Since 1991, more than a dozen new land-locked states have emerged to be confronted with the established geostrategic problems of access and communications. For some, establishing transit routes is a crucial question for for the exploitation of their energy resources. In many developing countries the condition of land-lockedness has often been an intrinsic factor in their poor economic performance. With the end of the Cold War and subsequent cuts in political and economic support, new alliances are being forged between African and Asian land-locked states and their neighbours.