ANNOTATION: Russia, one of the fifteen former republics in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), joined ten other Soviet republics in dissolving the Union on 21 December 1991 when they agreed to form the new Commonwealth of Independent States. This dramatic end to the Soviet and Communist state followed several years of dynamic and unprecedented change. For several more years, relations among the members of the new Commonwealth and with the rest of the world are likely to continue to change. Over time, new structures and patterns will emerge in economics, trade and commerce, politics and government, finance, manufacturing, religion, and virtually all aspects of human life. New arrangements must be devised for dealing separately as sovereign states and as a Commonwealth with the world outside the boundaries of the former Soviet state. If the history of the Soviet Union since 1985 is any guide, we can expect dramatic surprises and dynamic change...

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ANNOTATION: Through marriage, inheritance, a lack of natural borders, an aggressive military policy, and great rivers that transversed huge expanses of land, Russia expanded from the environs of Moscow to become the largest and longest-lasting multinational empire in the world. The bulk of expansion came through wars, but there was always a strong current of natural expansion away from the autocratic center by social outcasts, adventurers, and merchants. Russian expansion was always cyclical, moving into a void, being pushed back, then recovering lost territory...

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ANNOTATION: The history of Russia is usually dated from the 9th century ad when a loose federation of the eastern Slavic tribes was achieved under the legendary Rurik. At this time, Kiev was the political and cultural center. Vulnerable due to the flat land that surrounded them, the Kievan rulers sought security through expansion--a policy that subsequent Russian leaders frequently pursued...

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ANNOTATION: Russia extends from the Arctic Ocean south to the Black Sea and from the Baltic Sea east to the Pacific Ocean. It covers much of the continents of Europe and Asia. Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia. St. Petersburg, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, is Russia's chief seaport...

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