"... Valery Tishkov lays out a framework for understanding the ways in which those connected to the Russian language and culture relate to one another and to Russia. He asserts that Russia and the Russian language remain a defi ning infl uence in the lives of millions of émigrés to the West and citizens of post-Soviet countries, even where local nationalist agendas seek to downplay and underestimate the prevalence of Russian." (Quoted from paper)