A BRIEF HISTORY OF: FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS
By Gilbert Cruz

TIME
Aug 21 2008

Since the breakup of The Soviet Union in 1991, its former republics
have attempted to take different political directions. Most came
together in the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.), which
is still led by Russia. The Baltic nations joined NATO and the
European Union in 2004–a course Ukraine and Georgia have flirted
with recently–while the resource-rich Central Asian republics have
remained largely loyal to Moscow. But after the invasion of Georgia,
former members of the U.S.S.R. face an inescapable truth: you can’t
run from geography. Try as they might to move closer to Europe,
many are now nervously eyeing a resurgent Russia on their borders.

EASTERN EUROPE

1. BELARUS 2. UKRAINE 3. MOLDOVA Russia has held a grudge against
Ukraine since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution. Belarus has
kept particularly close ties with Moscow, while Russian troops are
currently stationed in a semidetached Moldovan territory.

THE CAUCASUS

1. GEORGIA 2. ARMENIA 3. AZERBAIJAN A vital region for the West, which
has high hopes for an oil pipeline through Azerbaijan. George W. Bush
visited ally Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia in 2005. Tiny Armenia,
which borders Turkey and Iran, readily accepts Russian protection.

CENTRAL ASIA

1. KAZAKHSTAN 2. UZBEKISTAN 3. TURKMENISTAN 4. KYRGYZSTAN 5. TAJIKISTAN
These states are wedged between Russia and China. Several are
resource-rich and endure varying levels of autocratic rule; a few
have let NATO use land for bases.

THE BALTICS

1. ESTONIA 2. LATVIA 3. LITHUANIA Thriving, technologically advanced
democracies with prickly relationships with Russia. Estonia blames
Moscow for major cyberattacks in 2007.