There is still no clear answer to the question about the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union. The most liberal-minded historians, and even ordinary people, believe that this happened for quite natural reasons, they say "the empire has outlived its usefulness, and smaller, but very democratic countries should be created on its ruins." Others suggest that hostile forces sent from the US and Europe destroyed the Soviet superpower. Still others attribute this merit to dissidents (usually they themselves adhere to this opinion). On the ruins of the USSR in December 1991, the Commonwe alth of Independent States arose, on which many former citizens of the great country pinned their hopes for the future unity of the fraternal peoples.
Hopes and reality
The founders of this international organization represented by Boris Yeltsin, Stanislav Shushkevich and Leonid Kravchuk from the very beginning did not give much reason to believe that it would become a supranational entity. Psychologically, it was reassuring, it seemed that everything was to some extent one. The CIS states retained their independence, moreover, at the first stage, their citizens often experienced euphoria similar to thatan emigrant who ended up in a "capitalist paradise" after a gray "scoop". It seemed that everything would now be different, in a foreign way. The systemic crisis that engulfed the entire territory of the former Soviet Union dispelled these hopes, the notorious market turned out to be excellent ground for the taking away of state property by those who turned out to be bolder or simply more arrogant ("Courage is a Hero's Reward"). A popular deciphering of the CIS of those years explained that the word "essen" in German means "to eat" (in the sense of eating), and the letter "G" is the initial in the name of the food offered to the people (another option: "The Real G …").
Expanding the borders of the commonwe alth
The agreement signed in Minsk did not oblige anyone to anything, and this is the main reason why almost all the former republics of the USSR soon joined it, except for the B altic ones, which suddenly felt their own European essence especially sharply. So, in a historically short period, 12 countries joined the CIS. The list of parties to the treaty, in addition to the founding countries of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, included Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Georgia, which joined after some deliberation.
Russia's position in the CIS in the early years of its existence
In a sense, Russia and the CIS at the first stage were related in the same way as Great Britain and the countries of the British Commonwe alth after the collapse of the colonial system. There was a difference, however, and a significant one. Those who came to powerin many former republics of the USSR, "popular fronts" and nationalist movements with might and main bonfired "Russian invaders", sometimes turning to real pogroms, and the leadership of the Russian Federation of that time looked at what was happening with a strange expression on its face, seemingly both approving and slightly condemning these " fruits of democracy and the rise of national consciousness". Since the decoding of the CIS clearly indicated that the commonwe alth is, of course, the commonwe alth, but the states are still independent, then to any timid remarks by Yeltsin about the inadmissibility of ethnic cleansing and slogans about a suitcase, railway station and final destination (historical homeland), the answer there was one: "None of your business, we will decide everything ourselves!"
Strange transitional period
At the same time, energy resources and raw materials continued to flow through the old, still Soviet system of power lines and pipelines, and the prices for all the we alth sold remained symbolic. In fact, the former brothers, and now independent neighbors, taking an increasingly hostile position towards Russia, continued to parasitize on it.
Another then popular folk decoding of the CIS - "Hitler's Hope Come True".
There were other consequences, not always pleasant. The borders remained transparent, and no one controlled them. Labor illegal migration began, a spontaneous flow of goods arose. The same revived Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia suddenly turned into the world's largest exporters of metal, while not having any metallurgical industry.
On"Field of Miracles" reigned on the TV screen, things were happening in the economy that were much more amazing, bordering on fantasy.
Representatives of the criminal world also took advantage of the situation, committing crimes in one independent state and hiding from responsibility in another.
CIS Today
The inefficiency of the Commonwe alth of countries, which previously formed a single whole, is simply proved. Entering or leaving it does not entail any legal or economic consequences and can only serve as a symbol of protest, as in the case of Georgia, which left the CIS in 2008 after the August war, offended that the Russian army intervened in the conflict in South Ossetia. It is unlikely that such a "revenge" puzzled the leadership of the Russian Federation, and other members of a respected international organization, at least, there was no sharp reaction.
Customs Union - an alternative to the CIS
To implement plans for serious economic cooperation between mentally, politically and territorially close countries - the former republics of the Union, another structure has been created, where with less vague principles of membership and much more effective. From the USSR, the states inherited powerful and high-tech production facilities in the aerospace, nuclear, energy and machine-building industries, which were originally built for unified programs. The customs union allows them to be used at full capacity, avoiding bureaucratic barriers for the benefit of all participants in this economic interstateassociations.
To all appearances, the Commonwe alth of Independent States will cease to exist as unnecessary. And if they remember him, then in a playful way. "Save Us Lord!" - this deciphering of the CIS, there is hope, is already in the past, like the "Collection of Insolent Reptiles", "Consciously Violating the Borders".
