Does Kazakhstan need the CSTO, expert explains

Tengrinews.kz - Kazakhstan has successfully completed its chairmanship of the CSTO, fulfilling the tasks of strengthening regional security, combating terrorism and cybercrime, and expanding international cooperation. Political scientist Eduard Poletayev noted that important results were achieved during Kazakhstan's chairmanship

"Kazakhstan is one of the founders of the CSTO, starting with the Collective Security Treaty of 1992. Our country has fulfilled all the tasks that the organization faced," the expert noted.

Poletayev recalled that seven key priorities were identified during Kazakhstan's chairmanship. Among them:

• CSTO cooperation with interested countries and international organizations in the field of security;
• interaction on military cooperation issues;
• development of mechanisms to combat international terrorism and extremism;
• counteracting illegal drug and psychotropic substance trafficking;
• combating illegal arms trafficking and organized transnational crime;
• deepening cooperation in the field of emergency prevention and response; counteracting cybercrime.

CSTO has expanded its potential

About 60 events were held during Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the CSTO. One of the key events was the adoption of a resolution on cooperation with the CSTO by the UN General Assembly on November 18. Despite the unfriendly position of some NATO representatives, this resolution was supported, Eduard Poletayev emphasized.

"Part of the CSTO's statutory activities, such as ensuring regional security, stability, combating transnational crime, illegal migration, corresponds to the goals and principles of the UN. This made it possible to find a compromise and expand the international potential of the organization," the expert noted.

Photo by Akorda press service

Key issues of the Astana summit

14 documents were adopted at the session. Among the topics discussed were space, the situation in the Middle East and Central Asian issues. Particular attention was paid to the joint statement in honor of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

"It is no secret that much attention is being paid to this anniversary, the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan have spoken about it in their articles, for example, in ‘Izvestia’ and ‘Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.’ This topic will also most likely be raised at the informal meeting of the leaders of the CIS countries and the EAEU summit, which will be held in late December in St. Petersburg. It is known that the leaders of the CIS member states back in 2022 decided to declare 2025 the Year of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the Year of Peace, this idea was put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin," noted Eduard Poletaev.

One of the most significant decisions of the summit was the approval of the CSTO Targeted Interstate Program for Strengthening the Tajik-Afghan Border.

"This document has been in preparation for over ten years and has finally been adopted. What does this mean? On the one hand, ‘Taliban’ delegations have recently been arriving in Moscow for consultations, and Kazakhstan has excluded the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations. The Taliban, apparently, have firmly entrenched themselves in power and are not going to give it up yet, but they have to work with someone, Afghanistan is an important player after all. Moreover, it borders the post-Soviet space, at least with three countries: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, in particular, with the southern zone of responsibility of the CSTO," the political scientist emphasized.

©️ Tengrinews.kz / Turar Kazangapov

Afghan factor

Poletaev noted that despite the lack of official recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the countries of the region are building working relations with it. The Taliban have generally resolved the issue with taxes, limited smuggling and drug trafficking. However, a certain distrust of the Taliban remains due to the lack of guarantees of their at least medium-term stay in power.

"Anything can happen, so the border with Afghanistan, on the contrary, is being strengthened, and not opened. It is no coincidence that Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon expressed gratitude to the CSTO members for supporting the approval of the border strengthening program. In the conditions of geopolitical turbulence, it is currently unclear where else the situation could explode or a conflict could be provoked, so we need to look through binoculars along the entire perimeter," the expert added.

The forces of the CSTO collective security system are aimed at three regions of collective security - Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The activities of the organization and the main threats that it saw are more related to Central Asia, Poletaev noted. And a significant part of the exercises of the CSTO collective forces were conducted on the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

"However, if we look more broadly at the CSTO collective security region and meticulously find fault with the words in the documents, then it extends from the Russian-Finnish border to the Far East, including to the 49-kilometer-long maritime border with the United States in the Bering Strait," Poletayev noted.

Photo by Akorda press service

What challenges do CSTO countries face?

Political scientist Eduard Poletaev outlined the key challenges facing CSTO member countries. According to him, traditional threats such as terrorism, extremism, illegal drug and arms trafficking have persisted since the last century. However, new challenges have emerged in recent years, especially in the information sphere.

"Shortly before the Astana summit, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov named new challenges and threats. Among them is the US-German decision to deploy long-range weapons on the territory of Western Europe, which created the threat of a renewed nuclear missile arms race, the concentration of NATO armed forces and information warfare centers on the borders of Belarus and Russia, the deterioration of the strategic situation after Finland and Sweden joined the North Atlantic Alliance, the expanding use of artificial intelligence for military purposes, the production and lack of clear regulation of the use of lethal autonomous weapons systems.

In general, the summit shows that all countries, including absent Armenia, which took a break, but in principle supports the decisions that were made, are in favor of strengthening the institutional foundations of the CSTO. There were no fundamental disputes, posturing, etc. regarding the decisions that were submitted for discussion. That is, at least the planned documents were signed, without delay," Poletaev added.

©️ Tengrinews.kz / Turar Kazangapov

The summit also discussed the international positioning of the organization. The heads of state exchanged opinions and expressed confidence that no matter what challenges they face, there will always be an adequate response, the expert noted.

Poletaev noted that the activities of the CSTO as a military structure remain partially closed to the public. However, since 2022, attention to the organization has increased significantly.

"The speeches of the heads of state of the CSTO were carefully studied by the world audience, for example, Vladimir Putin was abundantly quoted by the media when he spoke about new Russian types of weapons. However, many current issues on the international agenda were not mentioned in the documents and speeches, they were left out.

Since the very beginning of 2022, the perception of the CSTO in the media space has increased, much more attention is paid to its activities. Previously, the organization was sometimes underestimated, the image was distorted, it was called a ‘paper tiger.’ But practice has shown that this is not so, for example, the CSTO peacekeeping mission in January 2022 in Kazakhstan completed its task ahead of schedule," the political scientist emphasized.

©️ Tengrinews.kz / Turar Kazangapov

What is the status of the CSTO today

"Of course, this organization is perceived differently, somewhere in the West it is ‘put on’ a sinister image, and somewhere - a carefree and peace-loving one. But the founding countries, including Kazakhstan, which created the CSTO, have made a lot of effort to test a fairly effective mechanism that has existed for many years, and will not react painfully to various kinds of insinuations. Although at the same time, the CSTO should step up its work on its image, attract analysts to the work, organize press tours," Eduard Poletayev noted.

The very fact of the CSTO's viability limits many hotheads, the political scientist believes. All countries have an equal voice, which complicates international criminal syndicates' illegal activities - partner countries can always come to the rescue.

"And in this sense, countries, including Kazakhstan, that are members of the military-political bloc are always stronger. Individual twigs are easy to break, but a broom is stronger. In addition, the history of our states, common borders, economic alliance - all this is a certain support for the work of the CSTO," the expert added.

According to the expert, the CSTO remains open to partnership and interaction with international organizations. The organization is not yet seeking to expand, as NATO is doing, but is entering the international market of partnership and cooperation.

Photo by Akorda press service

"The CSTO is not a relic of the Cold War, as it is sometimes called in the West, but a unification of states that see their goals and objectives in the area of ​​national security as similar and help each other in solving a number of issues, making us all stronger. As long as the practical benefits of such cooperation are visible, the CSTO will continue to exist. The organization's potential is multifaceted, and new directions for its development may appear at any time. The Treaty remains open for accession by all countries that share its goals and principles," concluded Eduard Poletayev.

Earlier, the heads of state from Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member countries have arrived at the Palace of Independence in Astana.

Next, they signed several documents following the Collective Security Council meeting. It was also noted that from January 1, 2025, Kyrgyzstan will assume the chairmanship of the CSTO.