Summary:
The former USSR has had a rough road through the past four-teen years. The collapse of the Soviet Union was devastating to all of the countries that were part of it. Economies crashed, government systems crumbled, and socially there was chaos. Many of the countries have yet to rebuild their economies since, such as Russia. Today virtually all of the former USSR is on a road of democracy. Socially they are diverse and there are some hot beds for social disorder.
The former USSR has had a rough road through the past four-teen years. The collapse of the Soviet Union was devastating to all of the countries that were part of it. Economies crashed, government systems crumbled, and socially there was chaos. Many of the countries have yet to rebuild their economies since, such as Russia. Today virtually all of the former USSR is on a road of democracy. Socially they are diverse and there are some hot beds for social disorder.
Russia is the largest country geographically and population wise that emerged from the fifteen Commonwealth of Independent States due to the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia along with many other states experienced massive inflation. Unemployment rates in Russia have slowly decreasing since the Soviet fall. Unemployment in Russia and else were in the Commonwealth of Independent States has fluctuated greatly in the past decade. Russia for example had an unemployment rate of 5.7% in 1993, shortly after the Soviet collapse. In 1998 it reached a high of 13.3% and has since fallen to about 9%. These rates give you a general idea of how the economy has gone for this area. Since most of the Commonwealth of Independent States are use to production of a single industry they have had to import many of there materials. In 1992 Ukraine imported 2.2billion dollars worth of materials. In 1995, with a lesser population, Ukraine imported nearly 5.5billion dollars worth of materials. These figures show that a lot of the countries that were satellites of Russia during Soviet times are still dependent on Russia for a lot of there materials. Yet almost all of fifteen Commonwealth of Independent States economies are doing bad, there are some that have shown growth. Uzbekistan and Georgia have large oil and gas industries. Georgia has taken a hold of their agriculture. They are producing tobacco, fruits, and timber.
Many of the countries in the former USSR are facing some serious problems. In Kyrgyzstan President Akayev was ousted by his people due to belief that he rigged the elections. This year on the 11th of April it became official that Akayev would officially resign as president. The coup that occurred in Kyrgyzstan this past year was a military coup. This shows that some governments are still unstable and can easily be overthrown by force. Although there is unstable governments there are also many countries that are headed in democratic reform. Belarus is a prime example of this. Condoleezza Rice has just recently visited Belarus. Rice said at a meeting with the prime minister, "I believe that Belarus is on a road to democracy. We must have a national movement towards democracy to have any progress at all." The United States is sending massive amounts of aid to Belarus for democratic political parties, non-governmental organizations, and media. The United States is also cutting off aid to the government except for humanitarian goods. The United States hopes this will lead Belarus to a democracy. The United States also believes that Belarus is just one of the many stepping stones for democracy that lie ahead for this region. Other countries are also trying to build ties with old enemies. Russia for example has sent President Putin to Israel. The purpose of Putin's trip is to help Russia become a major player in the development of the Middle East, a place where Russia has not been since Soviet days.
The former USSR is have many problems socially. There is still a large number of people that live in poverty. In 1995 the wealthiest 10% of Russians earned 13.5 times as much as the poorest 10%. In 1996 the ratio shrunk to about 12%. This suggests that more people are starting to share the wealth. Some of the Commonwealth of Independent States is safe havens for terrorism and crime. Chechnya for example is breeding grounds terrorism. Two terrorists, Maskhadov and Basayev, are leaders of a ground of rebels that were formerly followers of the president of Chechnya. The two terrorist were responsible for the economic collapse of Chechnya. Russia is offering 10.3million dollars for the capture of these two terrorists. There are also many other terrorists that have come out of Chechnya and other poor countries.
All in all the over all health of the region is somewhat unstable. There are some pockets of growth and stability such as Georgia and Uzbekistan. But, for the most part, nearly all of the Commonwealth of Independent States are still trying to straighten up and get back on track from the fall of the Soviet Union. Socially there is chaos, coups, and terrorism. Politically they are going through huge changes that appear to eventually result in a form of democracy. Lastly the overall economy of the region is relatively poor compared to the rest of the world, but is still becoming stronger. I believe in the future this region will become a very productive and industrious region. I think that democracy will flourish and that it will become a huge player in the world.
