Ethnicity and Territory in the Former Soviet Union

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought to the fore issues of ethnic division that had been suppressed under communist rule. Hughes (government, London School of Economics) and Sasse (European Institute, London School of Economics) have collected nine essays that explore the way that those divisions developed and the differing responses to it by the respective governments of the former Soviet Union. Collectively, they argue that institutional mechanisms have emerged as the single most important strategy of regional conflict- prevention. Citing the Crimea as the best example of integration, they explain how Russian secessionism was defused by a constitution- making process that resulted in special autonomy status for Crimea. The other case studies come from both the "emerging democracies" of the region as well as the more authoritarian regimes of Central Asia.