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Conflict and Reconstruction in Multiethnic Societies: Proceedings of a Russian-American Workshop PDF

236 Pages·2004·7.3 MB·English
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Committee on Conflict and Reconstruction in Multiethnic Societies Office for Central Europe and Eurasia Development, Security, and Cooperation Policy and Global Affairs In cooperation with the Russian Academy of Sciences THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 Fifth Street, N.W. • Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Gov- erning Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engi- neering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported in part by Grant No. 000-63-925-GSS between the Na- tional Academy of Sciences and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Founda- tion. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number 0-309-08939-5 (Book) International Standard Book Number 0-309-51687-0 (PDF) A limited number of copies of this report are available from: Office for Central Europe and Eurasia Policy and Global Affairs The National Academies, Keck Center 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 202-334-2644 Additional copies of this report are available from The National Academies Press 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285 Washington, DC 20055 (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area) Internet, http://www.nap.edu Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating soci- ety of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedi- cated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its mem- bers, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advis- ing the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sci- ences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal gov- ernment. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering commu- nities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org NRC COMMITTEE ON CONFLICT AND RECONSTRUCTION IN MULTIETHNIC SOCIETIES Robert McC. Adams (Chair) Adjunct Professor University of California at San Diego Charles Tilly Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science Columbia University John L. Comaroff Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Social Science University of Chicago Fiona Hill Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program The Brookings Institution RUSSIAN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Valery A. Tishkov Director Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology Russian Academy of Sciences Yury K. Shiyan Foreign Relations Department Russian Academy of Sciences Leokadia Drobizheva Institute of Sociology Russian Academy of Sciences Vitaly Naumkin Institute of Oriental Studies Russian Academy of Sciences International Center for Strategic and Political Studies v NRC STAFF Glenn E. Schweitzer Project Director Kelly Robbins Senior Program Officer A. Chelsea Sharber Program Associate Sara Gray Program Associate Rita S. Guenther Program Associate vi Preface I n February 2000 the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) proposed to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that the academies initiate a joint project on conflicts in multiethnic societies. The RAS suggested that such a project take into account lessons learned in Chechnya when addressing ethnic conflicts in other areas of the former Soviet Union. Western specialists with broad international experience in addressing eth- nic relations who were consulted believed they could contribute impor- tant perspectives that would complement the extensive expertise of Rus- sian colleagues in addressing problems in the former Soviet Union. The NAS Council thereupon agreed that an interacademy project would be of mutual interest. When the project was initiated 18 months before the events of Sep- tember 11, 2001, western scholars did not view violence in Chechnya or other ethnic enclaves of Russia as manifestations of or responses to terror- ism despite the use of the term by the Russian authorities to characterize the situation in Chechnya. It was evident that there existed a wide diver- sity of situations prone to possible conflict within the territory of the former Soviet Union. Beyond descriptive case studies of individual in- stances, however, little analysis had been devoted to identifying causal relationships or prescriptions for remediation that could be drawn from the divergent events and outcomes as a guide to Russian policy. A sys- tematization of much international as well as Russian experience with state-level responses to the threat of conflict, together with analyses of successes or failures of reconstruction programs, would clearly be a step vii viii PREFACE forward. A deepened theoretical understanding should also result. This was an opportunity for an international collaborative effort in the social sciences of a new and unusually intensive kind, building on expanded possibilities for Russian-American cooperation after the end of the Cold War. It was only dimly foreseen that there would soon be significant new international dimensions to manifestations of violence such as those seen within the former Soviet Union. Consistent with this understanding, by mid-2000 the academies had begun planning for an international symposium on ethnic conflict to be hosted by the RAS in Moscow in the fall. The purpose of the symposium was to survey experiences in different geographical settings concerning ethnic conflicts of particular relevance to problems in Russia and in other former Soviet republics. In preparation for the symposium, a small team of American special- ists visited Rostov-on-Don where they discussed ethnic relations with officials and specialists who came to Rostov from a number of republics and oblasts in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya. These consulta- tions provided an opportunity for local specialists to have direct input into the project in general and the symposium in particular. In addition, the American specialists met on several occasions with officials and schol- ars in Moscow in designing the symposium. The symposium was held in December 2000 with 12 American and more than 50 Russian participants in attendance, and several contributions from that symposium are in- cluded as appendixes to this volume. Plans for a next phase of project activities took shape during the spring of 2001, and in June 2001 an interacademy workshop was scheduled for December. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Penta- gon three months later clearly signaled a radical departure in world pat- terns of multiethnic violence that might be expected in the future. But the project’s basic objective of systematizing existing knowledge of prior cases and developing a more adequate theoretical base remained a valid start- ing point for coming to grips with the new, still virtually unknown pat- terns that might emerge. Three working groups were established, on the topics of collective violence; culture, identity, and conflict; and comparative study of identity conflict. The task was to develop lists of research priorities in the three areas. The members of these U.S.-Russian working groups initially com- municated among themselves by e-mail. Also in preparation for the workshop, a small team of American spe- cialists traveled to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod in November 2001. In Moscow they consulted with members of the Duma as well as with scien- tific colleagues. In Nizhny Novgorod they held discussions with special- ists from republics and oblasts throughout the Volga region on the state of PREFACE ix ethnic relations and research needs. They also met with Sergey V. Kirienko, the representative of President Putin for the region. His deputy, Vladimir Yu. Zorin, who became minister of nationalities in December 2001, was the host of the visit and played an active role in the project both in Nizhny Novgorod and later in Washington, D.C. In December 2001 members of the three working groups met in Washington, D.C., to com- plete their deliberations and to present their findings at the workshop. There were interrelationships among the topics assigned to the working groups, and therefore there is some redundancy in the working group reports. While the working groups were in session, three Russian policy officials who were part of the Russian delegation discussed broader policy concerns with U.S. government officials and local scholars interested in ethnic conflict. These proceedings present an overview of the discussions during the workshop, followed by the reports of the working groups, background, and papers developed by working group members. In addition, several general papers on ethnic relations in Russia are included. The three working groups were not appointed by the National Re- search Council or the National Academies. Therefore, their findings re- flect the views of the individuals comprising the working groups, not necessarily those of this institution or the appointed study committee. All of their individually authored papers were presented or distributed at the workshop and likewise reflect the views of the individual authors based on the state of affairs in December 2001. The appendixes present significant papers considered in Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod, presentations at the Moscow symposium of special interest, and background documents developed by Russian specialists during the course of the project. The appendixes help provide the context within which the workshop in Washington was held. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many scholars and officials in Russia and the United States partici- pated in this activity. They are identified in the appendixes to the pro- ceedings, and their contributions are greatly appreciated. Valery A. Tish- kov, Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology in Moscow, deserves particular recognition for his continuous efforts in ensuring that the activities would be both professionally rewarding for the participants and useful for government officials. Special appreciation is extended to the Council of the National Acad- emy of Sciences and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which provided the funding for this initial phase of an important inter- academy project.

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