Protective Integration and Security Policy Coordination: Comparing the SCO and CSTO

The post-Soviet countries are one of the main directions of Russian foreign policy, and the problems of national and regional security are key to the current agenda. These issues are dealt with by several international organizations in the region, while their functions overlap and there is no clear coordination between them. As a result, it becomes necessary to set priorities for Russian diplomacy in relation to these organizations. The article compares two international security organizations - the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization - in terms of their effectiveness as institutions of international relations and compliance with Russian interests. The comparison is made through the history of the formation and development of these institutions, as well as the adopted regulatory documents and ongoing projects of the CSTO and the SCO. The scientific novelty of the research is the preference of one organization over another, while the result of most such studies is a statement about the need to make efforts for their parallel and full development. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that it is expedient to give priority to the development of the CSTO. The conclusion is made on the basis of the original goals of the founders of the organization, the alignment of forces in them, the dynamics of their development, their institutional problems and the elaboration of their conceptual documents.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001 by six countries: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Established to ensure the security of the Central Asian region in the post-Soviet era, in its early years it was interpreted in many studies as little more than an extension of Russian foreign policy interests, but recently it is clear that the initiative has shifted to Beijing. In 2015 its membership was expanded for the first time with the addition of India and Pakistan, and this was formalised at its 2016 summit. Including the two new members means the SCO represents 45% of the world’s population and 19% of world GDP. As Russia and China further develop their cooperation, the SCO is now “increasingly viewed by governments across the world as an organization reflecting the political and economic ascendancy of the Eurasian region” (Savic 2016). This chapter outlines the origins and purposes of the SCO, and its position in relation to other post-Soviet regional entities that have been formed since 1991 under the heading of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The question is to what extent these formations are beginning to represent an inter-connected, multi-layered regional governance structure for Eurasia that could have consequences within a changing global order.

The article evaluates the prospects for interaction between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Based on a descriptive and explanatory analysis of their common interests and tasks in the field of ensuring security and stability in the region, the authors come to the conclusion that issues of cooperation between the two associations seem to be more of a formal side of the issue, which in practical terms has already been largely resolved through active bilateral contacts and joint military exercises, which only emphasizes the importance of developing this format in the future.

Changing framework or institution for people's identification after the collapse of the Soviet Union is one of main issues to understand political order in contemporary Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) . In this context, constructing suitable collective identity is important project for statebuilding process in this region. As long as surveying institutionalization of citizenship in each Central Asian countries, it consisted with relatively wide tolerance for minorities including Russian citizens or natives. On the other hand, through the institutionalization of border control and visa regime, discrimination among citizenships is getting strict. In Central Asia, there is no appropriate conception to construct institutions, in which combinations of several multi-level identities, such as national, state and regional, harmonize interactively. Region-wide level identities in Central Asia have less affected than state-level ones because of their lack of measures to develop their unity. Although several security frameworks (the former Central Asian Cooperation Organization [CACO], Eurasia Economic Community [EurAsES], Shanghai Cooperation Organization, etc.) are reconstructed with their geographical enlargement, they are too vulnerable to establish a regional security identity. Emerging of the cascading framework of EurAsES-ODKB (Collective Security Treaty Organization) would not be a revival of Soviet identity. It covers only eastern side of Caspian Sea as the area of influence, while GUAM countries ignoring the area for the shifting of their interest toward Baltic Sea region. The cascading framework also needs physical and moral support from China inevitably.

The article highlights one of the essential factors determining the capacity of regional and international organizations, as well as their success in achieving their goals, that is close cooperation between members of the organizations and with external organizations. The necessity to reach common views on strengthening of peace, security and stability predetermined the active position of the government of the Russian Federation in the development of foreign policy cooperation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The author gives the definition of foreign policy cooperation of the CSTO, notes its basic mechanisms and the necessity of their formation, states the order of the formation of the foreign policy mechanisms that were identified by the basic acts of the CSTO, and identifies the role of the Russian leadership in their creation and development. The study gives the characteristic of the work of the State apparatus of the Russian Federation, implemented in the framework of the development of foreign cooperation of the CSTO, and notes the main challenges during the creation and development of mechanisms of foreign policy activity of the CSTO. The article evaluates the efficiency of the generated foreign policy mechanisms on the example of localization of the antigovernment protests that took place in Kyrgyzstan in 2010. The study notes the influence of the foreign policy positions of the CSTO member States on the effectiveness of cooperation in the format of the Organization. The author formulates the conclusions in which he states the role and place of foreign policy cooperation as one of the directions of interaction between the member countries of the CSTO, the necessity for the State apparatus of the Russian Federation to work on its development, and also indicates a possible way to overcome the limitations imposed by third-party organizations for the development of cooperation within the framework of security.

SSCB sonrasında Rusya Federasyonu siyasal ve ekonomik açıdan benimsenen sosyalist düzeni terk ederek kapitalist sisteme eklemlenmeye ve “liberal demokratik” ülkelerle de uzlaşmaya başlamıştır. Ancak söz konusu radikal dönüşüm Rusya açısından hem iç politikada hem de dış politikada çok önemli sorunlarla karşılaşılmasına neden olmuştur. Bu noktada dış politika açısından da önemli bir değişim yaşanmıştır. Rusya, SSCB’ye oranla her anlamda (coğrafi, ekonomik, nüfus, askeri kapasite…) bir küçülme yaşamış ve bu durum dış politikaya da yansımıştır. Bir diğer değişim konusu ise güvenlik alanında olmuştur. Bu konuda özellikle bölgesel işbirliği örgütleri ön plana çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmada ise Rus dış politikasında güvenlik faktörü ele alınacaktır. Öncelikle Rus dış politikasında yaşanan değişim genel hatlarıyla ortaya konulacak ve Rus dış politikasındaki güvenlik faktörü irdelenecektir. Daha sonra ise hem dış politika hem de güvenlik açısından Rusya için son derece işlevsel niteliklere haiz olan Bağımsız Devletler Topluluğu, Şanghay İşbirliği Örgütü ve Kolektif Güvenlik Antlaşması Örgütü konu kapsamında ele alınacaktır.

This study investigates the multidimensional expansion patterns of international security organizations (ISOs), analyzing both horizontal (membership enlargement, geographic reach, partnerships) and vertical (mandate expansion, governance reforms, operational capacity building) dimensions of growth. Through a comparative analysis of NATO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the research reveals distinct expansion trajectories shaped by geopolitical contexts and institutional designs. NATO demonstrates comprehensive expansion across both dimensions, driven by its institutional flexibility and strategic adaptation. The SCO exhibits cautious horizontal growth coupled with selective functional vertical diversification, reflecting its consensus-based model. The CSTO, constrained by its regional focus and dominant power dynamics, shows limited horizontal expansion but incremental vertical development. The findings contribute to understanding how ISOs balance external pressures with internal capacities, offering insights into their evolving roles in global security governance.

ASIANPERSPECTIVE, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2008, pp. 183-187. Commentary RUSSIA AND THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION: MOSCOW'S LONELY ROAD FROM BISHKEK TO DUSHANBE* Mark N. Katz One of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's most important for­ eign-policy initiatives has been the Shanghai Cooperation Orga­ nization (SCO)—a regional international organization he co­ founded in 2001 that groups together Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The stated aims of the SCO are to combat the “three evils" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, as well as to promote various forms of coopera­ tion among the member governments. In addition to these stat­ ed goals, however, Moscow has attempted to make use of the organization to resist efforts at democratization emanating from inside and outside the member states, to limit American and other Western influence in Central Asia, and to promote Russian foreign-policy goals generally. Up through the August 2007 SCO summit in Bishkek, Putin had good reason to be pleased with the SCO. Although there were some important differences among various members, the SCO appeared to be a useful mechanism for advancing Moscow's * This commentary originally appeared as a publication of the Hokkaido University Slavic Research Center in September 2008 and is reprinted here with permission and slight editorial changes. See http://src-h.slav. hokudai.ac.jp/center/essay/20080901e_Mark_N_Katz.html. 184 Mark N. Katz priorities. In the year leading up to the August 2008 summit in Dushanbe, however, Moscow has experienced a number of set­ backs with regard to the SCO. The most important of these occurred at the Dushanbe summit itself when the SCO members refused to endorse Moscow's military action in Georgia or its recognition of Abkhaz and South Ossetian independence. Although both the SCO and Russian membership in the organi­ zation will undoubtedly continue, these events suggest that the SCO's utility for advancing Russian foreign-policy aims is quite limited. The SCO grew out of the Shanghai Five, which was estab­ lished in 1996 in order to resolve border issues between China on the one hand and the four former Soviet republics neighbor­ ing it (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan). At the group's July 2000 summit (the first attended by President Putin), the leaders announced the organization's intention to "wield significant influence not just in the region, but globally as well." With the addition of Uzbekistan at the June 2001 summit, the Shanghai Five became the SCO. The first SCO joint military exercise, though only involving about 1,000 servicemen, took place in 2003. Mongolia gained observer status at the June 2004 summit. What happened at the 2005, 2006, and 2007 summits in par­ ticular gave the impression that the SCO was emerging as a powerful organization successfully challenging American "hegemony." Shortly before the July 2005 summit, the United States and other Western governments criticized Uzbekistan for using force to suppress largely peaceful demonstrators in the town of Andijon. Uzbek leader Islam Karimov took offense at this and demanded that the U.S. forces that he had allowed into his country after 9/11 be withdrawn within six months. At the July 2005 SCO summit shortly thereafter, the SCO presidents issued a joint declaration calling upon the United States to set a timetable for pulling out all the military bases it had acquired in Central Asia after 9/11. Washington did indeed withdraw the forces it had stationed in Uzbekistan a few months later, and had to pay considerably more in order to retain its base in Kyrgyzstan. In addition, Iran, Pakistan, and India were granted SCO observer status in 2005. The 2006 SCO summit was noteworthy because it was the Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 185 first one attended by Iran's sharply anti-American president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (he also attended the 2007 and 2008 summits). His presence raised concerns that the SCO might encourage or even support Tehran's confrontational approach toward the West. At the time of the 2007 SCO summit, SCO mili­ tary exercises took place in China and Russia involving 6,000 troops. This raised concerns in the West that the SCO could become a military alliance. Despite all this, it was...

In January 2022, Kazakhstan was faced with an attempt of a violent change of power in the form of mass protests that spread throughout the country and were organized with the basic techniques of color revolutions. The country’s own law enforcement forces were not able to cope with radical citizens, looters-rioters, and terrorists, and in these circumstances the head of state, K.K. Tokayev, decided to request the support of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) allies, who immediately sent the united peacekeeping troops to the republic. The CSTO peacekeeping mission, coordinated by Russia, successfully restored constitutional order in the country and prevented a violent coup d’état. The purpose of this research is to analyze the course of the January events and actions of the CSTO, as well as their impact on Kazakhstan, the region and the organization itself. The paper is based on interviews with experts from the CSTO member states, studies carried out in this area of research, and statements by official authorities. The synthesis of the research results is divided into thematic blocks and supplemented by the author’s conclusions. The paper mentions aspects such as the transition of power, changes in Kazakhstan’s domestic and foreign policies, the effectiveness of the CSTO organization and the expansion of its potential use. Proposals are also provided regarding the strengthening of defense integration and the need to develop a common regional identity. The research is unique in that it brings expert opinions from six CSTO member states, the results of studies carried out by researchers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and abroad, and the theoretical terminology of Western political ideology. The author presents the area of responsibility of the CSTO as a Eurasian security community based not only on collective security, but also on economic interdependence and a sense of community among the nations of its member states.

With the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war and the seizure of power in Afghanistan by the radical Taliban movement, the issue of ensuring countries’ security has taken a new dimension. These occurrences directly influence the global situation. This research aims to examine the primary security issues in Central Asia and identify regional threats within the evolving geopolitical context. To address the research objectives, various methods of cognition were employed, including historical, structural and functional, institutional, comparative, forecasting, political and legal analysis, classification, analogy, abstraction, analysis, and generalisation. The main results of this study include characterising the specifics of Central Asia and external threats to regional security, analysing the policies of the governments in the region to combat religious extremism and international terrorism, determining the prospects for establishing a collective defence organisation to develop mechanisms for countering these threats, and outlining the main activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in maintaining regional stability and addressing the distribution of water and energy resources. The study also considered such security threats as cybercrime, human trafficking, separatism, interethnic conflicts, illegal migration, arms smuggling, and drug trafficking. This research's findings and materials have theoretical and practical applications. They may be helpful for researchers whose interests include the problems of national and regional security, political processes in post-Soviet Central Asia, and ethno-confessional conflicts in this area.

This chapter explores regional approaches to information security within three key Eurasian organizations: the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). As cyber threats increasingly shape global security dynamics, these organizations have prioritized the development of cooperative frameworks to address vulnerabilities in the information space. The study analyzes a unique approach to the concept of information security developed within these organizations. It highlights the specifics of the regional approach to information security withing the CSTO, CIS, and SCO, which is based on the complex understanding of the threats to information security. The chapter explores the specifics of the mandate of the CSTO, CIS, and SCO in the field of information security. It highlights the role of these regional international organizations in the progressive development of international law in the area of ensuring information security. Through this analysis, the chapter reveals the extent to which such regional cooperation contributes to a broader, coordinated response to contemporary information security challenges at universal level.

This paper attempts to find the dynamism in Afghanistan’s relations with Central Asian states. It is explained that prosperity without security is not possible and ongoing imbroglio in Afghanistan is directly affecting Central Asian states. The Central Asian states are surrounded by China, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. These states (with significant influence of India and Turkey) are the key regional players and their socio-economic and political interests are converged on various issues. The political conditions in Afghanistan would directly impact the interests of Central Asian states. Drug trafficking, illegal migration, religious extremism, a ramified corrupt network, porous border and terrorism are subverting peace in Afghanistan and its spillover effects are dangerous for Central Asian states. The military and security situation in Afghanistan has a direct impact on the production and transport of energy from Central Asia to the rest of the world. The response of the regional organizations, particularly the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), with certain commonalities, towards these issues often contrasts with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This paper focuses on the efforts of major powers (Russia, China, and the US) along with neighbouring countries in the peacebuilding in Afghanistan to avoid its spillover effects over Central Asian states. 

This article presents the results of the author's reflections on the theoretical principles, legal basis and practice of the international activities of the Federal Assembly – the Parliament of the Russian Federation, - in connection with the 25th anniversary of parliamentarism of new Russia. The author analyzes the country network of relations, forms of bilateral inter-parliamentary cooperation, shows the experience of cooperation with European inter-parliamentary structures and associations. Special attention is paid to parliamentary cooperation within the framework of the Union of Belarus and Russia, the collective security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of independent States and the Eurasian economic community. He also shows the demand for inter-parliamentary cooperation with BRICS countries and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. On the basis of the Concept of foreign policy of Russian Federation (dd. November 30, 2016, N 640), the speech of Minister of foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov at the Munich security conference February 16, 2019 and the message of the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Federal Assembly February 20, 2019 the author presents the list of directions, topics and geography of international cooperation of Russian Parliament for the medium term future.

Great powers often (geo)politicize legal norms, principles, and discourses to advance a particular vision of cyberspace regulation within specific geopolitical contexts. This paper explores Russian efforts to shape a distinct vision of the international law of cyberspace in the post-Soviet Eurasian region. To evaluate regional integration in cyberspace governance, we examine normative practices in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the Eurasian Economic Union, along with the State practices of post-Soviet countries in various multilateral frameworks. We conclude that although Russia has not established a fully functional Eurasian international cyberspace law in the post-Soviet region, it has influenced the regional States to align with its strategic choices on cyberspace regulation. This influence could be seen as laying the groundwork for an emerging regional legal order governing cyberspace.

This study is aimed to study a key element of the activity of any international organization — the problem of consensus decision-making and the corresponding practice of solving it both in integration bodies (Eurasian Economic Union, European Union) and in interstate organizations devoid of a supranational component (Shanghai Cooperation Organization, North Atlantic Treaty Organization treaty, Collective Security Treaty Organization).Aim. Identify current approaches to improving the application of the rule of consensus in interstate (intergovernmental) structures and their bodies.Tasks. Investigate and generalize the practice of consensus decision-making within the international regional organizations, highlight actual ways to increase the efficiency of their decision-making mechanisms.Methods. The study used general scientific methodology. The comparative analysis method is used to compare existing decision-making practices. Analysis, synthesis, generalization, as well as the formal logical method were used to formulate the conclusions of the work.Results. The collective decision-making based on consensus follows from the international legal principle par in parem non habet imperium. It emphasizes the equality of all participants in an international organization and excludes the imposition of obligations non-approved by a sovereign state. From this point of view, consensus is a way to strengthen unity and achieve organizational stability. Simultaneously the practice of using this form in various international organizations gives evidence to its low efficiency in decision-making. Achieving consensus requires intensive efforts to coordinate the positions of the parties, and the emergence of “one-vote veto” situations cannot be ruled out. A possible way to increase the efficiency of decision-making within the framework of integration processes (EU, EAEU) lies through the development of supranational mechanisms.Conclusions. Analysis of the practice of functioning of international regional organizations (SCO, NATO, CSTO) allows to identify two approaches aimed at overcoming the negative features of consensus decision-making. The first involves the development of an international organization with formal obligations of members into a community associated with the establishment of a set of shared values among its participants. The second presumes the creation of mechanisms that allow interested states to use the institutions of such a structure to make collective decisions without a not-participating state. Both approaches do not exclude but complement each other.