The editors express their gratitude to the John M. Olin Foundation for its financial assistance and to the Harvard University Russian Research Center for the facilities and staff support that made this project possible. We wish to thank those who contributed their invaluable scholarly advice, including Vernon Aspaturian, Abram Bergson, Steven Blank, Walker Connor, Robert Conquest, Murray Feshbach, Erich Goldhagen, Richard Pipes, and Marc Raeff. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Barbara A. Anderson and Brian D. Silver with Soviet demographic data used throughout the volume. Susan Zayer and Karen Taylor-Brovkin provided able administrative help. For skillful technical assistance with the manuscript we are indebted to Jane Prokop, Elizabeth Taylor, and Alison Koff. Catherine Reed, Susan Gardos-Bleich, Christine Porto, and Alex Sich helped generously in diverse ways. Finally, the editors profited at every stage from the congenial working atmosphere and the encouragement of colleagues at the Russian Research Center too numerous to mention. To all of them goes our deep appreciation.

The Soviet Union is a multinational state, with about half of the country's population being ethnically Russian. The advent of glasnost, and moves toward democratization and decentralization has unleashed the expression of national sentiments and interests in the USSR. This collection of Soviet materials surveys the many ramifications of the "nationality question" in the USSR in the 1980s. The topics covered include ideology, state organization, party recruitment, inter-republican economic relations, demographic factors, education, bilingualism, cultural institutions, religious traditions, military service, and disputes over republican prerogatives (in the Baltic) and over territory (the case of Nagorno-Karabakh). Each topical section includes a detailed introduction by the editor. This anthology provides coverage of the past decade, up to and including the current unrest and the impact of the Gorbachev reforms.