title: Territorial Conflict and Secessionism in the Post-Soviet Black Sea Region
abstract: Charles King has stated that "the end of Soviet communism was ar elatively peaceful affair"-givent he disputed boundaries and social grievances across the decaying Union.Compared to the end of Yugoslavia and other historical cases of empire and state decay, and if the wars in Ukraine since 2014 are counted as belongingtoanother epoch, one might sayso.The BlackSea region,however,was riddled with conflict in the 1990s.Furthermore, the 2008 Russo-Georgian war,t he war in Eastern Ukraine since 2014,