25: Post States

From Wikipedia:

"Post-Soviet states"

Baltic states

•  Estonia (Eesti)
•  Latvia (Latvija)
•  Lithuania (Lietuva)

Central Asia

•  Kazakhstan (Қазақстан/Казахстан)

•  Kyrgyzstan (Кыргызстан/Киргизия)
•  Tajikistan (Тоҷикистон)
•  Turkmenistan (Turkmenistan)
•  Uzbekistan (Oʻzbekiston)

East-Central Europe

•  Belarus (Беларусь/Беларусь)
•  Moldova (Moldova)
•  Ukraine (Україна)

Eurasia

•  Russian Federation (Российская Федерация)

Southern Caucasus

•  Armenia (Հայաստան)
•  Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan)
•  Georgia (საქართველო)

Regarding political freedom in the former Soviet republics, Freedom House's 2015 report listed the following:

• Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as "free" countries.
• Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ukraine were listed as "partly free."
• Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were listed as "not free", with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan being noted as among the "worst of the worst".

Similarly, the Worldwide Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders in 2015, recorded the following as regards press freedom:

• A good situation in Estonia
• A satisfactory situation in Latvia and Lithuania
• Noticeable problems in Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova
• A difficult situation in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine
• A very serious situation in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Regional Organizations:

Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine founded the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in December 1991. It was conceived as a successor organization to the USSR, and as of December 1993 it included 12 of the 15 former Soviet republics (except the three Baltic states).It currently consists of 9 of the 15 former Soviet republics with 1 participating state (Ukraine) and 1 associate state (Turkmenistan); Georgia withdrew from the CIS in August 2008.

The three Baltic states have not sought membership to any of these post-Soviet organizations, seeking and achieving membership in the European Union and NATO instead (only their electricity and rail systems remain closely connected with former Soviet organizations). The sole exception to the above has been their recent membership in the Community of Democratic Choice.

The Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (as well as Belarus) are members of the CIS and participate in several regional organizations that have Russia as a primary mover. Such organizations are the Eurasian Economic Community (later merged with Eurasian Economic Union, which Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are not members of), Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The last two groups only became distinct once Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM and sought membership in EurAsEc and CSTO (which it subsequently withdrew from in 2008 and 2012, respectively).

Armenia, besides its membership in CIS participates in Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union.

Ukraine, Moldova, and Azerbaijan participate in the CIS but other than that they mostly cooperate within regional organizations that are not dominated by Russia. Such organizations are GUAM and the Community of Democratic Choice. Although Ukraine is one of the three founding countries of the CIS, it is legally not a member because it has never ratified the 1993 CIS Charter.

Turkmenistan is an associate member of CIS (having withdrawn from full membership in August 2005) and a member in the Economic Cooperation Organization; it has not sought closer integration in any of the other Western or post-Soviet organizations.

Georgia notified (on 18 August 2008) the CIS executive bodies of its decision to leave the regional organization,and according to the CIS Charter (sec. 1, art. 9) this decision went into force 12 months after the notification date.

Current declared states:

•  Abkhazia, which is de facto independent from Georgia. Tensions in the area broke out when Georgia sent in troops in 1992 to control groups who wanted separation. The troops and most of the Georgian and Mingrelian speaking population were forced out in 1993, and the region declared independence in 1999. The 2008 war between Georgian forces and the separatist and Russian forces led to Russia's recognition of Abkhazia's independence.
•  Nagorno-Karabakh, which is de facto independent from Azerbaijan. Ethnic conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis began in 1988, and expanded into war which lasted till a ceasefire in 1994. Sporadic attempts at negotiating a final peace and sporadic bursts of violence have continued since then.
•  Novorossiya, a confederation of two unrecognized states which declared independence from Ukraine in 2014:
  •  Donetsk People's Republic
  •  Lugansk People's Republic
•  South Ossetia, which is de facto independent from Georgia. The region declared its intent to seek independence in 1990, leading to a conflict which led to a ceasefire in 1992. Separatism became powerful after the election of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in 2004, and a referendum in 2006 was in favour of declaring independence. The 2008 war between Georgian forces and the separatist and Russian forces led to Russia's recognition of South Ossetia's independence.
•  Transnistria, which is de facto independent from Moldova. It declared independence in 1990, due to its majority Russian-speaking population fearing union with Romania. A ceasefire between Transnistrian forces and Moldovan forces has been in place since 1992, enforced by the presence of Russian forces in Transnistria.

Former declared states:

•  Gagauzia, declared itself the "Gagauz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic" within Moldova on 12 November 1989, and the "Gagauz Soviet Socialist Republic", independent of Moldova but still within the Soviet Union, on 19 August 1990, but was reintegrated into Moldova as an autonomous region on 23 December 1994.
•  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, where Dzhokhar Dudayev declared independence from Russia in 1991, leading to a violent war between local separatist forces and the Russian army. Russia first invaded in 1994, withdrawing after a deal for increased autonomy was granted in 1996. Tensions have continued in the years since then, and the conflict has spilled over into neighbouring regions such as Dagestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia–Alania. Russia claims that the situation in Chechnya has normalised.
•  Republic of Crimea. The entire Crimean Peninsula has been outside the control of Ukrainian authorities since late February 2014, when Russian special forces and pro-Russian militias occupied the region.In March 2014, a popular referendum in favor of accession to Russia was held in Crimea and Sevastopol, although Ukraine and most of the international community refused to recognize the vote. The next day, the Republic of Crimea declared independence, and within days Russia absorbed the peninsula. Ukraine continues to claim Crimea as an integral part of its territory.

Civil wars:

Civil wars unrelated to separatist movements have occurred twice in the region:

• The Georgian Civil War between the forces of Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Eduard Shevardnadze. The war ended after Russian forces intervened in support of Shevardnadze's government, which in turn agreed to join the Commonwealth of Independent States.
• The Tajikistan Civil War that lasted between 1992 and 1997.

Colour revolutions:

Since 2003, a number of (largely) peaceful "colour revolutions" have happened in some post-Soviet states after disputed elections, with popular protests bringing into power the former opposition.

• The Rose Revolution in Georgia, leading to the fall from office of Eduard Shevardnadze.
• The Orange Revolution in Ukraine, bringing into power Viktor Yushchenko.
• The Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, leading to the resignation of Askar Akayev.

^ A lot has happened in the former Soviet Union in the 25 years since it collapsed. ^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Soviet_states