From the union to the commonwealth: The problem of the new federalism

Abstract

The difficulties that were experienced in reconstituting a federal union in the USSR were a result of objective circumstances and also of subjective errors, including the leadership's failure to appreciate the necessity of extensive change. The attempts that were made to negotiate a new union treaty in 1990–91 failed to generate an agreement that was politically acceptable and constitutionally coherent. There are nonetheless several factors that may predispose the former Soviet republics to work more closely together, perhaps through federal institutions. A reconstituted union should be seen in the context of a wider move towards world government, based on a reconstituted United Nations.