The Post-Soviet States: Mapping the Politics of Transition / Edition 1

by Graham Smith

Overview

The collapse of the Soviet Union has engendered one of the most momentous and critical regional transformations of our tiomes through the formation and development of the post-Soviet states. This book explores the politics of post-Soviet transition and the problems which will continue to face these states well into the twenty-first century, as they struggle towards democracy, market reform, ethnic co-existance and integration into a new geoplolitical post-Cold War world order.



Richly illustrated with examples drawn from Russian and other post-Soviet primary sources, the author focuses on three broad themes of transition. Firstly, the progression from colonialism to post-colonialism and the consquences of such changes on national identity and the redefinition of national homeland. Secondly, the movement away from totalitarian rule and the factors which both facilitate and challenge the prospects of a democratic future. Thirdly, the process of securing a successful place in the global capitalist economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780340677919
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/02/1999
Series:	A Hodder Arnold Publication Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Graham Smith is Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Director of its Post-Soviet States Research Programme, and Lecturer on the Post-Soviet States in the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.

Table of Contents

Trials of transition
From transformation to fragmentation
Part I - Postcolonialism and the politics of national identities
Russia identity, geopolitics and homeland
The borderland states: nations, citizens and diasporas
Part II - Experimenting with democracy
Limits to democracy
Multiculturalism, federalism and democracy
Part III - Geopolitical economy, the market and privatisation
The geopolitical economy of the CIS
The state, economic liberalisation and the regions
Geopolitical futures.

Editorial Reviews

..this text is a mandatory read for anyone interested in getting a better handle on the issues facing the post-Soviet states.
Political Geography

From the Publisher