Commonwealth+of+Independent+States

= History =

The Commonwealth of Independent States, more widely known as CIS, was created on December 8, 1991. It was founded by the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine as a successor to the Soviet Union at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve for the purpose of maintaining stability in the area after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

= Member States =


 * Armenia
 * Azerbaijan
 * Belarus
 * Kazakhstan
 * Kyrgyzstan
 * Moldova
 * Russia
 * Tajikistan
 * Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan and Ukraine both technically participate in the CIS, but neither are official members of the organization. The main power behind CIS is Russia, the wealthiest and largest country in the Commonwealth.

= Purpose =

The official goal of the Commonwealth of Independent States is to coordinate its members' policies regarding their economies, foreign relations, defense, immigration policies, environmental policies, and enforcing of the law. The power this organization has over its member states is minimal, as one of the founding principals of the CIS is that all member states are considered their own sovereign entities.

= Structure =

The Commonwealth itself does not hold any supranational powers. Instead, many smaller bodies, each with their own specific purpose, perform the supranational activities of the CIS. The supreme body is the Commonwealth Heads of State Council, which deliberates and decides on matters relating to the activities of the states and their common interests. The highest singular position in the CIS is the executive secretary, which is currently held by Sergei Lebedev.

= Advantages and Disadvantages =

The advantages of the Commonwealth are those shared by most supranational organizations. Mutual protection and economic stability are provided to the members within the CIS, and they are also guaranteed their rights as sovereign states. On the negative side, the states are all tied to each other, so if one state suddenly has something terrible happen to it, the entirety of the CIS will be dragged down.

= Effects on Local Diversity =

Local diversity is mainly challenged by Russia. Russia is the most powerful state within the commonwealth, so its policies and cultural traits are bound to spread throughout the rest of the organization. Russia has already pushed for the official language of all states in the commonwealth to change to Russian, though only four states in the commonwealth have Russian as their official language.

More on CIS can be found at: []

Sources: [] []