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

236 Pages·2004·7.3 MB·English

by  Committee on Conflict and Reconstruction in Multiethnic Societies

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
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neering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible
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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.
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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.