Oil and Gas in the Caspian Sea Region Gernot Erler Seven years ago the political map of Europe changed dramatically. The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved. Up until 1991, Eastern and Southeastern Europe had consisted of the relatively manageable number of eight separate countries. Alongside the enormous Soviet Union, which acted as a single political unit, despite the existence of its fifteen republics, there were Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia and Albania. After the collapse of communism, however, a system was created made up of twenty-seven countries, fifteen of them within the territory of the former Soviet Union. This unusually large number was confusing at first. For the sake of clarity, an attempt was made to create country categories, something that might perhaps be described as a“federalization” of political geography. This political geography divided the Newly Independent States into two groups: a) the Baltic States(Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and b) the twelve Newly Independent States(NIS). Various divisions can be made within the group of Newly Independent States. Seen from the perspective of Moscow, three concentric rings have been formed: 1. The union between the Russian Federation and Belarus; 2. The community constituted by the four countries of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan; 3. The NIS with all twelve members. From its own perspective, the West divides these countries up differently. It distinguishes the following units: 1. The Russian Federation with Belarus as its(current) appendix; 2. The Ukraine as an important independent country, which is still strongly dependent on Moscow in economic terms but moving in the direction of greater independence (the small country of Moldova is seen as a minor partner for the Ukraine); 3. The three Transcaucasian republics of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan; 4. The five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. 1