What are some of the major problems that the Soviet Union faced by many of the new countries?

Question

I was wondering about this today and I was wondering what some of the major problems were... :D

Answer 1

I agree with unitedcats, and would also add that natural resources, belonging to Russia in the past, were now within the boundaries of these new countries and have to be traded for, or purchased outright.

Answer 2

I am assuming you mean problems faced by Russia with new countries on its borders after the collapse of the Soviet Union?

1. About 15 million people who think of themselves as Russian and who didn't want to leave Russia in the first place now find themselves living in countries where for the most part they are despised minorities. They can and have looked to Russia for support, and Russia has done what it can...allowing millions of them to claim Russian citizenship for example. The recent problems in Georgia stem from this for example.

2. The US, despite promising not to, has worked very hard to get anti-Russian. pro-American governments installed in these countries, with some success. Again, the recent Georgian mess also stems to a large part from this.

There's more no doubt, but these are two of the biggest.