China, Russia tries quasi-NATO? Dugin’s Eursia or Primakov Doctrine?
I was just about to follow-up on my previous Russia and Eurasia post when CS Monitor (CSM) today published “Russia, China looking to form ‘NATO of the East’?” and opens with this foreboding paragraph:
Russia and China could take a step closer to forming a Eurasian military confederacy to rival NATO at a Moscow meeting of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Wednesday, experts say.
(Source: Wikipedia. Blue = Member, Green = Observer)
Pretty scary stuff, eh? Its an enticing leading paragraph, but the truth is a little milder.
Brief History of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
The Shanghai Five, as it was originally called, was originally comprised of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and founded in 1996; it was later renamed the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, when Uzbekistan joined in 1999. Originally established to counter Islamic terrorist threats located in the Western China and its neighboring countries, SCO has increasingly become a vehicle to:
- further China’s quest for securing oil resources;
- enhance its role as a major player in regional security;
- and, to a lesser extant, as a united Sino-Russian bloc against growing U.S. presence in the region.
(From an old paper of mine)
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