title: National Institutions and Sub-national Separatism: Crimea and Chechnia
abstract: In 1991 the Soviet Union ceased as a legal entity. The fall of the communist regime was followed by a number of conflicts between the national states of the ex-Soviet Union and their sub-national territories, namely clearly defined territories which are generally populated by ethnic groups which constitute a minority within a national state. Conflicts between national states and their sub-national territories arose in most cases as a result of the latter’s irredentist claims. In some cases, such