Russia, Ukraine, and the break-up of the Soviet Union

This book chronicles the final two decades in the history of the Soviet Union and presents a story that is often lost in the standard interpretations of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR. Although there were numerous reasons for the collapse of communism, it did not happen—as it may have seemed to some—overnight. Indeed, says Roman Szporluk, the root causes go back even earlier than 1917. To understand why the USSR broke up the way it did, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the two most important nations of the USSR—Russia and Ukraine—during the Soviet period and before, as well as the parallel but interrelated processes of nation formation in both states. Szporluk details a number of often-overlooked factors leading to the USSR's fall: how the processes of Russian identity formation were not completed by the time of the communist takeover in 1917, the unification of Ukraine in 1939–1945, and the Soviet period failing to find a resolution of the question of Russian-Ukrainian relations. The present-day conflict in the Caucasus, he asserts, is a sign that the problems of Russian identity remain.

The key to understanding what was unimaginable in November 1989 yet became a reality in December 1991, Szporluk says, lies in understanding the relationship of Ukraine and Russia. With this in mind, he offers insightful new perspectives on many critical questions surrounding the decline and fall of the Soviet system, such as

• Why were the processes of Russian identity formation not yet completed by the time of the communist takeover in 1917—and what did this mean for the future of the USSR?
• Why did Gorbachev and his advisers so misjudge the condition of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s?
• How unrealistic was their sense of what the Soviet bloc represented at that time?
• Why did the Soviet Union fail to adjust to and take advantage of the current "scientific-technical revolution"?
• How did the leaders of the Soviet state perceive the problem of the nationalities in the USSR and their relations with their East European allies?
• Why were West Ukraine and other Baltic states—the "Soviet West"—an alien and potentially disruptive element in the Soviet body politic?
• Why did Soviet leaders never find a successful resolution of the problem of Russian-Ukrainian relations?

Without claiming that the collapse of communism or the breakup of the Soviet Union was "caused" by any one factor, Russia, Ukraine, and the Breakup of the Soviet Union makes an insightful and original contribution to the discussion surrounding one of the most significant political events of the twentieth century. Recent events in Ukraine and Russia and the subsequent incorporation of Crimea into the Russian state, with the support of some circles of inhabitants of the peninsula, have shown that the desire of people to belong to the Western part of Europe should not automatically be assumed. Discussing different perceptions of the Ukrainian-Russian war in neighbouring countries, this book offers an analysis of the conflicts and issues connected with the shifting of the border regions of Russia and Ukraine to show how ’material’ and ’psychological’ borders are never completely stable ideas. The contributors – historians, sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists from across Europe – use an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to explore the different national and transnational perceptions of a possible future role for Russia. Cover -- Half-Title -- Series -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of illustrations -- Notes on contributors -- List of abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- 2 European Union conflict transformation as cross-border co-operation: potential and limits -- 3 Reconceptualizing European neighbourhood beyond geopolitics: observations on eastern partnership -- Part I Russia and Ukraine: an ambivalent neighbourhood -- 4 Russian perceptions of the Ukrainian crisis: from confrontation to damage limitation? -- 5 A squeezed country: Ukraine between Europe and Eurasia

Focusing on the critical relationship between Ukraine and Russia, renowned scholar Roman Szporluk chronicles the final two decades in the history of the Soviet Union and presents a story that is often lost in the standard interpretations of the collapse of communism.