CSTO PA Presents its Legislative Experience at the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies

On October 28, the Center for Scientific and Analytical Information of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) hosted the International Conference “Situation in the Middle East and North Africa and its development in the near future”.

Nikolay Plotnikov, a well-known political and military expert, head of the Center for Scientific and Analytical Information of the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, delivered the opening speech.

The participants exchanged views on the current situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, prospects for its development, and possible measures to stabilize the situation in the region.

Vyacheslav Kocharyan, Advisor of the Expert and Analytical Department of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Secretariat, shared his vision of the situation in the Middle East, as well as the legislative experience of the CSTO PA in countering threats to the CSTO borders in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

“Long before the formation of the CSTO in 2002, the so-called “Eurasian arc of instability” was already running along the external borders of the post-Soviet space. As a rule, an increased tension at any point of the arc, like in a chain reaction, is transmitted far beyond the nearest states and regions,” Vyacheslav Kocharyan emphasized.

He noted the crucial role of the CSTO and CIS model lawmaking, as its mechanisms make it possible to harmonize the legal foundations of regional security, unify the key concepts of “challenge, threat and risk”, as well as their list in the context of strategic cooperation and escalation of the international situation.

The conference brought together scholars from Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey and Yemen.