The Promotion of Authoritarianism of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Over Regime Security
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Authors:
Fazli Doğan, Selcuk University, Turkey
This study argues that the main priority of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has begun to transform to ensure regime security for its members. The SCO is a regional organization that emerged in Eurasia in the post-Cold War period and has different priorities, unlike western liberal organizations. The seeking of a solution to the security needs against non-traditional threats has been decisive in the existence and emergence of SCO. In this respect, SCO is an unconventional international integration against non-traditional threats. The SCO has been criticized, especially by western writers, for promoting authoritarianism due to the political systems of its members, the main threats identified, and the method of combating them. One of the issues that have been the source of these criticisms is the emphasis on values such as non-interference in internal affairs, respect for differences in the social-political-economic system, and sovereignty rights, which is called the Shanghai Spirit. SCO's institutional structure has been functionalized to serve the regime security against the threats of three devils: terrorism, extremism, and separatism. The three devils and other threats are significant issues that members can define subjectively with their full sovereignty. In this context, the principle of mutual recognition in identifying threats and the consensus procedure in decision-making are active in SCO. As a result, when compared to Western liberal integrations, it is observed that authoritarian regimes act as protectors over regime security.
Presentation Date/Time: Sunday, December 11, 2022 (09:20)
Session: Session 1
Room: Fai Kham Room