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01 02 Libman and Vinokurov discuss the evolution of post-Soviet regional integration as a prominent case of 'holding-together regionalism' - integration of countries originally belonging to a single political entity. They provide a detailed account of the economic, political and social aspects of the interaction of post-Soviet countries, studying both formal regionalism and informal linkages between companies and individuals. The book pays particular attention to the political economy of this process, assessing both the reasons for the ineffectiveness of post-Soviet regionalism until recently and the driving forces of its persistence. It investigates migration flows, mutual trade and investments, as well as interaction in key sectors of infrastructure, such as telecommunications, transportation, agriculture and power utilities. 02 02 An in-depth analysis of one of the most important and complex issues of the post-Soviet era, namely the (re-)integration of this highly interconnected region. The book considers the evolution of 'holding-together' groups since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, looking at intergovernmental interaction and informal economic and social ties. 31 02 Considers the evolution of the post-Soviet states and examines regional integration, looking at both intergovernmental interaction and informal economic and social linkages 04 02 PART I: BASIC CONCEPTS Searching for Holding-Together Regionalism The Dynamics of Holding-Together Regionalism PART II: POST-SOVIET INTEGRATION Institutional Integration: 20 years of Post-Soviet History Economic Actors and Regionalization Convergence and Divergence of Economic and Social Development The Political Economy of Post-Soviet Integration Sub-National Actors in Post-Soviet Integration PART III: KEY AREAS Holding Together of Falling Apart: Results of the Gravity Equation of CIS Trade Cross-Border Investment: General Trends through the 2000s Financial Markets and the Banking Sector Trans-Eurasian Transport Corridors Towards a CIS Common Electric Power Market CIS Telecommunications Sector: the Rise of the Multinationals Agriculture in the CIS: Departing from the Soviet Past Labour Migration PART IV: AN INTERTWINED REGION The Foreign Policies of Russia and Kazakhstan: Post-Soviet Regionalism and Power Balance Post-Soviet Space, Central Asia and Eurasia Issues for the Next Decade Conclusion 19 02 Up-to-date discussion of the political economy of post-Soviet integration, the reasons for its slow start and its revival in the past decade Original data on informal integration in the post-Soviet space including migration flows, mutual investments and social ties 13 02 Alexander Libman is Assistant Professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany, Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Researcher at the East China Normal University. His principal publications have appeared in the Journal of Common Market Studies , Journal of Comparative Economics and Review of International Political Economy . Evgeny Vinokurov is Director of the Centre for Integration Studies at the Eurasian Development Bank. He has written and edited a number of monographs and papers on economic and political integration, including A Theory of Enclaves (2007) and The CIS, the EU and Russia: Challenges of Integration (2007).

Trade Performance and Regional Integration of the CIS Countries is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank’s ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. This paper provides a detailed quantitative analysis, based on standard econometric models, of the trends and the configurations of trade of the CIS countries, with an emphasis on its low-income members. It also contains an analysis of the CIS countries’ trade potential and its realization in a comparative perspective, as well as examination of the nature of the existing CIS intra-bloc trade. The study reveals no evidence that the CIS countries as a group under-perform significantly in terms of either trade openness or export levels when compared to the countries of similar per capita GDP and population size. However, the low-income economies in the CIS (CIS-7) have been performing on average just marginally better than other low-income countries and, overall, they have been falling behind the countries that benefit most from globalization. Overall, progress in the trade area was slower in the CIS-7 countries than in the higher income CIS members. This is reflected in: (i) lower overall export level and slower export growth; (ii) higher trade deficit; (iii) lower share of manufacturing exports; (iv) incomplete reorientation of trade flows; and (v) lower incidence of intra-industry trade. This report found that the CIS free trade area is, on balance, a beneficial, trade-facilitating bloc. There is no evidence so far that the CIS integration is of the “South-South” type (harmful for some of its members). However, the potential benefits of CIS trade integration remain badly underutilized. The paper suggests several directions for strengthening the legal and administrative framework for intra-CIS trade arrangements.

Globalization has become synonymous with the seemingly unfettered spread of capitalist multinationals, but this focus on the West and western economies ignores the wide variety of globalizing projects that sprang up in the socialist world as a consequence of the end of the European empires. This collection is the first to explore alternative forms of globalization across the socialist world during the Cold War. Gathering the work of established and upcoming scholars of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China,Alternative Globalizations addresses the new relationships and interconnections which emerged between a decolonizing world in the postwar period and an increasingly internationalist eastern bloc after the death of Stalin. In many cases, the legacies of these former globalizing impulses from the socialist world still exist today. Divided into four sections, the works gathered examine the economic, political, developmental, and cultural aspects of this exchange. In doing so, the authors break new ground in exploring this understudied history of globalization and provide a multifaceted study of an increasing postwar interconnectedness across a socialist world.

This book analyzes the effects of the break-up of the Soviet Union into fifteen independent states. Topics discussed include: past and present economic relations between the republics, and forecasts for the future discussion of Customs Unions, Monetary Union or Payments Union as possible ways forward for these states economic integration theory how the states of the Soviet Union functioned before the dissolution.

This pathbreaking study brings together international experts to consider security issues and the experience and potential for cooperation in the subregions of the former Soviet Union. Appendices to the volume provide maps, a guide to acronyms, profiles of existing subregional organizations, and a chronology of cooperative agreements signed in the region since 1991.

This book analyzes the effects of the break-up of the Soviet Union into fifteen independent states. Topics discussed include: * past and present economic relations between the republics, and forecasts for the future * discussion of Customs Unions, Monetary Union or Payments Union as possible ways forward for these states * economic integration theory * how the states of the Soviet Union functioned before the dissolution.

Before 1991 little was known of the individual states that made up the USSR. Here the effects of the break-up of the Soviet Union on the identities of the fifteen independent states are analyzed.

Intro -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Abstract -- Preface -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- 1. Trade Portrait and Performance of the CIS Bloc -- Poor Quality of Trade Data or Trade Deflection? -- Overall Trade Performance -- Withering of Manufactured Trade -- Changing Geography of Trade -- Export Reorientation or Loss of Markets? -- Export Specialization of the CIS Countries -- Predominance of Inter-Industry Trade -- 2. Realizing Trade Potential: Openness and Trade Patterns -- Trade Openness: How Open are the CIS Countries? -- The Gravity Model: Recent Adjustments in Direction of Trade -- CIS-7: Lagging Behind in Trade Diversification and Export Performance -- Conclusion -- 3. The CIS Free Trade Area and Trade Integration -- Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) -- Standards -- Transit -- Customs Cooperation -- The CIS Bloc and the South-South Integration -- Conclusion -- 4. Conclusions and Recommendations -- Annexes -- Table A1: Merchandise Composition of Exports -- Table A2: Merchandise Trade Deficit with Major Partners -- References -- TABLES -- Table 1.1: Quality of Trade Data, 2000 -- Table 1.2: Intra-CIS Exports Minus Imports -- Table 1.3: Trade Indices of the CIS Members (1993-100) -- Table 1.4: Trade Flows and Balances of the CIS Economies, 1988-2000 -- Table 1.5: Export Composition by Sector -- Table 1.6: Geographical Composition of Exports and Imports -- Table 1.7: Merchandise Composition of CIS and Non-CIS Exports -- Table 1.8: Export Specialization Indices at the 1-digit SITC Level, 2000 -- Table 1.9: Export Specialization Index at the 2-digit SITC Level -- Table 1.10: Shares in Employment and Exports, 2000 -- Table 1.11: The Grubel-Lloyd Index -- Table 2.1: Trade Openness Models -- Table 2.2: CIS Actual vs Theoretical Openness -- Table 2.3: Potential and Realized Shares of Intra-CIS and EU Exports.