Three dimensions of the post-soviet “frozen” conflicts

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of three dimensions of post-Soviet “frozen” conflicts—the internal, post-imperial/post-Soviet and international, the dialectics of the interconnection of these dimensions in the relations between Russia and EU/West and the prospects for the settlement of these conflicts. The emergence of new independent states as a result of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the USSR gave rise to the separatism of national minorities large enough to claim their own statehood, which became the cause of many intrastate conflicts. For all the economic, political, cultural and ethnic specificities of these internal state conflicts and differences of their geographical positions, they share some essential features. These include the bitterness of the defeat of the dominant titular ethnic group in the conflict with separatists as a result of external interference, the refugee factor (with the exception of Transnistria), the loss of territorial integrity as well as the fact that communism in the new independent states was replaced by nationalism. The only exception during the collapse of the USSR was Russia, where the communist system was overthrown by revolutionary democrats, whereas Russian nationalists advocated the restoration of the Soviet empire. However, this lasted for a very short period. As contradictions between Russia and its Western partners emerged and grew, the conflicts in the post-Soviet space became the mirrors of their rivalry threatening international and regional security. This was amply demonstrated by the Ukraine conflict. The settlement of “frozen” conflicts in the CIS can serve as the beginning of the revival of trust, which arises only in the process of joint problem solving.