What is the CSTO (decryption)? Who is part of an organization that is often opposed to NATO today? You, dear readers, will find answers to all these questions in this article.
A brief history of the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO decryption)
In 2002, a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was held in Moscow on the basis of a similar treaty signed in Tashkent ten years earlier (1992), and in October 2002 the CSTO Charter was adopted. In the capital of Moldova, they discussed and adopted the main provisions of the association - the Charter and the Agreement, which determined the international legal status. These documents became valid as early as next year.
CSTO tasks, decryption. Who is included in this organization?
In December 2004, the CSTO officially received observer status in the UN General Assembly, which once again confirmed the respect of the international community for this organization.
The interpretation of the CSTO was given above. What are the main tasks of this organization? It:
military-political cooperation;
solving important international and regional issues;
the creation of multilateral cooperation mechanisms, including in the military component;
ensuring national and collective security;
countering international terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, transnational crime;
ensuring information security.
The main goal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO decryption) is to continue and strengthen relations in foreign policy, military, military-technical spheres, to coordinate joint efforts in the fight against international terrorism and other security threats. Her position on the world stage is a large eastern influential military association.
To summarize the interpretation of the CSTO (transcript, composition):
The acronym stands for Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Today, it consists of six permanent members - Russia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Kazakhstan, as well as two observer states in the parliamentary assembly - Serbia and Afghanistan.
CSTO at present
The organization can provide comprehensive protection for Member States, as well as quickly respond to a large number of pressing problems and threats both within the bloc and outside its competence.
The tough confrontation between east and west, the US and the Russian Federation, sanctions and the situation in Ukraine put on the agenda the interesting question of whether the CSTO is able to become an eastern alternative to NATO, or is it nothing more than a sanitary cordon designed to create a buffer zone around Russia, which serves as a tool to ensure hegemony of Russia in the region?
Key Organization Issues
The CSTO is currently suffering from the same two problems as NATO. Firstly, this is one dominant force, bearing the entire financial and military burden, while many members practically do not invest in the alliance. Secondly, the organization is struggling to find a legitimate justification for its existence. Unlike NATO, the CSTO has another fundamental problem - members of the organization have never really created a security community and they have different visions, often quite contradictory, about how the CSTO should look.
While Russia is content to build up military infrastructure and use the territories of the CSTO member states to deploy troops, other countries often see the organization as a tool to maintain their authoritarian regimes or mitigate ethnic tension left after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Such a striking contrast in how participants see the organization creates an atmosphere of mistrust.
CSTO and the Russian Federation
Russia is the successor state of the former superpower, its geopolitical position and leadership experience alone guaranteed it significance in the world arena, which puts it several goals higher than all participating states and makes it a strong leader in the organization.
As a result of negotiations on a number of strategic military deals with CSTO allies, for example, the construction of new air bases in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia in 2016, Russia managed to strengthen its presence in these countries and their respective regions, as well as reduce the influence of NATO here. Despite economic difficulties, Russia is increasing military spending even more and plans to complete its ambitious military modernization program by 2020, demonstrating its desire to play an increasingly important role on a global scale.
In the short term, Russia will achieve its goals and consolidate its influence using the resources of the CSTO. Deciphering the leader country is simple: it wants to counteract NATO's aspirations in Central Asia and the Caucasus. By creating the conditions for deeper integration, Russia paved the way for creating effective collective security with a structure similar to its western neighbor.
We hope that now you understand the CSTO as a powerful regional organization.