How International Trade Ties Influence Democratization: The Case of the Post-Soviet States

This chapter deals with the relationship between trade ties to Russia and the possible development of democratic political regimes in the 14 former Soviet republics. It analyses the trade ties of 14 post-Soviet countries to Russia for the period from 1995 to 2003. The chapter talks about the relationship between post-Soviet countries and the Russian Federation, and the extent of democratic development in the former Soviet states. It shows that systematic examination of the data on trade relationships between Russia and its former republics shows little impact on political outcomes. The chapter focuses on trade relationships, briefly examining Russia's political propaganda in the newly independent states will help put that mechanism in its proper context. The main hypothesis in the extant literature is that there is a direct relationship between the amount of international trade between Russia and its successor states.