THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION AND CENTRAL ASIA: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE REGIONAL ORDER BETWEEN MULTIPOLARITY AND ASYMMETRIC INTEGRATION

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the transformation of the regional order in Central Asia under the conditions of an emerging multipolar international system. Drawing upon the methodological approaches of critical geopolitics and the theory of new regionalism, the author examines the dual nature of the SCO as a platform that simultaneously ensures regional stability and reproduces power asymmetries between the Central Asian states and their larger neighbors—China and Russia. The article identifies the key vectors of the organization’s development, including the expansion of membership, the institutionalization of economic cooperation through the linkage between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as the evolution of the security agenda. Particular attention is paid to the strategies of Central Asian states, which employ multivector foreign policies as a tool for preserving autonomy amid intensifying competition among major powers. The study concludes that a hybrid model of regionalism is emerging in Central Asia, in which formal institutions coexist with informal practices of interest coordination, while the SCO functions as a platform that minimizes the transaction costs of regional interaction without transferring sovereignty to a supranational level.