RUSSIAN DIASPORA

The global community ofethnic Russianswho live beyond the borders of the Russian Federation is approximately 30 million, making it second only to overseasChinesein total numbers. The “old” Russian diaspora dates to the early 20th century, when large numbers of Russian émigrés fled the civil war and persecution by the Bolshevik regime. During this period, they principally settled in theUnited States,France,Serbia,China, andGreat Britain. Prior to 1917, most Russian immigrants were religious minorities, such asJewsandOld Believers. During World War II, a second wave of Russians, including manyCossacks, fled the Soviet Union, fearing reprisals fromJoseph Stalinfor real or imagined acts against the state.

TheCommunist Party of the SovietUnion’s totalitarian controls on society precluded mass emigration during most of theCold War, and most who left the country weredissidentsor defectors. In the 1970s, the “refusenik” movement saw many Russian Jews attempting to quit the country forIsraelor the U.S. Underperestroika, Soviet citizens enjoyed hitherto unavailable opportunities to travel abroad, and many used this new freedom to emigrate.

The nature of the Russian diaspora was dramatically altered in December 1991, when thedissolution of the Soviet Unionleft 25 million ethnic Russians out of the newly independent Russian Federation.Ukraine,Kazakhstan,Belarus, andUzbekistanpossessed the largest communities of Russians, though Russians also represented nearly a third of the population of thenewly independent statesofEstoniaandLatvia. The political situation of these socalled co-fatherlanders quickly became an important domestic issue in Russianpoliticsand determined Russia’sforeign relationswith its post-Soviet neighbors.

Since 1991, the number of ethnic Russians in thenear abroadhas decreased by 6 million, but still remains the core of the diaspora. During the 1990s, large numbers of Russians relocated toGermanyas guest workers alongside a flood of Russophone ethnicGermansreturning to their ancestral homeland; smaller communities ofeconomicimmigrants formed in the U.S., UK,Canada, Australia, and other wealthy countries. The continued immigration of Russian Jews to Israel has altered the country’s political fabric, including the proliferation ofRussian languagenewspapers and other media, as well as the emergence of a political party dedicated to the interests of Russophone Jews from the former Soviet Union.