ABSTRACT
Independence in the Eastern case was given to people who had not asked for something so unrealistic, and consequently were not prepared. But there is no reason to believe either that the Central Asians lack the ability or the will to govern themselves, or that they are immune to the democratic principle of respecting the universal franchise. The Central Asians enjoy the advantage that these forms had already been established. But now that they are being filled with content it is sad to see that the leaders in many places fail. But the political destination of the Caucasian and above all the Central Asian states seems uncertain, as does how realistic, durable, natural and desirable a European connection would be. The mutual relations of these republics are in Caucasia antagonistic and in Central Asia unclear, not least because their borders are typical products of colonialism: often lines drawn on a map regardless of ethnic and political conditions.
