A HISTORY OF THE SOVIET DIASPORA IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA (1989- 2015): CASE STUDIES OF RUSSIAN-SPEAKERS IN SOUTH KOREA, CAMBODIA, AND THE NETHERLANDS by Dylan J. Harmon-Donovan, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in International Studies May 2015 Committee Members: Dennis J. Dunn, Chair Sarah Blue Paul Hart COPYRIGHT by Dylan J. Harmon-Donovan 2015 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Dylan J. Harmon-Donovan, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION This is dedicated to my mother, Rachel Harmon, for always believing in me and for instilling in me a value in education. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to my committee members, the faculty at Texas State University, and all my fellow student colleagues for assisting me along the way. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ viii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 Russians and the End of the Soviet Union ...................................................1 Data Collection and Literature Review ........................................................9 II. THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN IMMIGRATION ............................................17 Early Russian Migration ............................................................................17 The First and Second Waves of Russian Migration...................................20 Russian Migration to Asia during the First and Second Waves ................24 III. POST-SOVIET MIGRATION ........................................................................32 The Third Wave of Russian Migration ......................................................32 The Russian Diaspora in the Near Abroad ................................................44 Examining Russian Identity .......................................................................46 IV. POST-SOVIET RUSSIAN IMMIGRATION INTO ASIA ............................51 The Third Wave in Asia .............................................................................51 vi The Russian Diaspora in South Korea .......................................................56 The Historical Interaction between Russia and South Korea ....................59 Repatriation of Soviet Koreans to South Korea .........................................65 Slavic Russians in South Korea .................................................................68 Russian Women in the South Korean Sex Trade .......................................73 Conclusions about Russian-Speakers in Korea..........................................76 Russians in Cambodia ................................................................................78 Russia-Cambodia Historical Foreign Relations .........................................80 The Post-Soviet Diaspora in Cambodia .....................................................88 Conclusions about Russian-Speakers in Cambodia ...................................95 V. A COMPARISON WITH RUSSIANS IN THE WEST ...................................98 Russians in the Netherlands .......................................................................98 Dutch-Russian Historical Interactions .....................................................102 Russian Immigration to the Netherlands..................................................106 Russian Sex-Workers in the Netherlands ................................................110 The Current State of the Russian Community in the Netherlands ...........112 VI. CONCLUSIONS ...........................................................................................120 Comparisons of Russian-Speakers in the East and the West ...................120 Russian Identity in Diaspora ....................................................................129 Concluding Thoughts ...............................................................................141 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................146 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Description CER- Chinese Eastern Railway FSU- Former Soviet Union NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration NKVD- People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs OKA- Overseas Korean Act PRK- People’s Republic of Kampuchea TFR- Total Fertility Rate U.S.S.R.- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics viii ABSTRACT This thesis aims to look at the history of Russian immigration and diaspora formation since the end of the Cold War period in 1989. It analyzes the destinations of Russian immigrants, the patterns and dissimilarities among the post-Soviet Russian- speaking diaspora, and particular motivations for leaving Russia during the 1990s and early 2000s. In particular I will examine the post-Cold War immigration of Russians into Asia, with case study examinations of Cambodia and South Korea. What particular reasons drove Russians from their homeland, and what particular reasons attracted these groups of Russians to East and Southeast Asia, over the traditional destinations of North America and Western Europe? There have been relatively few studies done on post- Soviet Russian migration. The history of Russian migrants in East and Southeast Asia is sparse, other than some literature on early twentieth century Soviet migration to Shanghai and Manchuria. In an effort to highlight the particularities of post-Soviet immigration into East Asia, I will also present the history of the Russian diaspora into the Netherlands as a contrast. The Netherlands, like Cambodia and South Korea, is a small densely populated nation with high levels of tourism. However the Netherlands is a wealthy European nation, which attracts different types of migrant classes than an Asian nation. I will present the case study of Russian immigration into the Netherlands alongside Cambodia and South Korea to show how emigration from post-Soviet states since the 1990s progressed along different paths, but how initial motives for migration as well as diaspora organization patterns are similar within these Russian-speaking groups in ix diverse host societies. Academic studies on recent Russian migration over the past twenty years are scarce, and give justification to this research. The 1990s and early 2000s were tumultuous and chaotic times for the Russian state, and the historical significance of this time period has yet to really be analyzed, most likely due to its contemporary relevance. The actions of Russia over the recent years, such as the invasion of Georgia in 2008, military action in Ukraine in 2014-2015, and a general increase in aggressive foreign political influence in Russia’s near abroad, display that Russia has come out of its political lull, and has emerged as an energy superpower and re-emerged as a political power state in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Analyzing the history of Russian migration during the 1990s and early 2000s will allow better understanding of the particularly chaotic period following the demise of the Soviet Union, and will allow for a better understanding of how post-Soviet Russian diaspora groups self-identify culturally, socially, and ethnically. x CHAPTER I Introduction Russians and the End of the Soviet Union Russian migration and the development of the international Russian diaspora since the end of the Soviet Union has been an important and extremely influential element of redefining the Russian people and the Russian nation in the 21st century. This thesis offers a historical analysis of Russian migration and diaspora development since the end of the Cold War. The period under study is relatively recent, and its relevance as a transition period for modern Russia is important and in need of understanding. The end of the Cold War in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union by December 1991 was a significant rearrangement within Eurasian political geography as well as within the international political system. From the Soviet Union sprung fifteen new nation states, with the Russian Federation being the largest and the most obvious successor for filling the vacuum in international politics that the Soviet Union once filled. Despite initial optimism with the end of the Cold War and the hope of liberal democracy and capitalism in Russia, the situation turned bleak very quickly in the early 1990s. The political and economic institutions in Russia were ill prepared for such a transition, seventy years of a planned economy under the U.S.S.R. weighed down the fledgling Russian Federation.1 The rush to privatization and the establishment of capitalism resulted in a deteriorating economic situation in Russia; the country was ill-prepared