Pacts and Pretenses, Competition and Cooperation: What Is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

As the international community continues to discuss the United States’ declining influence in world politics and the rise of developing countries, several new regional organizations and international regimes have emerged as alternatives to the Western structure. Among these relatively new organizations is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a self-defined intergovernmental mutual-security organization founded in 2001 that is comprised of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. However, after more than ten years, the SCO’s role in the international community, as well as the Organization’s actual goals, is uncertain. This study examines the SCO’s origins, structure, declarations, and members’ motivations in order to determine how the Organization operates and why its members find value in its structure. Ultimately, this study finds that the SCO operates as a framework for managing member states’ bilateral relations under a cover of multilateralism and consensus-based decision-making. However, despite the Organization’s dependence upon bilateralism, members still find value in its framework, because the SCO is the result of a grand bargain struck between Russia/China and the Central Asian Republics. Through this grand bargain, each member state can manage its bilateral relations with other members with fewer risks than trying to forge bilateral relations outside of the SCO’s cover of multilateralism.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Slavic and East European Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Bryant, Kelly Ann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Liu, Morgan

• International Relations
• Slavic Studies
• Asian Studies

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366035294

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366035294