Ethno-political transformation in the states of the former USSR

The collapse of the USSR resulted in a decline of institutions which had su pported the dominance of ethnic Russians throughout the periphery of the co untry. In their place new institutions and mechanisms have been developed t o regulate the access of people of different nationalities to power, resour ces and prestige. This article provides a comparative analysis of ethnic tr ansformation in ten of the fourteen successor states of the former Soviet U nion. The analysis identified five types of ethnic transformation in the su ccessor states. In the Baltics the attempts of titular ethnic groups to sec ure predominance over ethnic Russians and radically transform institutions of the Soviet state resulted in the creation of exclusive ethnic democracie s. In Central Asia an elite-negotiated transformation led to the emergence of ethnocracies in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while the regim es formed in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were characterized by a mixture of e thnocratic and consociationalist features. In Moldova a failed attempt at u nification with Romania eventuated in policies directed towards the creatio n of a Moldovan ethno-territorial federation. Finally, in Ukraine gradual r eforms and attempts to abolish any ethnic hierarchy have led to the creatio n of consociationalism, in which ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, Russophone s and Ukrainophones share power over the state.