(The Moscow Times) While top Russian officials and pro-Kremlin politicians continue to paint NATO as an existential threat to Russia and even an instigator of the Ukraine crisis, Moscow has been working to strengthen the legitimacy of its own security organization: the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
But while this bundling of six former Soviet republics mimics aspects of the Western military alliance, Russia's ambition to create an analogue to NATO has struggled, stricken by low funding and contrasting visions of the group's goal. While the Kremlin tilts at global power politics with the CSTO, most of its underdeveloped allies would rather use the alliance to bolster their own undemocratic regimes rather than duel with the West.
"Honestly, the CSTO is something of a mess," Mark Galeotti, an expert in Russian security affairs at New York University, told The Moscow Times. […]
See the full article "With Ukraine Revitalizing NATO, Russia Dusts Off its Own Security Alliance"
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