Key facts
- Putin seeks to use the CIS to counter Russia's declining cultural influence in Central Asia.
- Russian language use is declining among youth in Central Asia, with English gaining ground.
- Central Asian governments are legislating to reduce Russian's status and influence.
- A historical revisionist trend views Moscow's legacy in Central Asia as oppressive.
- A CIS summit document aims to 'preserve the memory of the Victory of the Soviet peoples in the Great Patriotic War.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively working to preserve Russia's cultural and historical influence in Central Asia, viewing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a key vehicle for this effort. Despite the CIS's long history of inactivity and dysfunction, Putin has promoted it as an influential regional association. He emphasized the organization's role in maintaining social, cultural, and humanitarian ties and promoting the Russian language, which is facing increasing pressure from English and local languages across the region. Central Asian governments are also legislating to reduce Russian's status, with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan moving towards Latinized alphabets and a revisionist trend reinterpreting Soviet history as oppressive. A document signed at the recent CIS summit in Turkmenistan aims to 'preserve historical memory,' specifically referencing the Soviet victory in World War II, a move seen as an attempt by the Kremlin to reinforce its cultural legacy.