Latest summit shows CIS on life support 

The latest summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States held last week in Bishkek looked like another life support injection into a barely breathing organisation.

Why are we still clinging to something that is practically already dead?

It is a no-brainer that the CIS has turned into some kind of club whose sole purpose is to demonstrate to the world that Russia, and I suppose Belarus — or to be more accurate, the said two countries’ respective toxic leaders — still have ‘friends’. 

Sure, we have to admit that practically all members of the club are authoritarian or inclined towards authoritarianism. All the CIS countries are at the bottom 50 of the international freedom of speech and human rights’ ratings. 

The summit did achieve one thing – creation of an “International organisation for supporting and promoting the Russian language”. The only member who needs and wants it is Russia. 

The Russian language is an important part of the Kremlin’s current political ideology. In fact, for the past 200-225 years, the Tzarist and then the Soviet regimes used the language tool to suppress various peoples and impose imperialistic narratives.

The tool has been efficiently used. Most recently against Ukraine, as a pretext for war. And various Russian politicians have already asked us: “Do you want to repeat Ukraine’s fate?”

So, the only country that still needs, in fact ever needed, the CIS is Russia. 

The other members have long been looking for and finding alternatives, continuing, for a number of reasons, to demonstrate loyalty to Moscow. Not just out of habit, nostalgia or because they are authoritarian. There are other political and economic reasons.

However, in reality, for Astana, Tashkent, Baku, Bishkek, Dushanbe and Ashgabat, the CIS is a pure formality, which they are prepared to maintain for now. 

Moscow and Minsk are the only ones that still see some point in it. 

Clearly, the organisation is on life support. No one believes the statements about plans “to further strengthen ties”.

What we should be paying attention to is the coming Belt and Road Forum in China on 17-18 October. President Tokayev is going. So is Russia’s Putin, according to the Kremlin. 

By Maksat Nurpeisov 

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