Ethnopolitical Processes in the Post-Soviet Space and the Reconstruction of Northern Eurasia

Abstract

First, I will define an ethnopolitical process. It is a process of interaction among rather large population groups, each of which is characterized, on the one hand, by a clearly articulated ethnic identity and, on the other, by specific (actual or desired) institutions of sovereignty. Thus the ethnic demands made by these groups immediately become political (the extension of sovereignty), while political, economic, or human requirements acquire an ethnic tone, mechanisms of ethnic mobilization are used to achieve them, and so on.