... economic interaction to security. As it grew larger, the SCO brought together major and smaller players in Eurasia (Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as 14 dialogue partners). It ... ... were undertaken to create and expand security institutions in the heart of Eurasia. In 2002, a decision was made to create the CSTO, a military- political alliance of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In 2015, after extensive ...
... international security. Russia's relations with previously friendly Armenia, a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), are not getting any easier. Misunderstandings in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan ... ... that are interested in it in the context of their diplomatic interactions, both with the largest Eurasian states – Russia, China and India, and with smaller powers like Iran, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. For example, the efforts of Israel and the US behind ...
... Politically, Kazakhstan is deeply tied to Russia, which has been explicitly shown in January 2022, when it requested the intervention of CSTO and Russian peacekeepers to face an attempted rebel
takeover
. The same can be said on other politically relevant positions,... ... member states. Economically, Russia is Kazakhstan’s second biggest partner, as number one and number three are respectively China and Italy. President Tokayev makes a point to maintain close contact with all of them, as he met Xi Jinping in October ...
... initiative in the Asia-Pacific region), but this mission of the SCO has not become decisive for the Chinese leadership. Like Russia, China approaches security issues on the SCO platform more from the perspective of bilateral interaction. Beijing sees consensus ... ... blurring the SCO’s regional security functionality means that one cannot always see a clear boundary between the SCO and the CSTO, especially since a number of countries, including Russia, are members of both structures. Moreover, if we take the Central ...
... fuel and lubricants, as well as metals, wood, agricultural products), regional security issues, and strengthening cooperation along integration tracks, especially in the EEU. Russia is the second largest investor into
Kyrgyzstan’s economy
next to China, and Russian investments in the first half of 2022 increased 3.5 times year-on-year. During the SMO, Russian and Kyrgyz officials have held several meetings, while the heads of state have met twice, at the CSTO summit in Moscow and at the SCO summit in Samarkand.
Kyrgyzstan finds itself in a difficult economic situation for several reasons. Among them is intra-elite disunity which, given the heated passions in society, heightens the risks of political instability; ...
... without losing anything. For example, the CSTO proved itself to be the dominant political security paradigm in the region, and the CSTO operations at a military level were wholly successful, professional, competent. Whereas the regional, poor ethnic Kazakhs ... ... material benefit to the people of Kazakhstan looks years away though, and despite humiliating himself in front of Russia and China, the new Tokayev may yet prove much the same as the old Nazarbayev.
... Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran).
The intensification of religious extremism in the country will have repercussions on the neighboring countries. If Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan can count on Russia to provide a response in case of a major crisis (the CSTO), the fear is more consequential for Pakistan, a nuclear power, which for its part could be influenced by religious extremism and lead to an even more consequential conflict with India.
In the end, China now seems the most likely actor to take a position in the conflict in 2021. It remains to be seen whether Beijing wishes to engage in a conflict that the USSR and NATO had difficulty in controlling before it, or whether it wishes to confine itself ...
... Asian neighbors and that it may be forced to play a greater military role in the region as the primary security guarantor for CSTO allies.
These countries have been actively engaging with the Taliban and the Kabul government, hedging their bets in anticipation ... ... agreement between the two parties in the near future. Despite previously viewing the Taliban as a terrorist organization, both China and Russia recognize the need to engage with the group to secure influence in the country going forward.
For all actors ...
... behind this CIS initiative was probably the desire to include, among others, the Uzbek personnel–given that Uzbekistan left the CSTO in 2012 [
v
].
The Russian presence in terms of military bases is mainly part of the Soviet heritage. Kazakhstan is the country ... ...
viii
]. However, this monopoly is not equally distributed among Central Asian states. Uzbekistan prefers buying weapons from China, while Turkey is the largest arms supplier for Turkmenistan [
ix
].
In case of a conflict, together with the actual military ...
... unlikely.
Russia has a strategic interest in increasing its influence in Moldova by integrating Chisinau into the EEU and the CSTO, but this would encourage other Black Sea countries such as Georgia to draw even closer to the western world. Moreover, the ... ... policy.
Beijing's economic diplomacy seems to be producing results and bringing the two states closer together. In this respect, China has succeeded in modernising the Moldovan infrastructure despite obstacles rooted in corruption. This makes Moldova a potential ...
