Russian Influence in Former Soviet Republics

With the collapse of the Soviet Union following the failed coup d'etat directed at the Gorbachev government, the former member states of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Socialist Republics, became independent sovereign states. Initially, a majority of the former Soviet republics were pressured by Russia into affiliating with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS, however, was essentially a nonstarter from the beginning, and very soon became a forgotten anachronism.

Initially, all of the other former Soviet Republics were openly hostile to the newly independent Russian Republic. The former Soviet republics seemed anxious to distance themselves from Moscow and to assert their independence. In the fall of 1994, however, Russian influence is on the rise in most of the former Soviet republics, and not all of this Russian influence is unwelcome in the former Soviet republics. Even in the Baltic states where bitterness towards the Russians is embedded in the social fabric, open hostility appears to be giving way tolerance and efforts to improve relations with the Bear.

This research examines the reemergence of Russian influence in the former Soviet republics. While all of the former Soviet republics are included in this examination, greater emphasis is placed on those states located in the Transcaucacus. The relationship between Russian and the other former Soviet republics does not

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ment implemented a policy designed to promote the development of national identities within the constituent republics, within a framework which would permit the development of domestic political autonomy. The Leninist approach to dealing with the nationalities problem might have proved to be successful, if Lenin had not died early on in the life of the Soviet Union. As it happened, Stalin gained control of the Soviet government in the mid to late 1920s. Lenin was a pragmatic leader who held that one must cope with realities without betraying one's idealism. Thus, Lenin was willing to grant some degree of autonomy to the nationalities as a means of retaining their longterm support. Stalin, however, took a different approach to leadership. Stalin's way was to force everyone to his own will. The domestic political autonomy granted to the nationalities by Lenin was replaced by strong control of all government from the Kremlin, and by a forceable resettlement of some ethnic population groups when they attempted to resist Stalin's will. During the twilight years of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev attempted to return to the Lenin approach in dealing with the nationalities problem, while at the same time attempting to preserve the i
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Approximate Word count = 4020
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)