Leiden University Student Repository

Vijver, Tijs Cornelis van de (2021)

Belarus as ‘The Next Crimea?’: Revisiting A Crimean ‘Domino Effect’ in Belarus

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

Academic and popular interest in Russia’s ‘compatriot protection’ surged after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Fears of ‘Crimea’ constituting a precedent rather than an isolated case were common, with journalists and scholars going to lengths as to which post-Soviet republic with a sizeable Russian-speaking population would be the next ‘domino’ in the ‘domino effect’ that Crimea was argued to bring about. Much has been written about Russia’s ‘compatriot protection’ since, but much less has been written about the factors favorable to the hypothesized replication of ‘Crimea’ for individual cases such as Belarus. By transforming Laruelle’s study of Russian secessionism in Kazakhstan into a more broadly applicable analytical framework, this thesis ultimately suggests that the conditions in Belarus – the lack of focus of ‘compatriot issues’ in Russia-Belarus relations, the difficulty of delineating a ‘Russian part’ of Belarus and its population, and the lack of a grassroots...Show moreAcademic and popular interest in Russia’s ‘compatriot protection’ surged after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Fears of ‘Crimea’ constituting a precedent rather than an isolated case were common, with journalists and scholars going to lengths as to which post-Soviet republic with a sizeable Russian-speaking population would be the next ‘domino’ in the ‘domino effect’ that Crimea was argued to bring about. Much has been written about Russia’s ‘compatriot protection’ since, but much less has been written about the factors favorable to the hypothesized replication of ‘Crimea’ for individual cases such as Belarus. By transforming Laruelle’s study of Russian secessionism in Kazakhstan into a more broadly applicable analytical framework, this thesis ultimately suggests that the conditions in Belarus – the lack of focus of ‘compatriot issues’ in Russia-Belarus relations, the difficulty of delineating a ‘Russian part’ of Belarus and its population, and the lack of a grassroots organizational framework – are ultimately unfavorable to Russian-sponsored secessionism.Show less

Belarus

compatriot

Crimea

host state

kin state

Russian World

secessionism

transnational minority engagement

Author

Vijver, Tijs Cornelis van de

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Global Order in Historical Perspective

Supervisors

Gerrits, A.W.M.
Frear, M.J.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en