Commonwealth of Independent States and Commonwealth of Nations

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The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization based in Eastern Europe and Asia. In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated. The country covers an area of 20,368,759 km2 (7,864,422 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) has certain powers related to trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, as well as encouraging economic, political, and military cooperation. Additionally, it has promoted cooperation in preventing cross-border crimes. As one of the largest intergovernmental organizations in Europe, it is often considered as the successor to the USSR.

There is one more commonwealth group of nations. It is called the commonwealth of nations and is a political association made up of 56 member states, the majority of which were former colonies of the British Empire. Read this article to know more about them.

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1) History: Commonwealth of Independent States

2) Some info about the Commonwealth of Nations

3) Charter of the CIS

4) Additional Info About the Commonwealth Of Nations

5) Conclusion

History: Commonwealth of Independent States

On 8 December 1991, the founding republics signed the Belavezha Accords, declaring that the Soviet Union would cease to exist and establishing the CIS in its place. After a few days, the Alma-Ata Protocol was signed, declaring the Soviet Union to be dissolved. As a result, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) declined to participate in the project. As a result of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, Georgia resigned from the organization. Even though it had stopped participating in CIS statutory bodies much earlier, Ukraine officially ended its participation in the organization in 2018.

There are nine CIS member states participating in the CIS Free Trade Area. As a result of the CIS, three organizations were formed: The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (and its subdivisions, the Eurasian Customs Union, and the Eurasian Economic Space); and the Union State. Unlike the first and second alliances, the third aims to create a supranational union between Russia and Belarus with a common government, currency, etc.

Some info about the Commonwealth of Nations

Decolonisation of the British Empire and increased self-governance of its territories led to the formation of the Commonwealth in the first half of the 20th century. As a result of the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, the British Commonwealth of Nations was created and the Statute of Westminster was enacted by the United Kingdom in 1931. In 1949, the London Declaration formalized the Commonwealth of Nations, modernizing the community and establishing members as “free and equal.”

Charter of the CIS

A charter (statutes) of the CIS was signed on 22 January 1993, which established the CIS’s institutions, their functions, and its rules and statutes. Furthermore, the Charter defined that all countries that had ratified the Agreement on Establishment of the CIS and its relevant (Alma-Ata) Protocol would be considered founding states of the CIS, while those countries that had ratified the Charter would be considered members of the CIS (art. 7).

Additional Info About the Commonwealth Of Nations

Charles III is the head of the Commonwealth. He is king of 15 Commonwealth realms, while 36 other members are republics, and five have different monarchs.

Although member states do not have legal obligations to one another, they are linked by the English language and historical ties. As a result of the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, they share the values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.