Guam; The Spillover of Politics into Economics ?

Özet

Of ali the subregional cooperative networks that have emerged since the end of the Cold War, the grouping of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova (GUUAM) presents one of the most interesting cases. Unlike practically ali other subregional initiatives based on geographic proximity, GUUAM transcends natural geographical lines. It brings together five postSoviet countries that are not only dispersed geographically, but are also quite different historically and culturally, and vary in the extent of their transformation from Soviet communism. While the emergence of almost ali cooperative pattems at the subregional level is motivated by common interests that are mainly of a socioeconomic and environmental nature, GUUAM was launched primarily as an international political initiative. In contrast to most other subregional groups, which delibcrately avoid dealing directly with political and security issues, the political and security aspects of cooperation are at the top of GUUAM's agenda. It is not surprising, therefore, that this cooperative effort has attracted international attention and that the group itself, although initially favoring a low profile, is becoming more proactive and visible.