ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses minority protection in the frontier states of Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. Conflicts within these countries resulted in long-term territorial disputes, land grabs, and Russian control of de facto states. This chapter gives an overview of the Russian minority in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova and places the issue into the context of Russian influence and global security. First, inclusion and exclusion of the Russian minority is assessed. Next, the three main types of threats, such as threat to political authority and identity, threat of further secession, and home state relations, are evaluated in detail. This chapter also seeks to illuminate how Russia has responded to the Russian minority question in Ukraine since the end of the Cold War. Russia's increased interest in protecting its compatriots in Ukraine during the Maidan Revolution did not match its prior behavior in Crimea. In the summer of 2013, Russians in Crimea condemned Moscow for betrayal for nearly twenty years because Russian support of the Russian minority group and engagement in relevant issues has not been forthcoming on the peninsula prior to annexation. This work uses the directed case study method.
