UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Defining the Nation in Russia’s Buffer Zone: The Politics of Birthright Citizenship in Azerbaijan, Moldova and Georgia Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6hx5p0d1 Author Tabachnik, Maxim Publication Date 2017 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ DEFINING THE NATION IN RUSSIA’S BUFFER ZONE: THE POLITICS OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP IN AZERBAIJAN, MOLDOVA AND GEORGIA A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in POLITICS by Maxim Tabachnik December 2017 The Dissertation of Maxim Tabachnik is approved: ________________________________ Professor Roger Schoenman, Chair _________________________________ Professor Ben Read _________________________________ Professor Eleonora Pasotti _________________________________ Professor Matt O’Hara _____________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Maxim Tabachnik 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page (i) Copyright Page (ii) Table of Contents (iii) List of Figures (viii) Abstract (x) Acknowledgements (xii) Introduction: Frozen Conflicts Under The Weight Of History (1) Part I. The Battle between Blood and Territory: Unanswered Questions (8) Chapter 1. Blood, Territory and the Nation: Ethnic/Civic Confusion (9) 1. Modernists and Their Critics (9) A. The Origins of the Nation: Modern or Pre-Modern? (10) B. The Un-Modernist History of Nationalism: Blood v. Territory (14) 2. Theoretical and Conceptual Hurdles (21) A. The Embattled Ethnic/Civic Dichotomy (21) B. An Ethnic/Territorial Solution (25) Chapter 2. Defining the Task at Hand (34) 1. Unanswered Questions (34) A. Citizenship in History: Between Blood and Territory (35) B. Ethnic/Territorial Dichotomy and Comparative Citizenship Studies (46) C. Ethnic/Territorial Identity in Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Space (53) a. Ethnic/Territorial Tension in Russian Imperial and Soviet Identity Policy (53) b. Ethnic/Territorial Citizenship Scholarship in Post-Soviet Space (PSS) (62) D. Unconditional Jus Soli: From the New World to the Human Rights Agenda (75) a. A Historical Overview (77) b. Jus Soli as a Human Right (85) 2. Defining the Task at Hand (91) A. Puzzle: Unlimited Jus Soli in New States with Frozen Territorial Conflicts (91) B. Hypothesis: Citizenship Link to Separatist Territories (92) C. Research Methodology (95) D. Research Significance (96) iii Part II. The Politics of Unlimited Jus Soli in Post-Soviet States with Jeopardized Territorial Integrity (101) Chapter 3. Citizenship Policy Legislative Timeline (101) 1: Moldova: From Conditional to Unconditional Jus Soli (103) A. Conditional Jus Soli in the 1991 Citizenship Law (104) B. Conditional Birthright Citizenship for Children of Foreigners in the 1996 Amendment (108) C. The 2000 Citizenship Law (110) D. The 2003 Dual Citizenship Amendment: The Birth of Unconditional Jus Soli (111) 2. Azerbaijan: From Unconditional to Conditional Jus Soli (115) A. Unconditional Jus Soli in the 1995 Constitution and the 1998 Citizenship Law (116) B. Implementation of Unconditional Jus Soli (1995-2014) (121) C. The 2014 Amendment Annulling Unconditional Jus Soli (129) a. General Overview (129) b. Legality Concerns (130) c. Humanitarian Concerns (133) 3. Georgia: Jus Soli Aversion (134) A. The 1993 Citizenship Law (135) B. The 2004 Dual Citizenship Amendment (138) C. The 2014 Citizenship Law (139) Chapter 4. Frozen Conflicts and Politics of Territorial Citizenship (143) 1. Moldova: Transnistria’s Territorial Impact on Citizenship Policy (148) 2. Azerbaijan: Nagorno-Karabakh’s Territorial Impact on Citizenship Policy (156) A. The Rise and Fall of Pan-Turkism (159) B. Academic Battles over Karabakh: Seeking the Nation’s Origins (162) 3. Georgia: The Fear for Ethnic Survival (165) Chapter 5. The Weight of History (175) 1. Moldova: An Ambiguous Nation (176) A. Shifting Borders and Populations (177) B. Moldovans or Romanians? (187) C. (In)congruence of Ethnic and Political Borders (203) D. Consequences of Unconditional Jus Soli (207) E. The Law on Civil Status: Ethnicity Loses Its Meaning (210) 2. Azerbaijan: Another Ambiguous Nation (215) iv A. Latent Ethnic Concept of the Nation (218) B. Azeris or Turks? (228) C. Heydar Aliyev: Territorial Nationalism against Pan-Turkism (236) D. (In)congruence of Ethnic and Political Borders: Azeris between Azerbaijan and Iran (244) E. Diaspora, Georgian Azeris and 2014 Citizenship Law Amendments (251) 3. Georgia: Georgia: Territorial on the Outside, Ethnic on the Inside (256) A. A Long History of Ethnic Nationalism (258) B. The Ethnic Nation in Peril and the 1993 Citizenship Law (266) C. Efforts to Build a Territorial Nation and Reaction (271) D. The Concept of the Nation in the 2014 Citizenship Law (275) Chapter 6. The “Fifth Column”: Jus Soli, Dual Citizenship and Geopolitics (281) 1. Moldova: Embracing Dual Citizenship in the Face of Romanianization (284) 2. Azerbaijan: Tightening the Ban on Dual Citizenship (294) A. Rustam Ibragimbekov’s Run for President (295) B. Amendments of 2014 (298) a. Fears of Russian Interference (299) b. Fears of Other States’ Interference (303) c. Future of Dual Citizenship (305) 3. Georgia: From Ethnic Survival to Dual Citizenship Battles in Russia’s Shadow (307) A. The Citizenship Law of 1993 and Fears for Ethnic Survival (308) B. Saakashvili’s Reforms and Dual Citizenship Battles (311) C. Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Candidacy and 2014 Changes (315) Chapter 7. Georgian Azeris: Victims and Beneficiaries of Territorial Nationalism (320) 1. Azerbaijan: Victims of Territorial Nationalism and Geopolitics (322) A. Georgian Azeris in Azerbaijan (322) B. No Compassion for Co-Ethnics (324) C. Georgia’s Strategic Importance to Azerbaijan (327) D. 2014 Amendments (329) 2. Georgia: Azeris Cut off from Baku (330) A. At the Fall of the USSR (330) B. Current Situation (332) C. Baku’s Policy: Treading a Careful Line (339) D. Georgian Civic Integration Efforts (342) E. Citizenship Law in Georgia (349) v Chapter 8. Abkhazia: A View from a De-Facto State (352) 1. The Role of History for National Identity in the Caucasus (353) A. The Turbulent History of the Abkhaz (353) B. The Role of History for National Identity and Politics of the Caucasus (357) a. History in Political Discourse (358) b. The Autochthony Debate (360) 2. The Abkhaz National Identity: An Ethnic/Territorial Analysis (361) 3. The Georgian National Identity in the Eyes of the Abkhaz (366) 4. The Gal Region Conflict over Citizenship (369) Part III. Making Sense of the Findings (377) Chapter 9. Theoretical Analysis (377) 1. Case Findings and the Original Hypothesis (377) A. Moldova (379) a. Legal Precedent in the 1991 Citizenship Law (379) b. Historically-Weak Ethnic Concept of the Nation (379) c. Territorial Integrity Concerns (381) d. Dual Citizenship Liberalization and Geopolitics (381) B. Azerbaijan (383) a. Territorial Integrity Concerns and Azerbaijanism (383) b. Historically-Weak Ethnic Concept of the Nation (383) c. Dual Citizenship Restriction and Geopolitics (385) C. Georgia (385) a. Historically Strong Ethnic Concept of the Nation (385) b. Territorial Integrity Concerns (387) c. Dual Citizenship and Geopolitics (388) 2. Implications for Existing Theoretical Debates (388) A. Citizenship and National Identity: History Matters (388) B. Beyond the Modernist Paradigm (391) C. Territorial Citizenship Unlinked from Liberalism/Democracy (392) D. Advancing Ethnic/Territorial Research in Post-Soviet Comparative Citizenship (393) E. Jus Soli. Dual Citizenship. Geopolitics: A New Direction (396) 3. Future Considerations (401) A. Policy Implications (401) B. Future Research Agenda (403) vi Conclusion: Individual/Collective Identity Cleavage and Territorial Political Membership (405) Bibliography (408) vii LIST OF FIGURES 1. “Frozen” conflicts in the former USSR. Source: The Economist, 19 August, 2004. (1) 2. Proposed Anatomy of Civic Nationalism. (26) 3. Prevalent Modernist Paradigm of Evolution of Nationalism. (31) 4. Proposed Reconceptualization of Ethnic/Civic Nationalism. (32) 5. Unconditional jus soli in 2010 (Feere 2010). (85) 6. Evolution of unconditional jus soli and dual citizenship legislation in post- Soviet states with frozen territorial conflicts. (103) 7. Ethnic composition of post-Soviet countries with frozen conflicts. Source: CIA Worldbook, except for Transnistria (Encyclopædia Britannica.com), Abkhazia (UNPO.org) and S. Ossetia (Gutenberg.org). (144) 8. Moldova with Transnistria. Source: The Economist, June 30, 2005. (149) 9. Acqiusition of Moldovan citizenship (1992-2012). Source: The ministry of Information Technology and Communications of the Republic of Moldova (Gasca 2012). (154) 10. Azerbaijan with Nagorno-Karabakh. Source: The Economist, Septmeber 6, 2014. (156) 11. Georgia with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Source: The Economist, May 24, 2011. (166) viii 12. Historical Moldova (with Transnistria) and current state borders. Source: Axatravel.ro. (179) 13. “Bessarabia is Romania” on the walls of Bucharest, 2014. (198) 14. “Moldovans are Romanians” on the walls of Chisinau, 2015. (199) 15. “Bessarabia is Romania”, a political poster from Romania, 2012. (200) 16. Rate of Approval of Women’s Marriage by Nationality. (235) 17. Rate of Approval of Women’s Marriage to Georgian Azeris, source: Caucasus Barometer. (338) ix ABSTRACT DEFINING THE NATION IN RUSSIA’S BUFFER ZONE: THE POLITICS