War Games of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization: Drills on the Move!

ABSTRACT The SCO is a political, economic, and security organization that started its security policy in arms control and subsequently developed war games. Conversely, the CSTO is a military alliance with collective armed forces. The military exercises of the CSTO are focused on conventional warfare, peacekeeping, antinarcotics, counterterrorism, and disaster relief. The SCO conducts counterinsurgency drills, as well as large-scale conventional warfare games. The dominating role of Russia and China in CSTO and SCO is also reflected in the military exercises of these bodies. The views that Central Asian countries put forward in SCO and CSTO are not coordinated on a Central Asian regional level but usually only serve national interests. There is no such thing as a common Central Asian approach to security.