Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Challenges, Achievements and Its Relations with Regional Countries

Abstract

SCO is the successor organisation of Shanghai Five, which consisted of the five member states in the region as China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The SCO charter deals friendship among the member states, developing effective cooperation in political affairs, economy, trade, science, and technology. There were other organisations in the region as the commonwealth of independent states (CIS) and the economic cooperation organisation (ECO) but SCO has maintained its importance due to its diversified membership and the expanding agenda. The organisation has also brought central Asian states together on a platform on equal footing with the great regional powers like China, and Russia. There may be economic competition going on among great powers in the region; but economic development, rather than counter-US policies, has remained the focus of all the SCO members. This study places greater emphasis on the theory of neo-liberalism, which explains the cooperative relationship based on the collective interests that has evolved among central Asian states, Russia and China within the SCO. As discussed in the neo-liberalism the organisation has helped in fostering trust and cooperation among its member states. In the perspective of neo-realist, the interests of member states are studied. The concept of the new great game is employed to learn the relevance of the SCO for central Asian states and the outside powers involved in the region.