1.   But the former Soviet republic struggled after the downfall of communism.

2.   The SFOR is enforcing a fragile peace as the war-torn republic struggles to mend the wounds of war.

3.   All three republics struggle with the problem of many hundreds of thousands of refugees.

4.   But the republic is still struggling with free speech rights, poverty and an effort to shift to a market economy.

5.   The cash-strapped former Soviet republic has struggled to pay for cleanup and health care for fallout victims.

6.   The former Soviet republic has struggled economically since it received independence five years ago.

7.   This impoverished former Soviet republic has struggled with Islamic extremist groups that the government sought to suppress with a crackdown on dissent, prompting international alarm.

8.   Analysts said the Central Asian republics were still struggling to break away from the centrally-controlled economies inherited from the Soviet era.

9.   The other newly independent republics have struggled to find their feet in the new world order.