GEOSTRATEGIC RECONSTRUCTURING IN THE FORMER USSR

The disintegration of the Soviet Union is not only an epoch-making event because the East- West confrontation which shaped international developments for decades has been eliminated and the western institutions of political and economic cooperation now stand unrivalled. The initiated restructuring of the political and state structures on the territory of the former USSR itself is of paramount importance and will have as yet unforeseeable regional and global implications. A highly respected expert in this field, Olga Alexandrova from the Federal Institute for Eastern and International Studies in Cologne, makes an interim assessment and outlines perspectives for future developments.