Following World War II, the world was split into two blocs: the Western Block, led by the United States of America, and the Eastern Block, led by the USSR. To counteract each other’s impacts and therefore take over as the only powers on the planet, the two blocks entered a cold war. The USA led the western block in promoting liberal democracy and capitalism across the world, while the communist USSR led the eastern block in promoting communist ideology. As a result, a clash of ideologies (communism vs. capitalism) broke out between the two superpowers of the globe. The war lasted for almost 45 years and finally ended with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and the United States of America emerged as the only superpower in the world with its liberal world order, based on democracy and a capitalist economy.
A famous American scholar, Francis Fukuyama, while celebrating the victory of the Liberal World Order, published a book “The End of History and the Last Man.” The book was published in 1992, one year after the collapse of the USSR. Frances Fukuyama stated that history had ended in the sense that only the liberal world order—liberal democracy and capitalism—would be the only undefeatable and unchallengeable future political and economic systems of the world and that there is no alternative to the liberal world order because it’s based on the supreme principles of human satisfaction and happiness. At that time in history, he was right because democracy was rapidly spreading, the USSR had collapsed, and the USA was the only major power in the world. But history has been repeating itself once again with the reemergence of Russia as a great power and with the emerging power of the People’s Republic of China.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, particularly from 2010 onward, the liberal democratic world order has been facing a democratic recession; since then, autocracy has been replacing democratic norms and practices. Whatever the reason for the democratic recession may be, the world is reentering a multi-polar world order with the emerging power of China and the reemergence of Russia as a great power. The People’s Republic of China, along with Russia, gives the world a new order based on socialist and communist principles and ideologies. Both China and Russia are engaging different states, particularly the low-income economies of the world, with their new economic and political order. In the modern world, the People’s Republic of China gives the world a more reliable order that ensures the economic development of developing and underdeveloped states without interfering in their internal affairs.
This attitude of China (non-interference in the internal affairs of states) attracts more and more states toward itself. Resultantly, the developing and underdeveloped worlds have been connecting rapidly with China. The reason is that the USA leaves its partner in a difficult situation, while China has a history of supporting its friends in difficult times. Furthermore, the policy of the USA mainly supports US interests while that of China creates win-win situations for herself and other states. China believes in regional connectivity followed by global connectivity to give the world an alternative to the liberal world order. For this purpose, two main steps are taken by China and Russia: the Belt and Road Initiative and the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Belt and Road Initiative is not the focus of this article, which focuses on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai, China. It was initially comprised of 6 member states: China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. In 2004, Mongolia joined the Organization as an observer state. In 2005, three other states joined the organization as observer states. On June 9, 2017, two states, Pakistan and India, were granted the status of permanent members, and today the organization is comprised of eight permanent members, two observer states, fourteen dialogue partners, and two states, Iran and Belarus, that are in the process of becoming permanent members of the organization.
Iran signed a memorandum of obligation at the 22nd meeting of heads of state of the SCO, held in Samarqand, to become permanent members of the SCO, while Qatar and Egypt were granted the status of dialogue partners. This shows how the organization is expanding, and different states are willing to join it. It’s worth remembering that the organization was founded by China and Russia, both of which do not adhere to liberal, democratic world order. The primary goals of SCO are to improve relations between members, encourage collaboration in political, economic, and trade spheres, as well as in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, energy, transportation, tourism, and environmental protection; maintain regional peace, security, and stability; and establish a democratic, equitable global political and economic order.
After the UN, SCO is the only organization comprised of four nuclear powers: China, India, Pakistan, and Russia. Similarly, the SCO is the second-largest organization in the world by population, after the UN. In a similar vein, it contributes about 40% to the global GDP. Now, different states are, for one reason or another, rapidly joining the organization and are willing to become permanent members of the organization. The force attracting states to the SCO is the gradual decline of the liberal world order due to a variety of factors, including democratic recession, a trust deficit between the US and other states, the misuse of states by the US for its own purposes, the USA’s unfair interference in the internal affairs of states, and the US policy of temporary relations (need-based relations).On the other hand, SCO provides a platform for low-income economies to join SCO for strengthening their economies, removing three evils from the region: terrorism, extremism, and separatism, as well as establishing regional connectivity, solving bilateral disputes, and secure their security.
The presence of four nuclear powers in an organization, two of which are global powers while others are regional powers, and many other powers willing to join the organization, is presenting the world with the new world order. This world order is primarily led by communist Russia and socialist China and is an alternative to the liberal world order. The members of the organization support two major powers of the same organization: Russia and China. When Russia invaded Ukraine, none of the members of the SCO, whether they were permanent members, dialogue partners, or observer states, opposed Russia in the Security Council or UN. Similarly, all the members of SCO support China’s one-China policy, and none of the members support the US on the Taiwan question. On the other hand, the USA, the founding father of the liberal world order, is unable to compel any of the members to oppose Russia or China on Ukraine and Taiwan questions, respectively. Even the US can’t force its close friend India to oppose Russia on the Ukraine question. So gradually, SCO members are uniting and establishing their own economic and political principles that may pose a challenge or may replace the liberal world order in the future because SCO is emerging as a new force in the world with its own economic and political order primarily led by China and Russia.
