The implication is that resistance is possible and that the West's record is mixed.
Russia's Security Council secretary, Sergey Shoigu, has accused Western countries of continuing to sow instability around the world, while acknowledging that their efforts do not always succeed. Speaking in Moscow at the 14th annual meeting of secretaries of the Security Councils of CIS member states, Shoigu said the West relies on what he called its preferred method of postcolonial governance, according to TASS.
He listed the instruments he says are in use: interference in political and electoral processes, illegal restrictive measures, the incitement of discord, information warfare and religion used to fuel tensions in various regions. The charge is a familiar one from Moscow, and it was delivered to an audience of fellow security officials from the Commonwealth of Independent States rather than to a wider international forum.
Shoigu's argument did not rest on Western strength alone. He said such actions are ineffective in countries where the authorities put the interests of their people first, alongside sovereignty, stability and spiritual, cultural and historical traditions. The implication is that resistance is possible and that the West's record is mixed. That concession is notable in a setting where the prevailing tone is usually one of unrelenting criticism.
The broader claim was structural. Countries of the Global South and East, Shoigu said, are becoming increasingly influential in politics and the economy, shaping the direction of international relations and the framework of the emerging security architecture. In this reading, the postcolonial methods he describes belong to a fading order, and the CIS meeting becomes a venue for coordinating among states that see themselves as the coming majority.
What the report does not provide is any specific example, country or incident behind the accusations. No evidence was offered in the account, and no Western government response is quoted. The meeting's agenda, any decisions taken and the positions of other participating delegations are not described. The claims should therefore be read as the stated position of a senior Russian official, reported by the Russian state news agency, rather than as established fact.
The significance lies less in the wording, which echoes previous Russian statements, than in the venue and the framing. A security meeting among CIS members is being used to argue that the initiative in global affairs is passing to the Global South and East. Whether that argument is shared by the other delegations present is not yet known.
