Implications of putin's regional and demographic policies on the evolution of inter-ethnic relations in Russia

This paper examines the impact of regional standardization and immigration policies on the evolution of inter-ethnic relations in Russia. The paper argues that these initiatives resulted in the emergence of a simmering ethnic discontent among Russia's indigenous nationalities and gave rise to Russian ethnic majority nationalism. The arrival of such policies was predetermined by multifarious fears of Russia's political elites. These primarily concerned domestic factors, such as the country's potential disintegration along ethnic lines, and international concerns, related primarily to the revolutionary developments in Georgia and Ukraine. Moreover, such initiatives had been executed in accordance with the logic of a ‘political market place’, without seriously considering the particularities of Russia's nationality structure and the history of her inter-ethnic relations. This work concludes that, from theoretical and comparative angles, such policies could lead to a range of unanticipated negative outcomes.