Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

This 2002 study examines the process by which the seemingly impossible in 1987 - the disintegration of the Soviet state - became the seemingly inevitable by 1991, providing an original interpretation not only of the Soviet collapse, but also of the phenomenon of nationalism more generally. Probing the role of nationalist action as both cause and effect, Beissinger utilizes data and case studies from across the USSR during its final years to elicit the shifting relationship between pre-existing structural conditions, institutional constraints, and event-generated influences in the nationalist explosions that brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. As Beissinger demonstrates, the 'tidal' context of nationalism - i.e., the transnational influence of one nationalism upon another - is critical to an explanation of the success and failure of particular nationalisms, why some nationalisms turn violent, and how a crescendo of events can overwhelm states, periodically evoking large-scale structural change in the character of the state system

This study examines the process of the disintegration of the Soviet state.

Foreign Affairs

In another important addition to Russian studies, Beissinger does more than simply trace the rise of nationalism within the republics of the Soviet Union, including Russia, by subjecting more than 6,000 public demonstrations from 1987 to 1991 to careful statistical analysis. He also shows how the process escalated, spread, and flowed together until it became a tide dictating political choices and historical outcomes. The Soviet Union's demise, he argues, was not inevitable, but through the force of events it became so. Indeed, by superbly reconstructing the state of play in 1989-90, he demonstrates that the state was doomed long before the August 1991 coup. But his complex account of how the political environment, institutions, and events interacted to produce the tide does not leave much room for the wisdom and folly of leaders. Could the collapse of the Soviet Union have been prevented? By 1989 or 1990, probably not. A year or two earlier? The answer is not here.

Frontmatter Illustrations (page ix) Tables (page xi) Acknowledgments (page xiii) 1 FROM THE IMPOSSIBLE TO THE INEVITABLE (page 1) 2 THE TIDE OF NATIONALISM AND THE MOBILIZATIONAL CYCLE (page 47) 3 STRUCTURING NATIONALISM (page 103) 4 "THICKENED" HISTORY AND THE MOBILIZATION OF IDENTITY (page 147) 5 TIDES AND THE FAILURE OF NATIONALIST MOBILIZATION (page 200) 6 VIOLENCE AND TIDES OF NATIONALISM (page 271) 7 THE TRANSCENDENCE OF REGIMES OF REPRESSION (page 320) 8 RUSSIAN MOBILIZATION AND THE ACCUMULATING "INEVITABILITY" OF SOVIET COLLAPSE (page 385) 9 CONCLUSION: NATIONHOOD AND EVENT (page 443) Appendix I PROCEDURES FOR APPLYING EVENT ANALYSIS TO THE STUDY OF SOVIET PROTEST IN THE GLASNOST' ERA (page 460) Appendix II SOURCES FOR THE COMPILATION OF EVENT DATA IN A REVOLUTIONARY CONTEXT (page 472) Index (page 489) This study examines the process by which the seemingly impossible in 1987--the disintegration of the Soviet state--became the seemingly inevitable by 1991. It provides an original interpretation of not only the Soviet collapse, but also of the phenomenon of nationalism more generally. Probing the role of nationalist action as both cause and effect, Beissinger utilizes extensive event data and detailed case studies from across the U.S.S.R. during its final years to elicit the shifting relationship between pre-existing structural conditions, institutional constraints, and event-generated influences in the massive nationalist explosions that brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. This study examines the process of the disintegration of the Soviet state. The author uses data and case studies from across the USSR to elicit the shifting relationship between existing structural conditions and institutional constraints "On May 18, 1991, two Soviet cosmonauts blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome for a routine four-month mission abroad the Mir space station." Mark R. Beissinger. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.