Boris Yel'tsin and the invention of a Russian nation-state

Russia's efforts to invent a nation-state are analyzed. Independence created the need to define a new national ideology that combined both old traditions and new ideas. However, this process spurred debates over what old and new ideas to bring into the mix. Adding to the fray were factors such as post-imperial trauma, the influence of fragmented imperial institutions and struggles of ethnic Russians to adjust to their new environment.