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This course examines critical policy issues concerning Russian strategy in the post-Soviet space and has three main purposes. The first is to provide students with the factual and conceptual knowledge of Russian interests in and policies towards the post-Soviet states, including five Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan), three Caucasian republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), three Baltic republics (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia), Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus so that they can analyze numerous identity, security, energy, transportation, supply chain, and immigration challenges facing Russia in the near abroad, understand the role of religion, transnational networks, including the shrinking Russian and growing Chinese diasporas, drug cartels, human smuggling rings, and terrorist movements, in regional security, political and economic development, and understand Russia’s relations with the United States, China, Turkey, Iran, and European Union in the post-Soviet space. The second purpose is for students to develop critical thinking and writing skills so that they can produce high quality analytical products for various types of consumers, using open-source information. The third purpose is to introduce the main post-Soviet open sources available online in the public domain and teach students how to evaluate their accuracy, credibility, and utility for the policy relevant research and intelligence analysis.