Microsoft Word ismikhan-rahimov-writing-sample-Is state formation enough for self-determination docx
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| Hegemony in Post-Soviet Era
The collapse of the USSR in 1991 turned the former national republics instantaneously into independent national states recognized by the international community. 14 Several issues occurred that needed to be identified in those states, such as the cooperation policies between states, legal ground, economy politics, independence of the security affairs. Under this title, it will be shown how Russian Federation used these tools as maintenance of its power and expansion of its hegemony. This hegemony can be read in some sense as the hegemony of 10 Yael Tamir (1991) The Right to National Self-Determination, Social Research Vol. 58, No. 3, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 565. 11 Mark R. Beissinger (2009) Nationalism and the Collapse of Soviet Communism, Contemporary European History, Vol. 18, No. 3, Cambridge University Press, 331. 12 Ibid. 333 13 Rogers Brubaker (2011) Nationalizing States Revisited: Projects and Processes of Nationalization in post-Soviet states, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34:1, 1786. 14 Abashin, S. (2012). Nation-Construction in Post-Soviet Central Asia. Soviet and post-Soviet identities, 151. The Soviet Union which officially doesn’t exist. However, since Russia had been the most powerful Soviet republic, it became the undisputed regional hegemon. 15 Furthermore, one of Russia’s first acts after the dissolution of the Soviets was to declare itself the successor state to the Soviet Union. 16 The other new states did not deny this fact. Therefore, they signed bilateral treaties accepting Russia as the successor state to the Soviet Union. 17
Legal ground Since the newly independent states had been governed by an authoritarian regime, it was not easy to establish democratic institutions. On the other hand, these nation-states had to work on new constitutions which they struggled on because of the same reason that these countries lacked a democratic way of understanding the state. The corollary of it, some countries started to apply what was accepted by Russian Federation’s constitution or what was previously imposed by the Soviet Union, which created doubts about the independence of the constitution. 11 out of the 12 post-Soviet constitutions linked “state power” with the concept of separation of powers. Most notably, Ukraine, despite all its efforts to distinguish itself from the Russian Federation, contained a similar expression of the separation of powers as outlined in the Russian constitution. 18 According to the Ukrainian constitution’s 6th Article, “state power in Ukraine is exercised on the principles of its division into legislative, executive, and judicial power.”
19 That state power precedes and in effect trumps any nascent concept of separation of powers remains one of the consistent features of post-Soviet constitutional thought. 20 Holland and Derrick (2016) in their book show in detail fact that how similar the constitutions and understating of state power are with the Russian version, in many post-Soviet countries including, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia. It is not a surprise that even a few decades after the demise, the former Soviet republics still share a common political outlook even if other factors – language, economics, demographics, religion – are slowly pushing them apart. 21 Indeed, no matter what adjective one places in front of the term “state” in Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet history – absolutist, autocratic, socialist, totalitarian, secular, democratic – it is the state that always manages to survive. 22
15 Slobodchikoff, M. O. (2014). Building Hegemonic Order Russia's Way: Order, Stability, and Predictability in the Post-Soviet Space, 27. 16 Åslund, A., & Kuchins, A. (2009). Pressing the "reset button" on US-Russia Relations. Peterson Institute for International Economics. 17 Slobodchikoff, M. O. (2014)., 27. 18 Holland, E. C., & Derrick, M. (2016). Questioning post-Soviet. Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, 97. 19 Constitution of Ukraine, General Principles. Adopted at the Fifth Session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on June 28, 1996. 20 Holland, E. C., & Derrick, M. (2016)., 97. 21 Ibid., 99 22 Ibid., 100. Security Security and its protection were a challenge for newly independent states after the collapse, especially in the early years. As the Soviet Union had military bases in every country after the demise of the Union their status became unclear. Especially the duty of the soldiers who belong to different nations was blurred. Even though Soviet military troops were stationed within the borders of Russia, many soldiers were stationed in outer republics closer to the external borders of the Soviet Union. 23 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could turn their face towards the west easily, but the situation was not the same for the Caucasus and Central Asian countries. Since Russia declared itself as the successor state to the Soviet Union technically all of the troops became Russian troops in newly independent states. 24
Among the military powers, Russia had in newly independent countries were air bases in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, radar stations in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, ground bases in Tajikistan, Transitriam, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 25 Russia needed a strong military presence in former Soviet republics. 26 Access to naval bases on the Black Sea in Ukraine was crucial, especially for maintaining power in the Medeterennian and the Middle East. Currently, after the 44 days long Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in November 2020 the ceasefire was agreed upon with the intermediary of the president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. According to the agreement, the peacemaking forces of the Russian Federation, namely, 1,960 troops armed with firearms, 90 armoured vehicles and 380 motor vehicles and units of special equipment, shall be deployed along the contact line in Nagorno- Karabakh and along the Lachin Corridor. Most importantly, the peacemaking forces of the Russian Federation agreed to be deployed for five years, a term to be automatically extended for subsequent five-year terms unless either party notifies about its intention to terminate this clause six months before the expiration of the current term. As it can be seen, Russia’s hegemony under the name of security still lives in almost every part of the former Soviet areas.
Another key factor of Russia’s hegemony of post-Soviet countries is expanding economic power and making the other republics more economically dependent. One of the most important tools for it is energy. Russia is one of the biggest if not the biggest oil producer among post-Soviet countries. Many of these countries either don’t have oil production or don’t have access to big markets without Russian help. Russia’s status in terms of energy made it extremely powerful in the region and ensured that Russia would have more power than the other states in the region. 27
23 Slobodchikoff, M. O. (2014) Building Hegemonic Order Russia's Way: Order, Stability, and Predictability in the Post-Soviet Space, 29. 24 Ibid,. 25 Ibid., 31. 26 Ibid., 30. 27 Goldman, Marshall I. (2010) Prostate: Putin, Power and the New Russia. Oxford University Press US. Russia’s oil and natural reserves were plentiful and it had the necessary infrastructure to export to those FSU states that did not have their reserves such as Ukraine and Belarus. 28 Not only did the states which needed to import energy have a strategic interest in building a cooperative bilateral relationship with Russia, but also the states that exported energy were interested in this relationship to facilitate access to other markets. 29 Russia benefited from this cooperation in two ways: one it helped Russia to sustain and grow its economy and it extended its power among post-soviet countries and consequently economic dependence of other states to Russia. Yüklə 148,61 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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