Post-Soviet Russia laid out a new collective defense organization. Officially known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), that post-Soviet pact has proved to be no match for the Warsaw Pact.
Weak and Meaningless CSTO
Current CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan. Afghanistan and Serbia hold observer status in the CSTO. The organization uses a rotating presidency system in which the state leading the CSTO changes every year.
The CSTO cannot dictate policy to the other members. For example, in Armenia in 2018, Russia could not even reliably prevent the removal of a leader who is considered a friend of Putin. It also rejected an intervention to assist Kyrgyzstan, a CSTO member state, against an internal uprising even when the president of the state explicitly appealed for such assistance from the CSTO.
The CSTO is a much weaker organization in military terms than the Warsaw Pact was. According to NATO histories, in 1984 the Warsaw Pact ground forces had six million soldiers serving in 192 divisions, as compared to 4.5 million NATO soldiers serving in 115 divisions. Approximately one-third of Warsaw Pact forces were Soviet, while approximately twenty percent of NATO forces were from the United States.
Democracy in Armenia
Two years ago Armenians did a great job at overthrowing their corrupt, Russia-aligned state leader Serj Sargsian. As a result of the removal of Sargsian from his office by democratically elected Nikol Pashinian whick Irked Putin, Putin felt Armenian selected a path AKA “Democracy” and pursued that path which Putin hated all his life as a trained KGB agent in East Germany. Democracy and dictator Putin don’t mix together.
Democracy cannot be tolerated by Russian state, as in its authoritarian system of values it is viewed as a huge negative precedent. If some other country, especially neighbouring one, can ditch their rotten government, then Russian citizens would also think of ditching their own rotten government as a real possibility.
And there in Russia, thinking about replacing Putin and his mob with something else is a big no-no.
Dictator Putin Propped Up Other Dictators
Russia always helps foreign dictators on the verge of their demise. Russia helped Assad in Syria to stay in power when his state essentially failed.
Russia helped Maduro in Venezuela, when riots broke, and crackpot bus driver was going to be replaced with Juan Guaido.
Recently, Russia helped Lukashenko in Belorussia, when he was about to get kicked for good after he went too far with election rigging.
There were more examples such Putin killed his opponents, and journalist for writing truth about Putin’s girlfriend’s multi-billion dollars property and lavish life of Putin’s love child. Putin killed his opponents who live in exiles in Europe.
With a view of revenge, those nations, which nevertheless manage to overthrow their corrupt dictators, are to be punished.
Mikhail Saakashvili became a president of Georgia in 2004 by the means of Rose Revolution. Putin orchestrated trade wars with Georgia that culminated in literal war in 2008. This greatly impaired the stance of Saakashvili to the point of his exile.
Petro Poroshenko became a president of Ukraine by the means of democratic election — mass protests against previous president Yanukovich. Result, annexation of Crimea and Donbass wars. Poroshenko also lost his office rather disgracefully. Ukraine lost several chunks of its lands and thousands of lives of its citizens. Yanukovich found refuge in, guess where, Russia!
To Summarize
Armenian nation is the next to join the same club as Saakashvili’s Georgia and Poroshenko’s Ukraine.
Unlike as it was with former Soviet state Ukraine and Georgia, Russia doesn’t even need to actively mess with Armenia to destroy it as we know it. Armenia is a small landlocked country, two of which neighbours (of four total) are Armenia’s sworn enemies. All it takes for Russia to punish Armenia for its flirt with democracy is just stand there, do nothing, and watch Armenia burn.
Azerbaijan and its powerful military prepared more than ten years, imported weapons from Europe, Israel and Turkey, therefore Azerbaijan completed the mission on behalf of former KGB agent and dictator Vladimir Putin, resulting Azerbaijan took control of Nagorno-karabakh.
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