Watching out for regional separatism in the Russian far East: Ideological cueing of territorial security, economic incentives and cultural identity

Abstract

Why has regional separatism failed to materialise in the post‐Soviet Russian Far East despite the region's remoteness from Russia's European heartland, its proximity to the Pacific Rim economies, the decline of economic support from Moscow, and a ‘frontier’ culture of resistance to Moscow's rule? Focusing on political developments in Primorskii Krai ‐ the key frontier province in the Russian Far East ‐ the study finds that territorial security, economic incentives, and cultural identity affect proclivities for regional separatism selectively, depending on ideological and institutional constraints in which centre‐periphery relations are embedded. In the absence of ideological commitments and enforceable institutional rales and norms, centre‐periphery conflicts devolve into economic bargaining and rule‐manipulation by elites for quick material gains. The changing ideological context amidst post‐Soviet institutional transition in Russia provide the most consistent explanation of conflict dynamic between Primorskii Krai's leaders and Moscow, of the non‐emergence of regional separatism, and of gross economic mismanagement of the province.