Peacekeeping Potential of the Collective Security Treaty Organization

Cover Page

Cite item

Abstract

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), as an international regional organization, unites states that have common principles for ensuring collective security in the post-Soviet space. In addition to military, political, anti-terrorist, anti-drug, migration aspects, the Organization’s practical activities provide for the implementation of peacekeeping missions in the region, as well as beyond. Over the past decade, the CSTO has been systematically raising the level of its readiness to respond to various types of threats, interacting with both states and other international organizations in this area. The purpose of this article is to assess the current state of the CSTO peacekeeping activity, to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and possible ways to increase the effectiveness of peacekeeping. The scientific novelty of the research lays in the consideration, on the basis of a retrospective analysis, of the actual state of the political, military, information components of the Organization’s peacekeeping, which at the present time, obviously, have not yet reached their maximum efficiency. The author examines the reasons for the creation of the CSTO, the historical stages of the Organization’s interaction with the UN, the practical aspects of their cooperation. Special attention is paid to the existing relationship between the member states within the Organization itself, to the political problems of the perception of the CSTO by other subjects of international law as an equal partner. It notes its complete political ignorance on the part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the presence of bilateral contacts with most member states. In conclusion, the author comes to the conclusion that the Organization is currently experiencing an identity crisis and does not show sufficient efficiency in the context of the implementation of close allied relations in the system of ensuring regional security.

About the authors

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kornilenko

Russian Ministry of Defence

Author for correspondence.
Email: kornilenko74@mail.ru

PhD in Political Sciences, Senior Officer

Moscow, Russian Federation

References

  1. Alyaev, A. & Dekhkanov, S. (2007). CSTO as a System of Collective Security. Observer, 1, 67—77. (In Russian).
  2. Antonov, M.V. (2017). The Collective Security Treaty Organization as a Subject of World Politics and Its Role in the Formation of a Multipolar World [thesis synopsis]. Penza. (In Russian).
  3. Bokeriya, S.A. (2019). The Interconnection of Global and Regional Security Systems: the Case of the United Nations, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. International Organisations Research Journal, 14 (1), 21—38. (In Russian). doi: 10.17323/1996-7845-2019-01-02
  4. Bordyuzha, N. (2011). The Collective Security Treaty Organization: A Brief Overview. In: OSCE Yearbook 2010. Baden-Baden. P. 339—350.
  5. De Haas, M. (2016). War Games of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization: Drills on the Move. Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 29 (3), 378—406. doi: 10.1080/13518046.2016.1200383
  6. Dorokhina, K.M. (2019). Features of Russia’s Interaction with International Organizations in the Field of Countering Terrorism (on the Example of the SCO and the CSTO) [thesis synopsis]. Moscow. (In Russian).
  7. Faisal, J. (2017). Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and Central Asian Region: Opportunities and Challenges. European Academic Research, 4 (12), 10614—10633.
  8. Golub, K. & Golub, Y. (2018). Collective Security Treaty Organization: Origins of the Multidimensional Mandate and Modern Means for its Implementation. International Organisations Research Journal, 13 (1), 193—203. doi: 10.17323/1996-7845-2018-01-11
  9. Gontar, S.M. (2017). The Activities of the Military and State Bodies of the Russian Federation to Create and Develop a Collective Security System in the Format of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (1992—2004): A Historical Study [thesis synopsis]. Moscow. (In Russian).
  10. Iskandarov, A. (2013). Security and Integration in Central Asia: The CSTO and SCO. Central Asia and the Caucasus, 14 (2), 18—26.
  11. Jackson, N.J. (2014). Trans-Regional Security Organisations and Statist Multilateralism in Eurasia. Europe — Asia Studies, 66 (2), 181—203. doi: 10.1080/09668136.2013.866757
  12. Kurtov, A. (2008). The CSTO, GUAM: Transformation of the Post-Soviet Area. Central Asia and the Caucasus, 3—4, 262—276.
  13. Laumulin, M. (2012). Virtual Security of Central Asia. Russia in Global Affairs, 3, 86—94.
  14. Mozolev, K.I. (2018). Problems and Ways of Development of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation within the Framework of Emerging of Modern Threats of International Security. Juvenis Scientia, 11, 32—34. doi: 10.32415/jscientia.2018.11.09
  15. Nikitin, A. (2017). International Intervention in Conflicts. UN, OSCE, EU, NATO, CSTO Peacekeeping Policies. Valdai Discussion Club Report, 1—20. URL: https://valdaiclub.com/files/14807/ (accessed: 09.06.2020).
  16. Nikitin, A.I. (2009). Conflicts, Terrorism, Peacekeeping. Moscow: Navona publ. (In Russian).
  17. Nikitina, Y. (2011). Regional Security Cooperation in the Post-Soviet Space. Security Index, 17 (4), 47—53. doi: 10.1080/19934270.2011.609729
  18. Nikitina, Y.A. (2009). CSTO and SCO: Models of Regionalism in the Security Sphere. Moscow: Navona publ. (In Russian).
  19. Semerikov, V.A. (2014). Peacekeeping Activity, Its Role and Place in Ensuring Collective Security of the CSTO. In: Karjakina, V.V. & Zinoviev, V.S. (Eds.). Peacekeeping, Its Role and Place in Maintaining International Peace and Ensuring Collective Security of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Moscow: RISI publ. P. 10—16. (In Russian).
  20. Semerikov, V.A. (2017). Organization of the Collective Security Treaty — from the Treaty to the Organization. Mezdunarodnaa Zizn’, 6, 26—43. (In Russian).
  21. Stein, M. (2018). The History of Central Asian Peacekeepers: The Development of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan’s Peacekeeping Units by Fits and Starts. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 31 (2), 257—271. doi: 10.1080/13518046.2018.1451120
  22. Studenikin, A.I. (2014). Organization of Training of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces for Participation in Peacekeeping Operations: Problems and Solutions. In: Karjakina, V.V. & Zinoviev, V.S. (Eds.). Peacekeeping, Its Role and Place in Maintaining International Peace and Ensuring Collective Security of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Moscow: RISI publ. P. 17—21. (In Russian).
  23. Yurgens, I.Y. (Eds.). (2011). Collective Security Treaty Organization: Responsible Security. Moscow: Institut sovremennogo razvitiya publ. (In Russian).
  24. Zemskov, V.N. (2011). The Nature and Possible Directions of Development of the Regional System of Collective Security in the Eurasian Space. In: Nikitin, A.I. & Kazantsev, A.A. (Eds.). In Search of a New Role: International Security Organizations in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Regions. Moscow: MGIMO Universitet publ. P. 123—140. (In Russian).

Copyright (c) 2020 Kornilenko A.V.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies