The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Dushanbe has once again thrust the relatively new grouping on the top of the international agenda.
It was founded in 1996 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with the name of ’Shanghai Five’ and sought to help remove border conflicts of the member-states. However, after Uzbekistan joined and a definition of new objectives on the basis of regional and international developments was in place, the group was renamed as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2001.
Entry of Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan in SGO as observers added to its weight and influence, as its scope of activities expanded to political and security areas along with military matters. SCO’s permanent and observer members account for about half of the world’s population, one-fourth of the global land mass, 61 percent of Eurasia’s area and 23 percent of proven oil reserves on the planet as well as a huge portion of the world’s known natural gas reserves.
Furthermore, Russia and China double as permanent members of the UN Security Council. To put in a nutshell, the group has enough voice and space when it comes to the balance of power and global equations. In fact, the agenda of the Dushanbe Summit shows that member-states are trying to improve the SCO clout in the international arena by forging closer cooperating in the key energy sector.
Although the agenda of the summit was prepared well in advance, it is being held at the time when China and Russia have been subject to growing pressures by the West. During the Beijing Olympic Games, the western world accused China of violating human rights, especially in Tibet.
After responding to Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia and recognizing the independence and of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Moscow has been targeted by the West and its cooperation with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) put on hold.
Moreover, the conclusion of a missile shield agreement between the US and the Poles has further aggravated the tense situation and war of words between the Kremlin and the Bush regime.
Participating in the SCO Summit is important for China and Russia, as they are trying to convey this message to America that its should end its unhelpful unilateralist policies. Of course, there exists the view that Russia is pursuing the policy of burden sharing in relation to the Georgia conflict in the Dushanbe meeting.
Moscow’s insistence on reviewing the Georgia crisis at the summit supports this postulate. This is while in the past few years, at times Russia has looked the other way and not supported its allies when they were subject to western pressure.
Having said that, it is natural that support of SCO member-states for each other’s interest can help fortify the global standing of the organization. Observers believe that Russia’s flexibility in accepting new members and its call for improving security and military cooperation among members is largely the product of the Georgia war.
All SCO members stress that one of the main aims of the group is to cement a multipolar global system. By settling border disputes and expanding economic and political cooperation, the SCO has indeed demonstrated a new and favorable paradigm for regional convergence. Actually because of this high level of convergence, America has not been able to infiltrate the organization and weaken it in the same way that it did to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
SCO leaders in the 2005 summit called for the withdrawal of US troops from Central Asia. It is likely that in order to respond to US provocations in the region, SCO may put on its future agenda plans to hold joint military drills.
Amid this, the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the summit shows Tehran’s standing in regional developments. It also shows that despite the western propaganda ploys Iran has not been isolated and because of its support for the oppressed in the region and its uncompromising stance toward western bullying, its influence in the Middle East and Eurasia are on the rise.
Indication of this claim is the SCO members’ increasing interest in Iran’s membership and the recent remarks of the Tajik foreign minister who said Iran’s membership will help improve the organization’s international standing.
SCO members are aware that in addition to political benefits Iran’s membership in SCO also entails economic benefit for the organization, as Iran is home to large deposits of fossil fuels, and the SCO’s link to the free waterways will also be facilitated.
Improving the role and influence of SCO will also help create a strong barrier to US hegemony, especially in Eurasia. By extension it will be able to play a more effective role in regional and global developments.