Following the highly successful Economies in Transition: A Guide to China, Cuba, Mongolia, North Korea and Vietnam at the turn of the twenty-first century (published in the Routledge Studies in Development Economics series), Eastern Europe at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: A guide to the economies in transition and The Former Yugoslavia at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: A guide to the economies in transition, this book is the first of two which focuses on economic and political events in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The author presents a clear, detailed and accessible breakdown of the developments in the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This book provides a unique level of coverage of economic and political events of global significance, including foreign trade, foreign direct investment, the impact of oil and natural gas finds, Islamic extremism, the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the reaction of the CIS countries and the war on international terrorism. It will provide an invaluable source of reference for all those interested in transitional and developing countries.