Authors

Mihoko Kato¹;  ¹ Hiroshima City University, Japan

Discussion

As the prolonged Russo-Ukrainian War continues, a restructuring of the security order is taking place in Russia's neighbouring regions. In Europe, Finland and Sweden have joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in response to the Russian threat, whereas in Asia, North Korea has formed a military alliance with Russia and supports Russian military operations. Meanwhile, a growing number of Eurasian states that are not members of the European Union (EU) and have no military alliance with the US are applying to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Currently, the ten full members of the SCO include major non-Western countries and nuclear powers such as Russia, China, and India. Iran (2023) and Belarus (2024) have also recently joined. Furthermore, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, six Middle Eastern countries have become dialogue partners with the SCO.

 According to the Democracy Index report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, all countries participating in the SCO in some form are classified as 'authoritarian regimes', with the exception of India and Mongolia. This paper aims to analyse the centripetal force of the SCO and the challenges to its cohesion as it expands into non-Western, non-liberal democratic regimes. Particular attention is placed on the relationship between the cooperation of authoritarian states, and international order, values, and norms reflected in the SCO's official documents. This paper is divided into three sections. The first section discusses the background leading to the accession of India, Iran, and Belarus and the changes in the international order expressed in SCO documents. This first section focuses on Russia's support of the SCO's expansion. The second section examines the SCO as a form of normative power. It analyses the authoritarian norms that promote the core of SCO cooperation - the fight against the 'three evils' (terrorism, extremism, and separatism) - and the definition of terrorism. The third section explores the challenges that threaten peace and stability in the SCO region - frequent anti-regime unrest and border conflicts in the former Soviet regions. 

   In conclusion, this paper clarifies the centripetal force of the SCO for authoritarian states, the challenges it faces, and discusses the relationship between the liberal democratic international order and the order pursued by the SCO.