Thirty years ago this month, the world shook as one of the only two Superpowers unexpectedly collapsed, creating enormous ramifications for the 25 million ethnic Russians who found themselves as non-titular citizens outside the borders of the newly formed Russian Federation. This ‘beached diaspora’ has been left marginalised and treated with fear, by the Baltic States in their nation-building policies and has left many to think of this community as ‘ripe’ for Russian influence. This Strategic Update will analyse Russian soft power policies and the development of ‘Russkii Mir’ as a tool for utilising this diaspora to further its foreign policy. Tools, which have been seemingly unaffected to a community of autonomy seeking citizens.
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The Russian Diaspora in the Baltic States
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This was published on 10 December 2021.
About the author
Sarah Coolican is Programme Manager for the Central and South-East Europe Programme at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ IDEAS. Sarah has a BA in Politics and Eastern European Studies from UCL, and an MSc in International Relations from ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳. Her research interests include modern Russian society and politics and the post-Soviet space.