Near abroad

In the political language of Russia, the near abroad (Russian: ближнее зарубежье, romanized: blizhneye zarubezhye) refers to the post-Soviet states (other than Russia itself) which became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. William Safire describes the term as the "most significant diplomatic coinage since the popularization of detente" that entered into the English language in early 1992.^[1]