ABSTRACT
The results of the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 are bringing many changes to Central Asia. The full implications of political independence have sunk in slowly. Russia remains crucial to all the republics, with its economic leverage, political influence and military power spread throughout the region. The republics of the CIS have gained formal independence, but are finding political and economic independence much more difficult to achieve; real, substantial independence is bound to take time.
