ABSTRACT
Many of the Soviet Union's successor states have been plagued by serious social instability which has frequently manifested itself in the form of interethnic violence. However, it is often debatable whether deep-rooted "ethnic tension" is truly the cause of social divisions, or whether it merely provides a suitable conduit for the political ambitions of prominent local figures. Many of the successor states have little or no experience of independent statehood and are handicapped by a weak sense of "nationhood." It is almost inevitable, therefore, that they have found the process of state-building extremely difficult. The general economic malaise among the CIS countries is another major source of social unrest, crime, and conflict.
