ABSTRACT
In economic terms, even in 1992 the Russian Federation accounted for only 40-50 per cent of the GNP of the former Soviet Union, roughly equivalent to 17.2 per cent of that of the United States. A group which put particular emphasis on the benefits for Russia of belonging to international institutions, not only from the perspective of national interest, but also to encourage democracy in Russia, international co-operation and peace. Russia has also joined the Council of Europe and has been supportive of the enlargement of the European Union. Russia's singular trans-regional position, huge size and military presence, and numerous historical, cultural, infrastructural and human ties with the CIS states will probably underpin its continued dominant geopolitical position in Eurasia, although the extent of this dominance has not been established. In North-East Asia, a region unaffected by border changes created elsewhere by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the legacy inherited by Yeltsin was clear.
