Nations Abroad

Based on new field research by an international team of post-Soviet specialists, this is the first comparative study to examine the complexities of trans-border ethnic groups and state-building in the former Soviet Union.The collapse of the Soviet state transformed internal administrative boundaries into international frontiers. Russians, Ukrainians, and other ethnic groups overnight became “nations abroad,” communities separated from their ostensible homelands by shifting interstate borders. Since 1991, these new diasporas have had a powerful impact on minorities policy within the Soviet successor states, as well as on relations between the newly independent republics.Focusing on seven key cases—Jews, Armenians, Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Poles, and Volga Tatars—this book offers unique insights into the power of diaspora politics within and between the new states of Eurasia. Political scientists, sociologists, and international relations experts will find this an indispensable guide to the complex interaction of nations and states in the post-Soviet world.