Abstract
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), established in 2001 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, represents the world’s largest regional organization. Going beyond the ‘Great Game’ concept often resorted to in the analysis of SCO’s emergence, this chapter focuses on the objective interests of its members. Since regional stability presents itself as the core objective of cooperation that all SCO members share, it is the field of security cooperation where the organization has been able to achieve the most in recent years. In addition, the apparent ‘mutual compatibility’ of the member states’ distinctive economic interests fed into strengthening political dialogue. While the SCO has helped, in contrast to many other regional organizations, to build confidence among its member states in this area, challenges remain and most importantly in the field of economic cooperation on a genuine regional basis.
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Ahmad, I. (2018). Shanghai Cooperation Organization: China, Russia, and Regionalism in Central Asia. In: Loewen, H., Zorob, A. (eds) Initiatives of Regional Integration in Asia in Comparative Perspective. United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1211-6_6
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