Ingo Mannteufel: The Most Important Test for the CSTO Will Be Outside the CSTO Territory: The Future of Afghanistan 04.10.2011
- How important are regional security structures today? On the one hand, all important decisions have to be taken by UN SC, but on the other the closer the structure to the region the better.
- The UN charter envisages an important role for regional bodies in solving regional conflicts. But as we all see, the regional structures often fail in preventing violence and war. Look how the African Union failed miserably in Libya this year. That is because security structures as we know them are based on the problem of inter-state wars. But as we see, the most important problems in the globalized world now are conflicts within a state not between states.
- Do you think Organization of the Collective Security Treaty is developing into an effective regional security structure? If yes/no, why?
- I think at the moment it is difficult to say what road the CSTO is going to take. The CSTO guarantees theoretically the security among its members against each other but that is not a big problem except perhaps the relationship between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. A military confrontation between these two post-Soviet countries would be an important test for the CSTO and especially for Russia’s capability of giving stability to the region. The same is true for a possible military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the future of Nagorno-Karabach. But the most important test for the CSTO will be outside the CSTO territory: the future of Afghanistan.
- What are the main security challenges in the post-Soviet space? Can they be solved on the international, i.e. regional level?
- The main traditional security challenges in the post-Soviet space are the relations between Russia and Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and to a lesser extent the relation between Uzbekistan with its neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan due to the ethnic problems in Central Asia and the competition for the water resources in the region. I think, the security problems in the Caucasus can only be solved on the international level with the active participation of the USA, Europe and other regional powers, but the CSTO could play an important role to minimize the tensions in Central Asia. And, the CSTO and NATO should combine efforts in fighting against drug-related crime in Afghanistan and Central Asia since this is the financial source for the Islamists threatening the whole region. A better cooperation between CSTO and NATO in that region could be a cornerstone of better relations between NATO and Russia in general.
- Can you, please, share your impressions about the sections of the conference? How interesting was the discussion? Do you think it is an important event? Why? Should the Forum be continued? What is your overall evaluation of the Yaroslavl forum (organization, etc)?
- I think we had an interesting section. We had very strong participants and topics. For the next time I would like to have more time for the discussion during the section. I enjoyed getting to know interesting people.
By Yulia Netesova
Ingo Mannteufel
is a journalist and German expert specializing on Russia and the post-Soviet States, Head of the Russian and Eurasian department at Germany’s foreign broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Lecturer on Russian and Soviet History & Politics at RWTH Aachen University.
