| Upon the final dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, the Russian Federation (formerly the RSFSR) took on the difficult task of constructing a new government and a new state. The Russian Federation consists of eighty-nine asymmetrical regions, which, during the 1990's, due to various economic and political pressures, had to navigate new political and economic realities, trying to figure out their place in the new national environment.; The purpose of this project was to examine the development of a federal system in its earliest stages in post-communist Russia. Specifically, this study tried to shed some new light on one aspect of the new Russian federal system: the use of international trade and investment by the regions. It explored the role of the regions in the development of trade and investment with other countries to see whether the regions were able to gain enough economic benefit from those economic activities to give them some political leverage with Moscow.; This project examined the trade and investment activities of two neighboring regions, using a case study approach, to reach its conclusions. The study found that, while regional trade and investment increased during the late 1990's, they were, by themselves, not enough to offset the sizable subsidy given to the regions from Moscow. It suggested that other factors, like the ability and willingness of regional leaders to leverage their increased trade and investment activities, may play a very important role in the evolving relationship between Moscow and the regions. |
