The rise of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Central Asia: a tool of cooperation or competition between Russia and China over the Turkic States?

Abstract

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is gradually increasing its power and influence in the region through the addition of new members, and new states with observer or dialog status, including NATO member Turkey. The main question is whether the organization will achieve its blurring policies and compete effectively with the West in the region. Will we see a new era of cooperation or competition in Central Asia between Russia and China in the upcoming period? And how will the regional politics of the Turkic states be affected? The SCO’s economic, energy and security policies have been especially effective in dominating the region to date. This paper presents an analysis of these policies with focus on the regional competition among the member states. It argues primarily that the SCO has grown in strength as a result of the convergence of Russian and Chinese interests and politics, turning regional competition into regional cooperation, and that the organization will come to dominate the region, especially politically and economically, with the accession of new members Pakistan and India, and the imminent accession of Iran