Commonwealth of Independent States at 30: why does Russia still support this organization?

This paper seeks to assess Russia’s policy towards the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as the organization turned thirty years old. CIS is frequently depicted as a failure of integration in the former Soviet space, plagued by Russia’s damaging policies of aggression against smaller partners, diverging goals of its members, and inadequate institutional design. This paper argues that Russia continues to support CIS, notwithstanding these issues. By referring to the variables of the theory of cooperative hegemony, I show how Moscow’s commitment to it through the creation of a regional identity validates the continued existence of the Commonwealth.