This article begins by sharing that with the collapse of the the Soviet Union, most of the newly formed states of Central Asia were forced to form new international/political regions instead of merging with existing countries. The bordering countries of the CIS just weren't capable of absorbing these states, mainly due to territorial vagueness of the country's borders as well as the lack of attraction with other countries and increase of internal conflict. Whatever the circumstances, the CIS is still an integral element of the Eurasian political system. From a developmental standpoint, Artem Mal'gin continues the article by introducing the "optimal strategy" for the CIS which is to create multiple integration formats, developing at different rates in different parts of the commonweatlh. This "formatting" could, in the near future, transform the CIS from a regional organization into an integrative union, but could also- as demonstrated by the GUUAM Group- destroy the formats created. This talk about formats had Mal'gin introduce the potential for "megaformats" within the CIS. Due to the unity of the Asian bloc, Mal'gin believes in the possibility of the commonwealth separtating into Asian and European flanks, shattering the possibility of integration. Later, in the article, Mal'gin bluntly states that the route toward cooperation on defense and security has been the most difficult of all the pathways. Delving into the subject of security in post-Soviet space, the article mentions the creation of the Collective Security Treaty, which- unlike how it sounds- is a weak treaty on collective defense signed by Armenia, Belarus, Kaszakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation. The only benefits of this treaty were given to Russia- giving them control of the status of Russian military objects in former Soviet republics- and providing legal foundation for the CIS Unified Air Defense System. Aside from peacekeeping missions/ border control and this air defense system, the CIS has little stability in the security of its member states.
