What was the common factor that led to nationalist dissatisfaction in the "more European" and prosperous areas of the Soviet Union?

1) Economic prosperity
2) Strong central governance
3) Alienation from Central Asian republics and economic concerns
4) Ethnic and religious homogeneity

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

3

The people in the "more European" and prosperous areas of the Soviet Union felt alienated from the Central Asian republics and concluded that they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union.

Ironically, during the Cold War, many thought that nationalist unrest would be strongest in the Central Asian republics given their ethnic and religious differences with the rest of the Soviet Union and their economic backwardness. However, as things turned out nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in the more “European” and prosperous part – in Russia and the Baltic areas as well as Ukraine and Georgia. Ordinary people here felt alienated from the Central Asians and from each other and concluded also that they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union.