نشریه مطالعات اوراسیای مرکزی
پیاپی 7 (پاییز و زمستان 1389)

This article reviews past developments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and studies its potentialities in the areas of economy، trade، investment، energy and military power. A Study conducted on statistical information of the SCO state members shows that the organisation has the capacity to be turned into one of the biggest international hubs in the fields of economy، trade، foreign investment، energy and military in the coming decades. Among other factors، vast geographical domain، large population، vast energy reserves، nuclear weapons، sizable armed forces، power of veto in the Security Council can be mentioned as the reasons behind the SCO high economic، political and militarily power; the advantages that Iran should definitely benefit from to advance its regional and international relations.

Recent developments in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries have faced observers with several questions. Meanwhile، discussions about the reasons behind these developments have drawn attention of many analysts. This article aims to study the reasons for failure of the government emerged from the developments known as “Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan” which resulted in transition of power from Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev to the interim government led by Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva. To this end، the article starts with studying the brief historical background of Kyrgyzstan، goes on with classification of the reasons for this failure into two detailed categories of internal environment (political، economic، cultural) and international environment (Non-Governmental Organizations، the United States and Russia) and concludes with criticism and evaluation of the raised issues. Anyhow a realistic understanding of the reasons for these developments needs a multi-cause approach and comprehensive outlook on these countries.

Following a period of conflict between Russia and the West، new signs of confrontation between the United States and China are observed. China As the most populous country in the world with the highest rate of economic growth at international level، China neither stands the hegemonic power of the United States nor has the intention of direct confrontation with it. In effect، China seeks to find a better status in international arena by raising the costs of the United States leadership at international level. Meanwhile the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which is actually a soft balancing against the hegemony of the United States in international arena is used as a tool. This article sheds light on the policies of China and the United States on SCO as well as confrontation between these two countries within the framework of “balance of soft power theory”.

After 15 years، now it is logical to ask whether ECO can still play an effective role in Iran’s development. By raising this question and reviewing the economic capacities of ECO member states in the current decade under two categories of Central Asian Countries and Founding Countries، this article shows the relative success of these economies through five elements of price of oil، gas، raw and mineral materials، increasing the price of agricultural materials، attracting foreign direct investment and relative economic and political stability. The article then argues that this boom will pave the way for economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran by means of enlarging regional market and boosting volume of interregional transactions. It also makes a general evaluation of the impacts of the world economic crisis and shows that although the crisis has clearly interrupted the growth trend of economic indices of the region، its impacts have been less than other parts of the world and the economic boom will be resumed as the crisis wave goes by.

Existence of energy reserves as God-given assets was considered as a unique opportunity for the former republics of Soviet Union، their dependence on the former center (Russia) for transferring energy to the consuming markets has confronted them with various challenges. As one of these republics، Turkmenistan enjoys excellent geo-economic status since a long time ago due to its huge natural gas reserves; the status that has been highlighted since achieving independence. As Turkmenistan struggles for free energy transfer and more profits on the one hand and Russia endeavors to maintain its exclusive right to energy transfer from Central Eurasia on the other، bilateral relations between these two countries have become more important. This article is an attempt to study these aspects and their roles in the relations between these two countries، along with the role played by other regional and transregional actors.

After the Cold War and collapse of the bipolar system، the European Union found more opportunity to play a role in regional and international arenas. On the other hand، Russia was searching for a new status due to its widespread developments. Changing the status of international system، emergence of new and powerful actors، expansion of the European Union to the East and bordering with Russia as well as mutual and growing dependence of these two actors in various areas were among the most important factors that enhanced cooperation and interaction between them. In general، the relations between Russia and the European Union have been boosted and these two countries have become closer to each other. However، this trend has had its ups and downs and has affected by political، security and economic factors. The abovementioned components with a dual nature have oscillated and destabilized these relations. It seems that until the relations between these parties are dominated by political and security considerations; ambiguity، uncertainty and pessimism prevent constructive interaction and formation of a peaceful atmosphere.

Today Wahhabism is one of the most important radical movement that has been formed and operated in most of the countries of the Islamic world. Nowadays، this movement has also been inflicted by political motives. The Autonomous Republic of Chechen is among regions affected by this radical movement، particularly at the time of war and strained relations with Russia. Wahhabism that is against several and various schools of thought like “Sufism”، has had no compromise with this creed in the past two centuries. Moreover، we witness the influence of this school of thought in this territory and its direct impact on various events like the crisis in Chechnya. Due to the importance of studying these religious movements in Chechnya and their impacts on its crisis، this article seeks to find out how Wahhabism has influenced Chechnya crisis. It seems that Wahhabism has deteriorated Chechnya’s crisis through material، moral and educational support as well as dissemination of ideology of the extremist leaders. Findings of the article show that Wahhabism is certainly one of the important and effective factors on Chechnya’s crisis that has played a significant role in Chechnya by sewing sedition، extremism، meddling in political affairs، arming its partisans and disobeying the official authorities.