ABSTRACT
The present state of ethnic relations in the Soviet Union, writes Aleksandr Zharnikov in the June 1989 issue of Kommunist, results from the literal collapse of the "command-administrative system." This system had consistently undermined the principle of self-determination of nations, replacing it with the concept of the Russians as "elder brother" of the other Soviet peoples. This substitution lies at the root of recent expressions of anti-Russian sentiments. It is not surprising, argues Zharnikov, that the sins of the compromised command-administrative system tend to be attributed in some degree to the "elder brother," i.e., to the Russian people. Unfortunately, there are also people who deliberately "speculate" on the problems of their nations—"and which nation has no problems?"—and try to make the "elder brother" responsible for all their troubles. 1
