A few years ago, I was at a dinner table in Moscow. I mentioned how nice it was to have dinner with a bunch of Russians. One of the women replied and said: They are not Russian. I am Russian. He is Tatar…, he is Jew…, and on and on, ethnically identifying everyone at the table. There is a strong distinction between nationality – a Russian citizen – and ethnicity – ethnically Russian. Ethnic Russians in Russia see ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine as their countrymen. The problem is: everywhere you look, national borders dont really reflect the identities of the people they encompass. That doesnt necessarily mean they should be abandoned. Putin would hardly tolerate the 4% in his country who are ethnically Tatar holding a referendum on possibly joining Turkey. I think the same could be said about Russias 180+ other ethnic groups.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 06:32:47 +0000
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