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Abstract

Two European political economists examine the restructuring of external relations of the Central Asian republics (CARs) after the disintegration of the Soviet Union by focusing on the structures of exports based on evidence provided by past balances of payments and trade data disaggregated at a relatively high level. The authors' investigation identifies shifts in the commodity composition of exports since the CARs' independence, both in terms of the share of major commodity groupings (e.g., toward raw materials) and in the quality/valueadded of goods within specific commodity groups, as well as the spatial pattern of export destinations. The paper also addresses differences in the CARs' trade performance during the post-Soviet period, which remain small despite the substantial differences in resource endowments and policy orientations.