Eurasia Review
May 20 2012
CSTO: The `NATO Of The East’ – Analysis
May 20, 2012
On May 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened in Moscow the 10th
anniversary meeting of the CSTO, the Collective Security Treaty
Organization regarded by many as the `NATO of the East’ or the
`anti-NATO’ for its pro-Russian stance. The session was attended by
all heads of member states, including Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko,
Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev, Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan,
Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyzstan’s Almazbek Atambayev and
Uzbekistan’s Islam Karimov.
In his opening keynote address, Putin lauded the results of the CSTO’s
work, its increased influence on the global arena and its role in
upholding collective security in the post-Soviet region, urging member
states to further enhance coordination. `We have very similar
approaches to the basic problems of international and regional
security,’ he said, adding that the role the CSTO plays in the world
`will continue to increase,’ while Belarusian President Alexander
Lukashenko said the organization has gone `far beyond the limits of a
classical defence bloc’ in a short period of time, being `capable of
reacting to virtually any threats at this stage.’
The geographical scopes of NATO and CSTO
The CSTO was established in 2002 on the basis of the Collective
Security Treaty signed in Tashkent ten years before at the initiative
of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, at that time concerned over the
possible consequences of the civil war in the neighbouring Tajikistan
and the rule of the mujahideen in Afghanistan. The Collective Security
Treaty Organization, whose current members include Armenia, Belarus,
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan, operates a
3,500-soldier force with a structure resembling that of NATO and whose
role is likely to increase under Putin’s new reign.
After the summit, the CSTO members produced a joint declaration within
which they expressed their dismay over US plans to build a missile
shield in Europe, saying that it could cause `damage to international
security.’ The leaders of the seven states part of the alliance said
that they were prepared to make joint efforts with NATO to oppose the
proliferation of ballistic missiles on certain conditions. The
provisions of the CSTO – like NATO’s – include a chapter that an
attack on one of the organization’s members constitutes an attack on
all. This implies that Moscow may use its nuclear umbrella as a means
to consolidate its position in Eastern Europe, through Belarus, and
the Caucasus, through Armenia.
Minsk feels itself threatened by NATO presence in neighbouring Poland,
Lithuania and Latvia, and has already manifested its readiness to host
Iskander missile systems on its territory as a retaliation to US plans
for a missile defence shield in Europe. Internationally isolated,
Belarus shares with Russia (and Kazakhstan) the membership to the
Customs Union, and intends to become the Western bastion of a powerful
Eurasian bloc. For its part, Armenia is constantly facing the threat
posed by the Turkish-Georgian-Azeri axis, which is part of a greater
game aimed at expanding US geopolitical control over the Caucasus and
the Caspian Sea regions, taking them away from Russia. For this
reasons, there is perhaps no alliance in the world more natural and
strategic than the one between Moscow and Yerevan.
Nevertheless, the country that more than any other one may turn the
`NATO of the East’ into a powerful means of containment of the
Atlantic Alliance is Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan. In a recent interview
with Russia’s state-run television Rossiya 24, the Kazakh leader
chided the West for trying to influence other countries through mass
and new media, echoing positions long held by the Kremlin. After two
decades of multi-vector foreign policy, which sought to advance
Kazakhstan’s national interests by balancing those of the West,
Russia, and China, Nazarbayev is now openly tying his country’s future
to Russia.
On military issues, he described NATO’s role in the post-Cold War as
`entirely unclear,’ lauding instead the anti-terrorism orientation of
the CSTO. Nazarbayev’s changed stance on East-West relations might be
dictated by both US planned withdrawal from Afghanistan and Western
increased criticism of his rule. What is certain is that the
Astana-Moscow axis is rapidly becoming the core of a new security
architecture for Eurasia, of which the CSTO appears to present itself
as the most appropriate tool. The challenge for NATO and its Eastern
counterpart is now to avoid that the latest developments may trigger a
new arms race between the United States and Russia, seeking instead
the way to work together in the pursuit of common goals, in Eurasia as
well as worldwide.
Window on Heartland is a geopolitical blog focused on security and
strategic issues in the post-Soviet space. Launched in November 2010,
Window on Heartland aims to provide new perspectives on the
geopolitics of the region, taking into account the complex historical,
cultural and ethnic background of the peoples living within the
borders of the former Soviet empire. Window on Heartland has been
created and is managed by Giovanni Daniele Valvo, an independent
political analyst specializing in Russian and East European affairs.