In May 1992 an international conference examining the fate of minorities in the former Soviet Union was organized jointly by the Kennan Institute (DC) and Michigan State University. Fourteen speakers were invited from Moscow, St. Petersburgh, the north Caucasus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Lithuania; among them was Dr Ramazan Abdulatipov, Chairman of the Chamber of Nationalities of the Russian Parliament. The immediate impetus for the conference was a national survey of 6,500 Russians in 16 non-Russian regions of the former Soviet Union. The survey was conducted in August and September of 1991 by the Center of Public Opinion Studies in Moscow on the basis of a program prepared by Vladimir Shlapentokh and Lev Gudkov.