The Three Regions of the Old Soviet Bloc

The 21 former Soviet-bloc countries fall into three classes of political systems representing a good equilibrium, a bad equilibrium, and a final group that teeters between the two. The nine Central and East European countries that have become EU members represent a good equilibrium: they retain democratic political systems and have corruption under reasonable control. Seven post-Soviet countries compose a bad equilibrium; their polities are all under authoritarian rule, and their economies captured by corrupt interests. Meanwhile, the five intermediate post-Soviet countries —Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ukraine—are in the unstable state. These are the countries upon which Western assistance should concentrate.