Vincenc Kopeček – författare

This book explores the phenomenon of de facto states in Eurasia: states such as Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic. It examines how they are formed, what sustains them, and how their differing development trajectories have unfolded. It argues that most of these de facto states have been formed with either direct or indirect support from Russia, but they all have their own internal logic and are not simply puppets in the hands of a powerful patron. The book provides detailed case studies and draws out general patterns, and compares present-day de facto states with de facto states which existed in the past.

This monograph offers the first comprehensive comparative analysis of ethnic minorities across the South Caucasus, examining how their contemporary situations are shaped by nationalism, imperial legacies, informal politics, religion, language, and migration.The book develops the concept of “everyday ethnopolitics” to analyze how ethnicity is enacted, muted, and negotiated in daily struggles over power, representation, and access to resources. Through detailed case studies of Javakheti Armenians, Borchalo Azerbaijanis, and Pankisi Kists, it shows how minority integration proceeds through formal institutions as well as informal arrangements, elite brokerage, and local agency. This provides readers with a region-wide framework and rich empirical material for understanding one of Eurasia’s most complex ethnopolitical landscapes.Ethnic Minorities in the South Caucasus is of interest to scholars and students of nationalism, ethnicity, minority politics, post-Soviet studies, Caucasus studies, political geography, anthropology, and borderland studies. It also serves as a vital resource for policymakers and practitioners working on minority integration and regional stability.

This book explores the phenomenon of de facto states in Eurasia: states such as Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic. It examines how they are formed, what sustains them, and how their differing development trajectories have unfolded. It argues that most of these de facto states have been formed with either direct or indirect support from Russia, but they all have their own internal logic and are not simply puppets in the hands of a powerful patron. The book provides detailed case studies and draws out general patterns, and compares present-day de facto states with de facto states which existed in the past.

This book focuses on the study of ethnic minorities in post- Soviet Eurasia, their self-perceptions, and their relations with ethnic majorities and dominant state- and nation-building. Contributors to the book examine strategies and networks which minorities create for preserving a group's distinctiveness while at the same time maintaining coexistence with the majority. The chapters also study the effects of different contextual settings of these strategies and networks. Offering a unique systematic comparison of selected cases using ethnicity as the main concept, the book argues it was the Soviet notion of ethnicity which stood in the centre of the administrative structure of the Soviet Union and that it consequently had a profound impact on how individual ethnic majority and minority groups in the former USSR understood themselves and imagined each other, how political institutions in individual Soviet republics and ethnic autonomies were formed, and how this institutional setting defined the distribution of political power between ethnic majorities and minorities. It also argues that this complex system of relations between ethnic minorities and majorities has significantly changed during the past 30 years and resulted in the formation of a post-Soviet notion of ethnicity. This book will be of interest to researchers studying Post- Soviet Politics, Political Geography, International Relations, Political Science, History, and Area studies.

This book focuses on the study of ethnic minorities in post- Soviet Eurasia, their self-perceptions, and their relations with ethnic majorities and dominant state- and nation-building. Contributors to the book examine strategies and networks which minorities create for preserving a group's distinctiveness while at the same time maintaining coexistence with the majority. The chapters also study the effects of different contextual settings of these strategies and networks. Offering a unique systematic comparison of selected cases using ethnicity as the main concept, the book argues it was the Soviet notion of ethnicity which stood in the centre of the administrative structure of the Soviet Union and that it consequently had a profound impact on how individual ethnic majority and minority groups in the former USSR understood themselves and imagined each other, how political institutions in individual Soviet republics and ethnic autonomies were formed, and how this institutional setting defined the distribution of political power between ethnic majorities and minorities. It also argues that this complex system of relations between ethnic minorities and majorities has significantly changed during the past 30 years and resulted in the formation of a post-Soviet notion of ethnicity. This book will be of interest to researchers studying Post- Soviet Politics, Political Geography, International Relations, Political Science, History, and Area studies.