* reprinted with permission *
GETTING IT WRONG
Regional Cooperation and the Commonwealth of Independent States
On December 8, 1991, even before the Soviet Union was officially dissolved, the leaders
of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine met in the Belovezh Forest outside Minsk to lay the
groundwork for the post-Soviet era. There they signed what became known as the Belovezh
Accords, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Two weeks later, eight
other Soviet republics joined the three founding members.
In the void left by the collapse of the USSR, the CIS was to become a superstructure
that would coordinate the foreign and security policies of the member states, develop a
common economic space, and provide for an orderly transition from the Soviet Union to the
post-Soviet phase. In reality, the CIS has failed. For Russia, the CIS has not served as a
vehicle for exerting control over its neighbors. As an organization, the CIS has not
succeeded at reintegrating the post-Soviet states. The desire of the new nations to assert
themselves as independent entities has proven more powerful than their urge to replace the
Soviet Union with a new system of collective government.
Written by three of the West’s leading experts on the former Soviet Union, this
book offers a comprehensive assessment of how and why the CIS has failed.
Authors: Martha Brill Olcott, Anders Åslund, and Sherman W. Garnett
Publication Date: 1999
Cost: $19.95
ISBN: 0-87003-171-6
To Order the book, CLICK HERE
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036-2103
All contents © 1996-2000 CEIP. All Rights Reserved
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