ABSTRACT
The phrase 'post-Soviet space' is often used to denote a specific geographical area countries and territories that were part of the former Soviet Union. This chapter offers a slightly different reading of the term 'post-Soviet space'. Rather than focusing on ethnic, cultural, and national borders that differentiate Russia from what used to be the Soviet Union, the political aspect is sought in what is actually the functional component of the Russian/Soviet territory: the infrastructure network. The infrastructure network the road and rail linkages, oil and gas pipelines, and the electricity network form the backbone of the Russian economy, and constitute the residue of a particular political order in space. The analysis of the infrastructure policies in contemporary Russia is a form of 'decentering' as understood in this volume. Metaphors related to building and construction became central to the 1990s political discourse in outlining change in the post-Soviet Russia. The chapter focuses on current Russian thinking on infrastructure development.
