The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and U.S. Security Implications

The war in Afghanistan represented an eastward shift in the United States, international focus.Previously concentrated on the Middle East, the United States has reconfigured its foreign policy directives to include interests east of the Middle East. The shift was long overdue.Central Asia is a rising regional security concern,and Chinese and Russian actions therein have cultivated robust political ties.Resulting cooperatives and agreements promote Chinese and Russian regional objectives. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)originally consisted of five Central Asian and Asian countries(the Shanghai Five),ostensibly to unify signatories on economics, social and political Platforms.However,the SCO is often a proxy to advance Chinese and Russian interests