GOVT 132 Intro to International Politics. Fall 2012. Professor Eric Shiraev

          

I took Russian in high school for three years and in those years I read a book titled “Russian Government and Politics.”  I chose this book not because of its analytical coverage of dramatic changes in Russian politics, but for the fact that I could read the name of the restaurant on the front cover—макдоналдс—in Russian.  Who knew I would end up learning from co-author Professor Shiraev at GMU.

I was impressed by the amount of knowledge he had at his fingertips every class.  The beauty about his teaching was his comprehensive analysis on current events by looking at the past occurrences. Shireav has taught Govt. 132 for almost 20 years. In that time,  the international political landscape has changed tremendously and he has enjoyed every moment of it.

After reading his book, I asked him what other pieces of literature should students interested in international politics should read?

“I urge the students to look at history," he said.  "How can you begin to talk about the events of today with looking at the history of the region?”

For many students--I used to be one of them--history is not in the forefront of our minds, but if we are ever to deal with the issues of today, it needs to be.  To be educated in history is to make sure that we never repeat the failures of the past.

Since this class is taken by students as a general elective, most are expecting the course to be simple and not demanding.  I asked Shiraev what he thought about students rating his class as extremely easy. Does he believe that the course should get students interested or should it be challenging?

“It depends on personality, good professors are the ones who are challenging and pleasant to students," Shiraev said.  Indeed, those are the professors you should be proud to take.

The one piece of advice that he wishes for students to take with them is to never accept questions uncritically; we should always ask why.  Cпасибо, Professor Shiraev.

And if you are curious about the current conflict between the U.S. and Russia, Shiraev believes that continued tensions between those countries could lead to a “New Cold War” era. I'm counting the days that this phrase will eventually appear on our news networks.