JRL NEWSWATCH: “De-colonising Russia and the independence movements threatening Putin” – The Herald (Scotland)
“… The buzzword for the future of Russia is ‘decolonisation.’ For many people this means a challenge to the current state’s imperialistic mindset, in respect of both its neighbours and the minority nations inside its borders. For others, the term has come to mean dismemberment. … The current Federation has some 190 or so ethnic groups, and most are not settled in homogeneous communities. Only a few have titular republics and embryonic quasi-national institutions. But even these have far less capacity than the 15 old union republics, including Russia, which split apart in 1991. Some national republics – most obviously Tatarstan – have a history of state-building and a relatively strong economic base. Others are seen as peripheral and rely on the federal government for subsidies. The gap between the rich and poor in Russia is not just for people, but for peoples. …”