National idea, state-building and boundaries in the post-Soviet space (the case of Georgia)

The emergence of the Newly Independent States at the end of 1991, although due to the coincidence of historical events, was a logical outcome of the political crisis within the USSR. The nations had been actively formed during the Soviet period and they considered their homeland the territory which...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:GeoJournal 1997-09, Vol.43 (1), p.51-60
Main Author: Gachechiladze, Revaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boundaries
Citizenship
Communist parties
Ethnicity
Georgia
Kingdoms
Nation
National identity
Nationalism
Political geography
Political parties
Post-Soviet studies
Secessionism
Self concept
Sovereign states
State building
State formation
Territories
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Summary:The emergence of the Newly Independent States at the end of 1991, although due to the coincidence of historical events, was a logical outcome of the political crisis within the USSR. The nations had been actively formed during the Soviet period and they considered their homeland the territory which bore the name of a definite nationality. Since all the Union republics were multi-ethnic entities it is rather hard for them to form the nationstates up to present. Citizenship is just being formed and in many areas the 'state-idea' is still to emerge. Georgia, a NIS in the Transcaucasus, bears most of the common features of the post-Soviet political space. But it has distinct peculiarities in state-building due to its location and historical legacy. The national self-identity of the Georgians was formed quite a long time ago, but some geopolitical problems may temporarily hinder the formation of stable boundaries of this NIS.
ISSN:0343-2521
1572-9893
DOI:10.1023/A:1006814530090