This study examines the consequences of the collapse of the unified Soviet market at the end of 1991, the dilemmas of choice generated by the economic and political costs and benefits of reintegration with differ ent states, and the resulting attempts to create new forms of economic cooperation. A gravity model is used to determine whether these new forms of cooperation have had a positive impact on the members' bilat eral trade. This reveals that in the first few years of its existence member ship in the Commonwealth of Independent States has not generally had a positive impact on trade, while membership in the Baltic Free Trade As sociation and the Central Asian Commonwealth have, although they are composed of small states which produce similar products and, in the case of the Central Asian Commonwealth, are at a lower level of development.
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