ABSTRACT
The demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a hallmark of profound change. At the global level this change marked not only the fall of the world communism and end to bipolarity but also by the creation of a multiplicity of new states. Post-Soviet ethnopolitics displays both structural continuity and new patterns that have become manifest after the Soviet collapse. The continuity follows from tough legacies. While precise estimates vary, there were more than a hundred nations in the Soviet Union, most of which laid claim to Soviet territory as their homeland. In the specific milieu of post-Soviet ethnopolitics the relationship of peace is shaped by sets of immediate contextual factors. Past legacies act as important constraints upon patterns of post-Soviet ethnic conflict management. They include a broadly conceived legacy of the empire, a legacy of meta-conflict, and the issue of new Russian diaspora.
