Editor's Introduction Russia, Central Asia, and the Transcaucasus

摘要

The former Soviet republics of Central Asia and the Transcaucasus remain of intense interest to Russia, which refers to them as its "near abroad." In the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, conditions have favored cooperation between Russia and many of the former Soviet states, and even some level of political and economic reintegration. After all, for seventy years they made up a unified political-economic complex.