Russia's changing influence in post-Soviet states: an evolution from 1991 to 2014
The purpose of this research was to determine how Russia’s influence in the post-Soviet states has changed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to 2014. This research also looks at whether the methods for influence have changed during the period. The fourteen post-Soviet states are evaluate...
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| Language: | en_US |
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The University of Arizona.
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10150/626820 http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/626820 |
| Summary: | The purpose of this research was to determine how Russia’s influence in the post-Soviet
states has changed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to 2014. This research also looks at
whether the methods for influence have changed during the period. The fourteen post-Soviet
states are evaluated both individually and in regard to their regions, which are designated at the
Caucasus region, the Central Asia region, and the Eastern-Central Europe region. First, the
historical and ethnic relationship of each post-Soviet state with Russia had to be established at an
individual and regional level. Then, data regarding diplomacy, alliances, militarized-interstate
disputes, shared intergovernmental organization membership, and bilateral trade are analyzed to
determine trends in how Russia interacts with the post-Soviet states and how it changes over
time. Ultimately, the trends appear to move from more militarized interactions to focus more on
interactions through trade and intergovernmental organizations. There are distinct differences by
states and regions; Russia has more contentious relations with Ukraine in the Eastern-Central
Europe region and Georgia in the Caucasus region. Russia also has more influence in legacy
states, particularly those that share a history with Russia, have a large percentage of ethnic
Russians, and have a significant Russian-speaking population. |
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