THE SHANGHAI SPIRIT AND NEW GLOBAL ORDER: CONSTRUCTIVE DECONSTRUCTION OF CHANGING GEOPOLITICAL POWER OF SCO

Unlike overseas security establishments, the Coercive Power of superpowers is not backing up global manipulation; the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is building, deliberately and in evolution, a counter and parallel world order to the Western one.

- Aryan Gupta

Originally coming forth from the Shanghai Five in 1996 due to border issues, the turning point occurred in 2001, as the SCO was transformed into a permanent intergovernmental organisation. At the heart of this lies the “Shanghai Spirit,” an ethos that embraces such principles as mutual trust, equality, and noninterference, which directly stand against this hegemonic logic of ‘might makes right.’ In their reach, the Shanghai Spirit is the very antithesis of the hegemonic paradigm of ‘might makes right.’

The organisation’s mandate originally restricted itself to engaging the “three evils” - terrorism, separatism, and extremism. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), formed in 2004, was the primary instrument for intelligence sharing and joint military exercises. By far, the agenda of the organisation has become far broader, considering economic, political, and cultural agreements. This otherwise multidimensional growth signifies a certain ambition: to become a comprehensive global act individual and key impetus for a new multipolar world order.

Strategic Drivers: Two Engines of Influence-China and Russia

Strangely or otherwise, it is the dual strategic ambitions of China and Russia that give their largest two members and thus the SCO its rise. China acts as the bloc’s principal geoeconomic engine, using its financial muscle to construct a parallel system of global governance. This vision is part of Beijing’s overall approach to foreign policy as encapsulated in its Global Governance Initiative (GGI). The GGI proposes that a new form of governance exists outside the oversight of Western-led institutions.