Chen Yanhua, Ryzhkova Y.A.

Penza State University, Penza

The Shanghai cooperation organization as an international relations platform

In the past two decades the foreign policy of many countries has changed. It is evident that, international security is a primary matter of international relationships, it must be achieved through a few basic concepts: national security, global security and regional security concept.

There are several regional security systems, for example the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe. In 1996 the «Shanghai Five» group was founded to control the Central Asian and the Pacific regions. In 1996 and 1997, the heads of states signed an «Agreement on deepening military trust in border regions» and an «Agreement on reduction of military forces in border regions», which became a perfect platform to launch the «Shanghai Five mechanism» [1].

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a regional international organization including states in Europe, the Near East, Central Asia and South East Asia. The SCO has China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as member states and Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India as its observer states. The SCO takes care of cooperation in political, military, economic, energy and cultural fields.

The SCO was originally formed to demilitarize the border between China and the former Soviet Union. In 2001 the organization renamed itself the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Since its foundation in 2001, the organization has developed a legal and political framework to fight terrorism, extremism and separatism and also develop economic cooperation, energy partnership, scientific and cultural cooperation [2].

Nowadays China and Russia can be said to jointly dominate the SCO. But diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation developed with difficulty. The two countries share a long land border which was demarcated in 1991, and they signed a Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in 2001 [3]. Some experts say the organization has arisen as a powerful anti-U.S. bulwark in Central Asia, others believe frictions between its two largest members, Russia and China, effectively preclude a strong, unified SCO. SCO member states and observers cooperate in many areas, but also illustrate large differences, such as opposed political and economic interests. So despite differences among its major members, the SCO has pursued joint security programs more actively in recent years.

Most of the SCO member states are at the same time involved in other regional associations, for example Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC or EurAsEC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD) and some international programs: Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC), Special Program for Economies of Central Asia (SPECA). Moreover, Russia and China are members of the UN Security Council. Mongolia received its observer status in 2004; Iran, Pakistan, and India became observers the following year.

Some researchers claim it was founded as a countermeasure to restrain the influence of Western alliances, such as NATO. At first the SCO did not position itself as a military or political alliance. But it is now often considered to be a future equivalent to NATO in the Eurasia/Asia region. It's essential to note that NATO is primarily aimed at external security risks, whereas the SCO strongly concentrates on security within the territory covered by its member states, especially China, which seems to being maintaining this situation. In addition, the role of the SCO in the economic development in the region has been repeatedly stressed.

Economic integration is the SCO’s first priority. There is a twenty-year program of trade and economic cooperation between state members. One of the main goals of cooperation is to create a free trade zone within the SCO.

The framework of the SCO is much broader than security and energy activities. In 2003 the SCO member states launched a programme which announced the major fields of cooperation, i.e. energy, information, telecommunications, environmental protection and the comprehensive utilization of natural resources [4]. In addition to this, the facilitation of trade and investment is also a focused issue, with an emphasis on infrastructure construction, like highway and railways, and simplification and coordination system of the customs. The SCO’s «umbrella» initiates and deepens economic ties with each other. In December 2009 at the meeting in Kazakhstan initiate joint economic cooperation amidst the global financial crisis. Beijing used the setting of the 2009 heads of the state summit to announce a $10 billion credit line for SCO members to help them «counter the shock of the international financial crisis». The Kyrgyzstan’a northwestern Talas province in February 2011 announced plans to sign a memorandun of economic partnership with Russia’s Altai province.

The SCO has developed itself from a border arms control-oriented organization to a truly international group. Until recently the nature of the organization was mainly political and economic. However the described developments indicate a closer cooperation in the field of security.

Like all organizations, particularly multilateral ones, the SCO has had its ups and downs in its relatively short ten-year lifespan. However, is accomplishing its objectives of organizational development, outreach to other multilateral groups, and broadening and deepening its scope of effort in the region. Despite persistent challenges brought on by bilateral tensions amongst its participants, the SCO has proven it is here to stay, bolstered by the participant’s perception of value in association and by the global rise in acceptance of regional actors.

Bibliography of literature

1. Brief introduction to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization http://www.sectsco.org/html/00026.html.

2. Chronology of Main events within the framework of «Shanghai five» and Shanghai Cooperation organization (SCO) http://www.sectsco.org/html/00030.html.

3. History of development of Shanghai Cooperation Organization http://www.sectsco.org/html/00035.html.

4. SCO leaders sign declaration on security, stability, China Daily, 17 August 2007. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007 08/17/content_6030498.htm.