ABSTRACT
The CIS is a regional international institution made up of successor states to the former Soviet Union. It was founded in December 1991 by the newly independent states of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The three founders were quickly joined by eight other Soviet successor states, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Georgia initially refused membership of the CIS, and only joined in 1993, when Russia essentially forced it into the institution (as described below). The three Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, have not participated in the new organization at all.
