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Pacts and Pretenses, Competition and Cooperation: What Is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

Bryant, Kelly Ann
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366035294

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Slavic and East European Studies.
As the international community continues to discuss the United States’ declining influence in world politics and the rise of developing countries, several new regional organizations and international regimes have emerged as alternatives to the Western structure. Among these relatively new organizations is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a self-defined intergovernmental mutual-security organization founded in 2001 that is comprised of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. However, after more than ten years, the SCO’s role in the international community, as well as the Organization’s actual goals, is uncertain. This study examines the SCO’s origins, structure, declarations, and members’ motivations in order to determine how the Organization operates and why its members find value in its structure. Ultimately, this study finds that the SCO operates as a framework for managing member states’ bilateral relations under a cover of multilateralism and consensus-based decision-making. However, despite the Organization’s dependence upon bilateralism, members still find value in its framework, because the SCO is the result of a grand bargain struck between Russia/China and the Central Asian Republics. Through this grand bargain, each member state can manage its bilateral relations with other members with fewer risks than trying to forge bilateral relations outside of the SCO’s cover of multilateralism.
Morgan Liu (Advisor)
John Quigley (Committee Member)
Schweller Randy (Committee Member)
94 p.
Asian Studies; International Relations; Slavic Studies

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Citations

  • Bryant, K. A. (2013). Pacts and Pretenses, Competition and Cooperation: What Is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366035294

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bryant, Kelly. Pacts and Pretenses, Competition and Cooperation: What Is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever. 2013. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366035294.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bryant, Kelly. "Pacts and Pretenses, Competition and Cooperation: What Is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366035294

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1366035294
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.