Presents 16 case studies of ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet world. The book places ethnic conflict in the context of imperial collapse, democratization and state building.

Ethnic and national conflicts have been an unexpected and major source of problems in many parts of the world in recent times. Nowhere more so than in the formerly communist countries. This book provides a readable introduction to, and brief analytical coverage of, all the ethnic disputes of the 1990s. Full justice is done both to complex present-day situations and the deeper roots of ethnic conflict. This is followed by a review and evaluation of the main available explanations. The book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand why the fall of communism did not introduce an era of goodwill between the nations.

A brief history of the Caucusus region during and after the Post-Soviet Wars The Post-Soviet Wars is a comparative account of the organized violence in the Caucusus region, looking at four key areas: Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Dagestan. Zürcher’s goal is to understand the origin and nature of the violence in these regions, the response and suppression from the post-Soviet regime and the resulting outcomes, all with an eye toward understanding why some conflicts turned violent, whereas others not. Notably, in Dagestan actual violent conflict has not erupted, an exception of political stability for the region. The book provides a brief history of the region, particularly the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting changes that took place in the wake of this toppling. Zürcher carefully looks at the conditions within each region—economic, ethnic, religious, and political—to make sense of why some turned to violent conflict and some did not and what the future of the region might portend. This important volume provides both an overview of the region that is both up-to-date and comprehensive as well as an accessible understanding of the current scholarship on mobilization and violence.

Presents 16 case studies of ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet world. The book places ethnic conflict in the context of imperial collapse, democratization and state building.

The post-Communist world has seen a dramatic revival of ethnicity and nationalism. The volume explores the contemporary sources, scope and intensity of nationality conflicts in the context of a disintegrating Soviet Empire. The authors address themselves to the resurgence of ethnicity and nationalism within the former Soviet imperium, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria and China and examine the consequences of perestroika and glasnost. Central issues involve identity formation, the nature and implications of ethnic and internal conflicts and possible paths toward resolution.

Post-Soviet Political Order asks what is shaping the institutional pattern of the post-Soviet political order, what the new order will be like, what patterns of conflict are emerging, and what can be done about stabilising the region. In considering these questions the contributors converge on four common themes: * the institutional legacy of empire * the social processes unleashed by imperial collapse * patterns of bargaining within and between states to resolve conflicts arising out of the imperial collapse * the impact of the wider international setting on the pattern of post-imperial politics Focusing on the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, the contributors show how strong state institutions are essential if conflict and political instability are to be avoided.