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Since the collapse of the USSR, the five newly independent states have experienced tremendous change. Yet, after a dozen years since independence, all bear residual characteristics of their Soviet experience, all are highly undemocratic, and all are still searching for their identity as a state. Mr. E. Wayne Merry, a former State Department and Pentagon official and now a Senior Associate at the American Foreign Policy Council, will also discuss how the heritage, history, and post-Soviet experiences of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan will impact their future development. Is democracy possible?