Farewell to the empire? National identity, domestic structures, and foreign economic policies of the post-Soviet states

This dissertation asks why some post-Soviet republics decided to organize their economic activities around old partners, Russia and other republics, while others put all their energy into restructuring their economies away from what the former Soviet empire. Its main original claim is that the new nations' strength of national identity shapes its foreign economic policy. The stronger the national identity, the more likely the nation is to restructure away from the former empire. In the post-imperial context, conventional explanations, such as those from market and power considerations, also contribute but are not sufficient to explain variation in external economic orientations.; The influence of national identity on policy outcomes is mediated by domestic structures. In the post-imperial nation, a well-developed national identity increases the power of nationalist-oriented groups and their ability to influence the foreign policy decision-making process. The ex-republics' historical experience with national independence, as well as some other indicators, are employed for operationalizing national identity.; A focused comparison of decisions by three republics that vary as to strength of national identity but are similar in other important respects suggests the significance of this national identity explanation relative to likely rivals. Latvia, with a strong sense of identity, chose to deal with Russia and other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) members on a bilateral basis and entered preferential arrangements with European countries beyond the former Soviet region. Ukraine, an example of a country with moderate identity strength, entered the CIS but has never been supportive of the organization's initiatives and, like the Baltic republics, was also determined to "go West." Finally, Belarus, a nation with relatively weak identity, pursued an effort to reintegrate with Russia and the CIS at the expense of developing ties with Europe. In addition to three comparative case studies, a bivariate regression study reinforces the identity thesis. It also suggests a number of cases with deviant behavior and offers a brief qualitative investigation of two of them. The final chapter draws out implications for theory, and policy making.