Ethnic politics in international relations : the case of Volga Tatars

Abstract

This thesis analyses an under-examined subject in the discipline of International Relations, ethnic politics, with reference to the case of Volga Tatars, the second largest ethnic group after Russians within the Russian Federation. Ethnicity is one of the phenomena that are at the core of International Relations. Its significance can be observed in debates on nation-state, identity, and international and internal conflicts. The phenomenon of ethnic politics transcends the traditional study of ethnicity in the discipline, which confines it to the study of conflicts. However, ethnicity is not conflictual by its nature and matters beyond conflict. Therefore, ethnic politics can significantly affect domestic and foreign policies of states, and for that matter the world politics at the global level. The very processes of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Russian Federation in general, and Volga Tatars in particular, represent a perfect microcosm of how ethnic politics is significant in international relations.