The+Commonwealth+of+Independent+States



=**History**=

The CIS was formed on December 8, 1991 by the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine in the Belovezhskaya Puscha Natural Reserve after the fall of the Soviet Union and it was made to replace the USSR. They said that any former member of the Soviet Union could join, and that each state that was a member was an independent nation as well.

=**Important Member States**=

There are ten officeal member states, and they are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Ukraine did not ratify the charter, so it is not an official member but it still participates in the meetings and such. Russia is the most powerful of all of the member states, with the strongest economy and the largest land area out of all of the states.

=**Goals**=

The goals of the CIS are to provide a stable area of economic growth, trade, and military support for former members of the Soviet Union. It also aims to provide defense for all the countries, and to keep the political landscape as untumultuous as possible for the member states.

=**Structure**=

The CIS is led by an Executive Secretary, the current one is Sergei Lebedev. The CIS also is split into charter bodies, which are the Council of the Heads of States, the Council of the heads of Governments, the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers, the Council of Commanders-in-Chief of Frontier Troops, the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and the Economic Court; Executive bodies, which are the Economic Council, the Executive Committee, and the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the States-Participants of the Commonwealth under Charter and Other Bodies of the Commonwealth; and bodies of branch cooperation, which include the Anti-Terrorist Center, the Interstate Bank, the electric Energy Council, and many more. See this link for the others: []

=**Advantages of Membership**=

Some advantages of being a member of the CIS is that you can receive military and economic aid from the other members of it, and you have support with your problems as a nation from the others, since they all have similar pasts and similar present goals.

=**Disadvantages of Membership**=

Some disadvantages of being a member of the CIS would have to be Russia's dominance. This means that Russia has the most influence on the rest of the countries, and as a result your country can end up being essentially disregarded for whatever Russia has to say. Also, being in such a close relationship with Russia might make other powerful states, like the U.S, less likey to support you or give you aid.

=**Effect on Local Diversity**=

The CIS ends up challenging local diversity throught its encouragement of trade and cooperation between its members. However, the culture in those states has already been through a lot of cultural imperialism due to the former rule of the Soviet Union. Currently Russia is the most powerful state in the CIS, as mentioned previously. Because of this it ends up spreading its culture because of it just being more powerful than the other countries around it, and them constantly requiring help from it.

Main Website: [|__http://www.cis.minsk.by/__] Pictures from: []