ABSTRACT

This book explores the phenomenon of de facto states in Eurasia: states such as Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic. It examines how they are formed, what sustains them, and how their differing development trajectories have unfolded. It argues that most of these de facto states have been formed with either direct or indirect support from Russia, but they all have their own internal logic and are not simply puppets in the hands of a powerful patron. The book provides detailed case studies and draws out general patterns, and compares present-day de facto states with de facto states which existed in the past.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

part Section 1|32 pages

De facto statehood

chapter 1.1|5 pages

Terminology

chapter 1.2|11 pages

De facto statehood

Overview of the research

part Section 2|38 pages

Russian territorial expansion and de facto states in the first half of 20th century

chapter 2.2|17 pages

Bukharan People’s Soviet Republic

From protectorate to SSR

chapter 2.3|16 pages

Tuva and Mongolia

Between annexation and independence

part Section 3|78 pages

The emergence of de facto states

chapter 3.3|27 pages

Nagorno-Karabakh and Javakheti

Two different trajectories of Armenian separatist movements

part Section 4|90 pages

How de facto states are sustained and instrumentalized

chapter 4.4|17 pages

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Republic of Armenia

Who instrumentalizes whom?

chapter 4.5|22 pages

Inside a de facto state

Forming and sustaining the Abkhazian and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic polities

part Section 5|52 pages

Why de facto states fail