An Unsettled Nation: Moldova in the Geopolitics of Russia, Romania, and Ukraine

This book investigates state-building, distorted identities, and separatism in the Republic of Moldova. It presents research on the historical preconditions and spread of the secessionist movement in Transnistria, the war in the Dniester River valley, and the diplomatic deadlock of the Transnistrian problem. It examines the conflicting positions that political parties, the public, and experts have taken towards the problems that challenge the nation- and state-building processes in this post-Soviet state. Additional focal points include the reassertion of Russia’s power in the post-Soviet space, Ukraine’s effort to become a major political player in the region, and Romania’s attempt to retrieve its influence in Moldova. This study demonstrates that separatism generates mutually exclusive nation-building projects on the territory of a single state, that international actors play a significant role in this process, and that domestic and external factors hinder the development of a resolution of the so-called "frozen conflict" over Transnistria.

Eduard Baidaus holds doctoral degrees from the University of Alberta (2017) and from the Institute of History at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (1995). He was a recepient of the Temerty Postdoctoral Fellowship in Holodomor Studies at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta (2021-2022). Dr. Baidaus is the author of three books in Moldova and has published multiple articles in Canada, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. He teaches history courses at Lakeland College in Lloydminster and at Red Deer Polytechnic in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.

"Dr. Baidaus provides a meticulously researched and thorough analysis of Moldova's relations with its neighbors, the formation of the breakaway region of Transnistria at the behest of Russia, and the complex negotiations that have followed on the state's future and its relations with Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. This book is a welcome and much-needed addition to the field of East European studies." David R. Marples, University of Alberta

"Eduard Baidaus has written an excellent, long-overdue book on the breakaway region of Transnistria, a self-proclaimed separatist republic in eastern Moldova located on the Ukrainian border, but politically and economically an outpost of Russia. He uses a variety of methods to study the Transnistrian example, ranging from archival research to interviews with participants of crucial events in the early 1990s, and the outcome is impressive, erudite work that illuminates post-communist identity policies." Serhy Yekelchyk, University of Victoria