Broadening Russia's borders? The nationalist challenge of the Congress of Russian Communities

This article draws upon the work of Rogers Brubaker and Alexander Motyl in order to analyse the challenge posed by the Congress of Russian Communities (KRO), a Russian nationalist organisation aiming to reunite all Russians i n an expanded Russian state. It is argued that the Tsarist and Soviet past structure relationships among the post-Soviet states in ways that both prom ote Russian homeland nationalism, and place limits on it: while Russian pol icy has been driven towards claiming responsibility for 'compatriots abroad ', the post-Soviet states have tended to recognise each other's sovereignty in order to boost their legitimacy and prevent geopolitical destabilisatio n. Following discussion of the theoretical frame, the historical context an d issues of Russian identity, the article focuses on the KRO's attempts to expand Russia's borders. First, its ideology, and particularly the radical commitment to national reunification, is discussed. Secondly, the KRO's att empts to promote geopolitically radical national minority stances among Rus sians outside the Russian Federation (particularly in Moldova, Ukraine, Kaz akhstan, and Estonia) and homeland stances within it (through lobbying and electoral politics) are examined. These attempts have been generally unsucc essful. The KRO is also distinguished from its two major competitors, the L iberal Democratic Party of Vladimir Zhirinovksy, and the Communist Party. I t is concluded that radical Russian nationalist organisations such as the K RO are unlikely to be able to challenge the post-Soviet geopolitical status quo in the absence of more aggressive nationalising policies towards Russi an minorities and official Russian backing. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.