ABSTRACT
The historical development of any multinational, multicultural society is almost inevitably beset with conflict; conflict grounded in disputes about anything from linguistic autonomy to religious observance, from areas of settlement to more general social inequalities. But the resolution of the “national question” during a process of transition from a totalitarian to a democratic society in the former USSR, and indeed elsewhere in central and eastern Europe, is not only complex but has major implications both for those within the borders of former member states and for those outside them. The first phase of the democratization process served to stimulate ethnic consciousness among the many peoples of the former Soviet Union, and gave an impetus to the formation of popular movements openly demanding greater cultural, social, economic and political autonomy (and even total independence for their “nation”).
