The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Impact of Russia-China Rivalry in Central Asia

Abstract

The SCO was initially organised as the Shanghai Five in 1996. Along with Uzbekistan’s membership in 2001, it was renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO includes members of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, and Iran. The SCO has Belarus, Mongolia, and Afghanistan as observer states and Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Cambodia as dialogue partners. The main aim of the Organisation is to strengthen mutual trust and friendship between the Member States. The SCO has deliberately restricted its own authority so that it lacks the power to enforce any specific actions on its members. This statement accurately portrays the situation since the two primary powers of the organisation - China and Russia, who were founding members - have conflicting plans for the area. Any effort that benefits one of them at the cost of the other is certain to fail. The tensions arising from the competition between these two powers will inevitably increase as their own power surpasses that of a declining America. This weakening threat, which initially solidified their alliance of convenience, combined with various shocks during this delicate transition period, will almost certainly result in the complete disappearance of any form of cooperation between the two powers. In this case, the study aims to identify the role of the Russia-China rivalry in Central Asia through the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.