Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Most studies of the post-Soviet space often explicitly or implicitly analyze Russia not as a new independent state but as the political successor of the USSR, thereby almost automatically leading to conclusions about Russian neo-imperialism. This paper explains how distorted discourses on the Soviet legacy originated and how they obstruct equal relations between Russia and other former Soviet republics using the example of the Baltic states.
Some of the ideas in this article have been presented previously as a PONARS Eurasia policy memo. I am grateful to the PONARS community for their invaluable feedback.