Nationalism

Independence! Self-determination! Freedom! As the Soviet Union's many ethnic and religious groups take up these rallying cries with increasing conviction, it is easy to forget the dark side of nationalism. The first reaction to the disintegration of the menacing Soviet monolith may be euphoria, but all too often, as demonstrated by other countries where ethnic rivalries have shattered national integrity, bloodshed soon follows. In Yugoslavia fierce fighting has killed more than 300 people since Croatia declared independence on June 25. In Sri Lanka an eight-year war between Tamil guerrillas and the Sinhalese majority has left 18,000 dead and countless numbers homeless and destitute. Tamil Tigers have also been held responsible for the assassination last May of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who sent in troops in July 1987 to bolster the ruling Sinhalese. Does this kind of deep-seated hatred and violence await minority Russians in Ukraine, or Ossetians in Georgia or ethnic Ukrainians in Moldavia? Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia offer a not-too-distant mirror of the mayhem that could be unleashed.