https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9284-0215
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Abstract
The article explores the Russia–Ukraine crisis of 2014 in the context of post-communist nationalism and the disintegration of the post-Soviet space. The focus is on the politicisation of the ethno-linguistic divide and historical narratives in the interplay between Russia’s determination to control Ukraine’s political future and Ukraine’s resolve to free itself from Russian influence. In highlighting the incompatibility between Russian and Ukrainian nationalising projects, it is argued that while the Ukrainian crisis is not an ethnic conflict per se, nationalism was a significant contributory factor in fuelling the conflict and remains a relevant obstacle to its resolution.
Notes
1 Constitution of Ukraine, 1996, available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/ccpe/profiles/ukraineConstitution_en.asp, accessed 23 August 2017.
2 ‘Nations in Transit 2018’, Freedom House, available at: https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/nations-transit-2018, accessed 22 August 2018.
3 ‘Text of Putin’s Speech at NATO Summit (Bucharest, April 2, 2008)’, UNIAN, 18 April 2008, available at: https://www.unian.info/world/111033-text-of-putin-s-speech-at-nato-summit-bucharest-april-2-2008.html, accessed 5 December 2019.
4 For legal details, see Cwicinskaja (Citation2017).
5 ‘All-Ukrainian Population Census 2001’, available at: http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/Crimea/, accessed 5 December 2019.
6 ‘An Introduction to the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea’, available at: http://oxcon.ouplaw.com/page/crimea-constitution, accessed 29 August 2018.
7 The Constitution of the Russian Federation, 2001, Article 3/1, available at: http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-02.htm, accessed 29 August 2017.
8 ‘Amendments to the Law on State Policy toward Compatriots Living Abroad’, July 2010, available at: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/copy/8429, accessed 29 August 2017.
9 ‘Crimea Crisis: Russian President Putin’s Speech Annotated’, BBC News, 19 March 2014, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26652058, accessed 29 August 2017.
10 Russkii Mir Foundation, available at: http://russkiymir.ru/en/fund/, accessed 30 August 2017.
11 For more detailed debates see Wilson (Citation2014), Bojcun (Citation2015), Kudelia (Citation2015), Kuzio (Citation2015b), Riabchuk (Citation2015), Goble (Citation2016), Pieper (Citation2016), Sasse and Lackner (Citation2018) and the special issue ‘The Ukrainian Radical Right in Past and Present: Studies in Ideology, Memory and Politics’ (2015), Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 48, 2–3.
12 Public Opinion Survey of Residents of Ukraine by the Government of Canada, available at: www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2017-may-survey-of-residents-of-ukraine_en.pdf, accessed 20 August 2018.
13 Public Opinion Survey of Residents of Ukraine by the Government of Canada, pp. 51, 54, available at: www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2017-may-survey-of-residents-of-ukraine_en.pdf, accessed 20 August 2018.
14 ‘Nato Publics Blame Russia for Ukrainian Crisis, but Reluctant to Provide Military Aid’, Pew Research Centre, 10 June 2015, p. 13, available at: www.pewglobal.org/files/2015/06/Pew-Research-Center-Russia-Ukraine-Report-FINAL-June-10-2015.pdf, accessed 20 August 2018.
15 Ustashe (Ustaša), a Croatian fascist organisation, led the Independent State of Croatia (NDH- Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, 1941–1945) under Hitler’s tutelage.
16 For details about the radical right organisations which formed the Right Sector and other radical nationalists see Likhachev (Citation2015).
17 ‘On the Condemnation of the Communist and Nazi Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine and Banning of Propaganda of Their Symbols’, European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Council of Europe, available at: http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-REF%282015%29045-e, accessed 28 August 2018; ‘Law of Ukraine. On Access to Archives of Repressive Agencies of Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917–1991’, Ukrayins’kyy Instytut, available at: http://www.memory.gov.ua/laws/law-ukraine-access-archives-repressive-agencies-totalitarian-communist-regime-1917-1991, accessed 28 August 2018.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Erika Harris
Erika Harris, Professor, Department of Politics, University of Liverpool, 8–11 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7WZ, UK. Email: [email protected]