[LINK] "Empirical Data on the Issue of Ethnic Minorities in Russia"

[rfmcdonald]

Cristóbal Williams' paper "Empirical Data on the Issue of Ethnic Minorities in Russia" is a worthy debunking of the idea that the post-Soviet Russian Federation was or is on the verge of breaking up on ethnic lines. Many of the largest minorities (Ukrainians, Belarusians) are so Russified as to be ethnic Russians in all but census record, while other ethnic minorities are either far outnumbered by ethnic Russians (Buryats, Karelians), are geographically surrounded by Russia (the republics of Tatarstan and Yakutia are good examples), or possess cultural traditions compatible with continued associated with Russia (the Tuvans of south-central Siberia). The sole exceptions lie in the Muslim-majority republics of the North Caucasus, which not only have international borders but share a long history of suffering at the hands of the Russian state.