This article presents an analysis of two post-Soviet states, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, which can be identified as post-Soviet rentier states. Both countries are characterised economically by enormous national resources of gas and oil and low economic diversification as well as politically by strong autocratic presidentialism with neopatrimonial structures. These two factors, combined with further post-Soviet legacies such as a low level of political interest in the respective societies and a basically hierarchical orientation of the population, lead to a specific post-Soviet variety of rentierism. From a political science perspective, this article reveals the impact of resource policies on these comparably new political systems and concludes with a summary of core features of these post-Soviet rentier states. THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS AN ANALYSIS OF TWO post-Soviet states, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, which we identify and analyse as post-Soviet rentier states (PSRS). In order to understand the particular political systems of both of these countries, it is necessary to take a closer look at the interrelation between resource incomes and resource policy, as well as the polity (the institutional frame) and politics (the decisionmaking processes) of these countries. 1 Both countries share similarities and structural parallels that are especially apparent in post-Soviet states in the region around the Caspian Sea. To begin with, we see similarities in the presidential, autocratic, neopatrimonial and centralised political systems of both countries. Secondly, we see similarities in the structures of traditional social relations of clan, tribe and family, which find their roots in the pre-Soviet era (Collins 2002). Finally, we find weakly developed national identities, due to 70 years of 1 Our research is based on the project 'Political and Economic Challenges of Resource-Based Development in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan', funded by VW-Foundation. This project is based at the University of Kiel. For further information visit http://www.razkaz.uni-kiel.de.

The domestication process of pigs was associated with substantial morphological and physiological changes. The aim of this study was to comparatively investigate muscle microstructure and biochemical properties of four different skeletal muscles (M. longissimus, M. semitendinosus, M. psoas major, M. rhomboideus) in growing domestic pigs (n=5) and wild boars (n=4). The superiority of domestic pigs in body and muscle growth at three months of age was reflected by a 4-fold body weight and higher absolute weights of heart, liver and muscles. Relative muscle weights of M. psoas major and M. rhomboideus were reduced, whereas a 1.6-fold heavier M. semitendinosus was observed in domestic pigs compared with wild boars. In addition, the muscle cross-sectional area was greater in all muscles of domestic pigs resulting from about 3-fold fibre cross-sectional area, whereas total fibre number remained unchanged. As a consequence of intensified fibre hypertrophy, the fibre area per capillary is higher in all muscles of domestic pigs. Thus, the impaired supply with oxygen and nutrients may be one reason for the shift to the glycolytic muscle metabolism as indicated by a greater proportion of fast-twitch glycolytic fibres at the expense of fast-twitch oxidative fibres. This is also reflected by a higher ratio of lactate dehydrogenase to isocitrate dehydrogenase activity. Our data suggest that the intensified muscle growth was realized by myofibre hypertrophy at unchanged myofibre number in growing domestic pigs. It seems that domestication-induced changes were most pronounced in M. semitendinosus as the exterior ham muscle which may be related to muscle specific selection for lean growth.

Among European Neighborhood Policy countries, Azerbaijan stands out, because it leans on its resource base and sees the EU on the receiving end of bilateral relations. At the other extreme, Ukraine depends on EU cooperation. A comprehensive theoretical concept for analyzing both types of asymmetries is developed by considering Ukraine's and Azerbaijan's rational cost-benefit and constructivist, norm-oriented national strategies. Both national strategies are contrasted with bilateral, regional, and multilateral EU approaches to democracy promotion, economic cooperation, Justice and Home Affairs cooperation, and conflict resolution in the European neighborhood. The elements on which the EU's Neighborhood Europeanization strategy should be based for maximal effectiveness are considered.

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