by Ian Bremmer
First published 1996
Ian Bremmer examines how fifteen nations built themselves from the wreckage of the Soviet Union after 1991. The book presents commissioned studies from leading specialists who tracked the state-building processes across these newly independent territories. Rather than bringing peace, the empire's collapse unleashed suppressed ethnic tensions and awakened dormant national identities among former Soviet peoples. Each chapter combines historical context with ethnic analysis and political examination to trace how these young nations pursued different paths toward independence and self-determination. The contributors document the varied strategies these states employed as they transformed from Soviet republics into sovereign nations, revealing how national minorities rediscovered and asserted identities that had been buried under decades of imperial rule.
Genres: history, international-relations, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction
Setting: Soviet Union, Russia
Period: 1991
765 pages · Hardcover · Cambridge University Press