Post-Soviet Conflicts: The Thirty Years’ Crisis

In the 30 years since the emergence of the post-Soviet conflicts things have both changed and remained the same – continuities and changes in post-Soviet conflicts are the primary themes of this volume – it addresses all major wars, civil wars, and rebellions in the former Soviet Union. The volume focuses on factors that have contributed or may contribute to the resolution of the post-Soviet conflicts, most of which have represented rather long and damaging crises. In all conflict cases Moscow has been guided by Russian state interests – some have been instigated or fueled, others driven to a frozen state, and still a couple of others have been constructively resolved due to Moscow’s intervention. Russia has used a long-term strategy for the resolution of those conflicts that have taken place on its soil, but in regards to the conflicts in other post-Soviet states, there is no long-term solution in sight. As such, the conflicts in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and Nagorniy Karabakh, remain unresolved involving not only the named states, but Russia as well. They may represent localized national or regional crisis impacting only the states involved, but for the Russian Federation they epitomize one huge post-Soviet crisis with no obvious end.

Table of Contents:
The Post-Soviet Crisis Ali Askerov, Stefan Brooks, and Lasha Tchantouridzé Chapter One The Rise of Putin’s Russia and the post-Soviet Conflicts Stefan Brooks Chapter Two Georgia’s Changing Strategic Situation S. Neil MacFarlane Chapter Three The Nagorno Karabakh Conflict: The Beginning of the Soviet End Ali Askerov Chapter Four Legitimacy and Force In The Conflict Over South Ossetia Lasha Tchantouridzé Chapter Five The Conflict Over Abkhazia: Mutually Exclusive National Projects and Fragmented Statehood David Matsaberidze Chapter Six Ajara: A Case in Conflict Avoidance Zurab Tchiaberashvili Chapter Seven Chechnya: Interrupted Independence Ali Askerov & Mairbek Vatchagaev Chapter Eight Dagestan: A Silent War Robert Bruce Ware Chapter Nine Long-term Effects of Wartime Violence in Tajikistan Malte Müller and Sam Whitt Chapter Ten Communal Violence in Kyrgyzstan Joldon Kutmanaliev Chapter Eleven Caspian Sea Dispute Musa Qasımlı Chapter Twelve Tatarstan: A Model of Peaceful Relations or Potential Spot of Conflict Sait Ocakli Chapter Thirteen Moldova’s Breakaway Transnistria: The Origins, Nature and Current Dynamics Kamala Valiyeva Chapter Fourteen Ukraine Between ‘The Russian World’ and the Black Sea Lasha Tchantouridzé Chapter Fifteen Occupied Territory, Interrupted Dreams, And Shattered Hopes: A Trilogy of Traumas of the Crimean Tatar People Idil P. Izmirli