Is state formation enough for self-determination?
Example of post-soviet countries
Ismikhan Rahimov
Introduction
Self-determination and state formation have been the point of interest of many scholars and
their relationship has always been arguable. In the last few decades, several charters were
provided, many ideas were put forward by political leaders: from Lenin to Wilson, resolutions
were accepted by international organizations to develop self-determination as a phenomenon
and encourage its implementation in practice.
In this essay, the main focus will be on the relationship between state formation and
self-determination and how it shows itself in the example of the post-Soviet era. The essay
hypothesises that even though post-Soviet countries have claimed their independence and
supposedly achieved their self-determination right, in de facto, they struggle to protect
absolute independence from Russian hegemony. To sustain this claim, for the legal part, the
constitution of some post-soviet countries including Russia will be briefly analysed. Afterwards,
the political and economic relationships of these countries with the Russian Federation will be
discussed.
To understand the theoretical discussion behind this topic, the essay starts with the question of
what self-determination and state formation are and emphasizes the role of nationalism in
constructing self-government and achieving success in the glasnost era.
