BORDER DISPUTES AND DISPUTED BORDERS IN THE SOVIET FEDERAL SYSTEM

In: Nationalities papers: the journal of nationalism and ethnicity, Band 15, Heft 1, S. 43-70

Abstract

DISPUTED BORDERS EXIST WITHIN THE SOVIET UNION'S FEDERAL SYSTEM, BUT THE GOVERNMENT PAYS LITTLE ATTENTION TO THEM. SOME OF THE BORDERS DEMARCATE CULTURAL IDENTITIES. THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE BACKGROUND TO THESE CONTESTED BORDERS IN SEVEN CASE STUDIES. THE MOST CONTESTED BORDERS BETWEEN ETHNIC GROUPS ARE IN THE WEST AND NEW FRONTIER ZONES, THE MOUNTAINOUS CAUCASUS, AND NOMADIC CENTRAL ASIA. SOME BORDER LINES WERE ORIGINALLY SET UP IN AN ARBITRARY FASHION, IGNORING LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES. THE PROBLEMS WERE HEIGHTENED BY SETTLEMENTS OF LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE FROM DISTANT AREAS OF RUSSIA.