The Near Abroad: Socialist Eastern Europe and Soviet Patriotism in Ukraine, 1956-1985

From the Soviet perspective, Eastern Europe was the near abroad — more accessible than the capitalist West, yet also unambiguously foreign. Observing their western neighbours, citizens of the USSR developed new ideas about the role of states, borders, and national identities in the Soviet empire.

In The Near Abroad, Zbigniew Wojnowski traces how Soviet Ukrainian identities developed in dialogue and confrontation with the USSR's neighbours in Eastern Europe. The author aptly chall…