ABSTRACT
Gorbachev's policy of restructuring the Soviet system has had a differentiated impact on the many peoples and regions of the country. In the Baltic it has opened the gates to previously unimaginable gains as demands from the three tiny republics have escalated from cultural and economic autonomy to national sovereignty and even outright independence from the Soviet Union. In Transcaucasia, by contrast, newly unleashed national energies seem to have been channeled mainly into local interethnic rivalries and territorial disputes, obliging Moscow to assume the role of both mediator and policeman, for which it has reaped wrath from all sides. In Moldavia, national demands remained focused on language and cultural issues until the overthrow of Romania's dictator Ceauşescu, as well as the Baltic example, began to broaden the horizon. In the Slavic republics of Belorussia and Ukraine, national stirrings remained slow and uncertain through the end of the 1980s, confined mainly to assertions of cultural and linguistic particularism and religious freedom.
