World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues
  • Year: 2017
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 3

Borderland geopolitics in Estonia: The case of “narva”-The russian majority enclave

  • Author:
  • Archana Upadhyay
  • Total Page Count: 9
  • Page Number: 160 to 168

Online published on 18 October, 2017.

Abstract

The city of Narva in Estonia retains a strong Russian historical and ethnic identity. The identitarian policies of the young independent state—a member of NATO under open American “protection”—have sharpened linguistic and political differences as well as age-old resentments kept dormant under Soviet rule. The vast Russian community in Estonia feels neglected and discriminated against as it is largely excluded from the political process, while the majority population fears that at Moscow's prompting, Narva and other mostly russophone enclaves might break away to join the Russian Federation.