Sino-Russia Strategic Partnership: The Case Study of Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO)

Abstract

Since the dissolutionof Soviet Union, theUS and its Western allies have dominated the globalaffairs through numerous political and economic organizations. In the same token China and Russia have established close ties after the termination of Cold War to attain regional security so that to minimize the US penetration in the Central Asian region.Inthis article,the area of Central Asia has been taken as a case studyto demonstrate the China-Russia partnership through a multilateral organization;specifically the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Thisarticle discussesthe theoretical underpinnings of the Soft Balancing in the SCO. It furtherelaboratesthe Sino-Russian cooperation through SCO in terms of balancing the US preponderance. This paperevaluateshistoricalcompetition amongGreat Powersin Central Asian region,and furtherelaborates onthe formation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization1. While this article argues that the main focusof SCO was strengthening regional security issues, fight against terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism. Howeverit also aimed to counter the US influencein the region through multilateral organization.