Abstract
As the Soviet Union crumbled, leaders of ethnic regions in the successor states began demanding immediate political, cultural, and economic autonomy from their new central governments. Increased levels of ethnic separatism occurred most consistently among the ethnic groups who had dominated autonomous regions during the Soviet period. Regional political leaders, as well as those of nationalist movements, characterized such demands as reasonable and just, results of the difficulties of being an ethnic minority in a multiethnic state. But the extent of the demands differed across regional contexts, and leaders used varied means to achieve their stated goals. Of the 35 ethnically designated territories inherited by Soviet successor states, 32 sought greater sovereignty from their central governments, and 7 of those asserted their desire for independence. From the 7 independence seekers, 4 fought secessionist wars against the central government.1
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Notes
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This definition is paraphrased from that used by Transparency International. Many definitions of corruption abound, with both normative, cultural, and objective implications and drawbacks. Consider Paul Heywood, “Political Corruption: Problems and Perspectives,” Political Studies 45, no. 3 (1997): 421–26.
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See, for example, Verena Fritz, State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia (Budapest, Hungary: Central European University Press, 2007);
Robert I. Rotberg, When States Fail: Causes and Consequences (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
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© 2009 Julie A. George
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George, J.A. (2009). Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia. In: The Politics of Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230102323_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230102323_2
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