A few days ago, as violence in Kazakhstan escalated, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a key decision to dispatch 2,500 Russian troops as “peacekeepers” reportedly authorized by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Moscow-controlled military alliance of several post-Soviet states. Putin’s decision to airlift troops into Kazakhstan just days before the much-anticipated meetings with the U.S. and NATO to discuss Russian demands concerning the future of Ukraine and European security writ large has sent an unmistakable message that he remains determined to follow Russia’s neo-imperial course aimed at restoring control over the post-Soviet domain. Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are also sending troops to assist in this Russian “peacekeeping” mission.
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