From the «Shanghai Five» to the SCO: The History of Regional Cooperation within the Framework of Regionalism and Regional Security Complex Theory (1996–2001)

Abstract

The article examines the historical transformation of the «Shanghai Five» into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation between 1996 and 2001. Particular attention is paid to the transition from a military-border mechanism aimed at strengthening confidence and limiting armed forces to a sustainable multilateral format of regional cooperation with a gradually expanding security agenda. The purpose of the study is to identify the historical logic behind the formation of the SCO and to determine the factors that conditioned the institutionalisation of regional interaction within the frameworks of regionalism and regional security complex theory. The source base of the study consists of interstate agreements, joint statements, and declarations adopted within the framework of the «Shanghai Five» and during the establishment of the SCO. The authors analyse these documents in order to trace the transformation of cooperation from military confidence-building measures and the settlement of border-related issues to political coordination, the formation of a shared understanding of regional threats, and the institutionalisation of multilateral interaction. In addition, subsequent normative documents of the organisation are taken into account, making it possible to determine the further development of its organisational and legal structure. The methodological framework of the study is based on approaches of regionalism, including new regionalism, as well as the regional security complex theory developed by B. Buzan and O. Wæver. The authors apply historical-genetic, problemchronological, historical-comparative, and institutional methods. The results of the study demonstrate that Russian Chinese strategic rapprochement constituted an important and necessary, but insufficient, condition for the formation of the SCO. The authors analyse the role of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan as independent participants in the process of creating regional security mechanisms, guided by their own interests in stabilising borders, reducing military-political uncertainty, and establishing predictable interaction with China. The subsequent inclusion of Uzbekistan indicated that cooperation had moved beyond the initial military-border logic and that the «Shanghai process» had acquired a broader Central Asian dimension. It is established that between 1996 and 2001 the functions of interaction expanded consistently: from border stabilisation and confidence building measures to political dialogue, coordination of approaches to regional security, and the formation of a common mechanism for countering new transnational threats. As a result of the study, the authors propose an original periodisation of the development of the «Shanghai process» in 1996–2001, comprising three interconnected stages: the formation of the treaty and legal foundations of military-border confidence-building and arms limitations in 1996 1997; the expansion of the multilateral agenda, political coordination, and cooperation in the field of regional security in 1998–2000; and the enlargement of the membership and transition to a formal regional organisation in 2001. The authors conclude that the scholarly novelty of the study lies in interpreting the period 1996–2001 not as a mere prehistory or exclusively as a preparatory stage in the establishment of the SCO, but as an independent stage in the institutionalisation of regional cooperation.