State-Led Transnationalism in Eastern and Central Europe: Understanding the Phenomenon of the “Domestic Abroad”

The dramatic shifts in political boundaries that took place during the twentieth century, along with accelerated globalization following the end of the Cold War, have created the preconditions for the emergence of kin-state activism in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The commitment of kin states to maintain close ties with their kin populations abroad have been articulated in their constitutions, and a number of states have introduced ethnic cards, allowed dual citizenship, and simplified the process of its acquisition. This article examines the state-led policy of shaping an imagined community of an extraterritorial nation by means of such mechanisms as official denomination, transmission of iconography, and judicial confirmation. This paper also attempts to integrate the kin-state concept into a broader theory of transnational relations.