The Role of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Making Balance of Power-Based Order in Central Asia

The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in formation of 15 new republics as independent political entities. Hence, being situated among countries such as Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Iran, the Central Asia has become a “geopolitical junction”.
In such circumstances, the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization” (SCO) was created in this region. In order to examine the role this organization plays in the regional and international arenas, we have to study the factors that form the foreign policy behaviors of Russia and China as the most important players of this organization, that is, identity interests, their perception of threat sources, as well as their economic and security motivations.
In this paper, the main hypothesis posits that Russia’s interests toward becoming a great power and China’s interests toward its long-term economic security in the Central Asia have directed them into forming a soft balance against the United States within the framework of the SCO. The main question is how the said Organization has led to a power balance in the Central Asia. The authors have conducted this study applying descriptive-analytic method, using Persian and English books and articles as well as Internet resources.