Essay (45%)
- An argumentative research essay, which will require students to apply lessons learned from the feedback to the first argumentative research essay. 1700 words. (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
Entry requirements
Others
Prerequisites: Students must have completed 60 credit points of Level two subjects.
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed POL4003 (Authoritarian Empires: Russia, China and the Politics of Eurasia) are ineligible to enrol in this subject.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
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