On November 15-16, 2007, the Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SHIMI) in Shanghai (China) hosted the international scientific conference "The Situation in Central Asia and the SCO". The conference was attended by researchers and diplomats from China, Russia and Central Asian countries. About 20 people made presentations. A wide range of issues related to relations between the organization and NATO, strengthening cooperation and trust within the SCO, the goals and policies of the United States in Central Asia, relations between the organization and observer countries, the internal situation in the SCO member states, etc. were discussed.

Opening the conference, SHIMI Director Yang Zemian said that Shanghai is closely linked with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). "This organization was created in our city. We strive for the SCO to play an increasingly important role in international relations, in strengthening security and improving the well-being of peoples. I hope that constructive ideas and recommendations will be made during the conference that will contribute to this."

Zhang Xiao (Deputy Head of the Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry) noted that in general, the Chinese side assesses the situation in Central Asia as stable. However, this situation is negatively affected by a number of factors related to the influence of external forces that impose their own development models on Central Asian countries. According to Zhang Xiao, the SCO has established itself as an effective mechanism for cooperation. It makes a great contribution to strengthening international security.

Acad. V. S. Myasnikov (IB RAS) believes that liberal values hardly take root in the Confucian civilization zone. The SCO has demonstrated its ability to contribute to the development of its member countries: transforming society, improving the living conditions of the poor, creating opportunities for everyone to succeed and access health care and education. V. S. Myasnikov suggested that such important issues as the problem of depletion of freshwater reserves and the problem of combating desertification should be included in the agenda of the organization's summits. To convince the world of its effectiveness, the SCO must demonstrate corporate and joint economic development, he stressed.

Pan Guang (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences) analyzed some aspects of the situation in Central Asia. In his opinion, the riots in Uzbekistan in July 2005 occurred for the following reasons: stagnation of economic development, a widening gap between the poor and the rich, a conflict between the political elite and the authorities, which gave rise to an influential opposition. Pan Guang believes that a good example for others is Kazakhstan, where annual economic growth is 10%, and GDP per capita is $ 5,000. Nazarbayev conducts a smart policy in the field of interethnic relations. According to Ban Guang, the SCO has united China, Russia and the Central Asian states in one group of common interests for the first time in history. There is competition between Russia and China. But the SCO makes it possible to eliminate its negative consequences.

Yang Shu (Director of the Institute of Central Asia at Lanzhou University) noted that the SCO represents different civilizations and cultures. On the one hand, this is very good, but on the other hand, such diversity complicates relations between the countries that are members of the organization, and increases the contradictions between them. Previously, Yang Shu noted, Central Asia was dominated by Russian culture. Now it's gone. The SCO states have different economic levels of development. They have different interests and different positions, for example, on the issue of NATO expansion to the east. This expansion threatens Russia's interests, but does not threaten the interests of Central Asia

and China. For China, its relations with Japan are more important, and for Central Asia, its relations with its neighbors are more important.

V. S. Myasnikov reacted to Yang Shu's speech. He believes that the expansion of NATO to the east poses a threat to both China and Central Asia. Everything will depend on how long NATO will expand. Let's put our cards on the table and make trust the main principle in relations between the SCO countries, he added. V. S. Myasnikov put forward an interesting idea: the SCO countries can offer their own Asian Charter on the basis of the UN Charter and other internationally recognized documents. The European Charter is not respected, V. S. Myasnikov noted. She was buried when Yugoslavia was torn to shreds. The adoption of the Asian Charter could be an event of great importance, since the word creates a situation. A. M. Khazanov (Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noted that the United States supports certain forces that are sources of threats to the security and integrity of the SCO countries, and contributes to the activation of their activities. They seek to expand their military presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Central Asia and promote pro-American figures to power. In response to their actions in early October 2007, At the CSTO summit in Dushanbe, a military-political bloc was created, a kind of counterweight to NATO.

Mikhail Shaikhutdinov (Director of the Kazakhstan Institute of World Economy and International Relations) expressed the opinion that the SCO should avoid expanding its functions. It is necessary to take into account the sad experience of the OSCE, which has abandoned its main task - ensuring security in Europe. M. E. Shaikhutdinov believes that it would be unwise to expand the number of SCO members. The SCO member states are countries with different levels of economic development and different interests. Experts fear that small countries may turn into raw materials appendages of more developed ones. According to M. E. Shaikhutdinov, the SCO should not turn into an anti-Western bloc, as this contradicts the "Shanghai spirit".

Sun Zhuangzhi (Secretary General of the SCO Center of the Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China) stressed that since Central Asia is a region with a very difficult geopolitical situation, it faces many challenges. Here, NATO and the United States are trying to strengthen their influence. The Central Asian region is closely linked to the external environment. There are acute security threats, including the "three evils": terrorism, separatism and extremism. Drug trafficking, arms trafficking, poverty, religious and national problems also provoke instability.

N. E. Muminov (Head of the Center of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan) noted that international information security is now becoming particularly important for the SCO, since the organization's activities have become the object of information attacks from individual media outlets of Western states.

S. Kushkumbayev (Deputy Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies) pointed out that the functioning of a large number of organizations in the post-Soviet space with Russia's active role, in his opinion, is part of a multi-way combination associated with Moscow's policy of strengthening its influence in the post-Soviet space. In fact, the CSTO is becoming one of the cornerstones of this complicated structure. Moscow believes that in the face of the impending encirclement of Russia by NATO countries, it needs to review its collective security doctrine. In addition, he noted, the issue of the possibility of conducting joint military maneuvers of the CSTO and SCO countries is being discussed, which will be equivalent to joint military exercises with the participation of Russia, its allies in the former Soviet Union and China. Although the SCO is not yet a bloc and such a prospect is officially rejected in Beijing and Moscow, nevertheless, both China and Russia are suspicious of the activity of the United States and NATO.

Ye Jian (Head of the SHIMI Department) expressed the view that the SCO is a kind of synthesis of civilizations. Why, then, he asks, can it not take part in inter-civilizational interaction with NATO? Zhang Yao (Deputy head of the SHIMI Department) objected to Ye Jiang: it is not the SCO that does not want to establish partnership relations with NATO, but NATO does not want to do so, he said, emphasizing that the West is trying to present the SCO as an anti-Western bloc.

Li Weijiang (head of the SHIMI Department) said that the SCO should develop a unified position on the issue of Iran.

Zhao Gancheng (Head of the SHIMI Department) considered the question of India's possible accession to the SCO, which is highly controversial. So, Russia supports the adoption of

India is in the SCO, but China is against it. The United States believes that India can contain Russia and China within the framework of this organization, and supports the inclusion of India in it, Zhao Gancheng noted. The Central Asian countries oppose the inclusion of India and Pakistan in the SCO. Western states do not want to recognize it as a full participant in international relations. They constantly talk about the anti-Western nature of the SCO.

In the dispute that arose at the conference on the question: is NATO a potential partner or a threat to the SCO? - Yang Cheng (Eastern Chinese pedagogue. un-t). In particular, he said that the SCO and NATO can cooperate on many issues. The SCO is dominated by two countries: Russia and China, which differ in their social structure. There is an opinion in Russian academic circles that China is Russia's main rival in Central Asia. But there is no reason for such concerns. China, Yang Cheng believes, will by no means pose a threat to Russia in Central Asia. Currently, China and Russia prioritize cooperation in the economic sphere within the SCO. Even the fight against the "three evils" fades into the background. In economic cooperation, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of phasing. Compared to China, Russia has a deeper historical tradition in its relations with Central Asia. According to Yang Cheng, the SCO differs from the EU in that the latter has two types of identity: general and national. And for the first one, the main question is: is it possible to speak on the international stage as one voice? So far, the SCO is a regional player that has not yet completed the process of its formation. This is a new player in the international arena.

Among the main challenges facing the SCO, Yang Cheng highlighted competition between Russia and other member states and the search for a balance of interests between them, as well as between the SCO and external forces. He went on to say that the SCO is turning into a kind of big basket in which different eggs are put - completely different functions. But we must avoid the harmful practice of the CIS - many empty agreements were signed there, which were not implemented."

According to Lu Gang (Head of the Department of Russia and Central Asia at SHIMI), the SCO is primarily the "Shanghai spirit". Relations between Russia and China have reached a historic high. Since the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 2002, they have been steadily developing in the economic and other spheres. Cooperation between China and Russia in the humanitarian sphere should also be expanded, said Lu Gang.

Lu Gang supported the idea of signing the Asian Charter put forward by V. S. Myasnikov. This is a constructive proposal that can enhance the SCO's credibility and prestige around the world. Chen Yuzhong (head of the Department of the Chinese Institute of International Studies) believes that Central Asia should be an arena of cooperation, not a struggle between powers. The West approaches this region from a cold war perspective. The West views the SCO as an anti-European organization and calls it the " NATO of the East." According to Chen Yuzhong, the SCO is not an eastern NATO. It stands for constructive cooperation with all countries. The organization has put forward its concept of conflict resolution through peaceful means. Chen Yuzhong expressed the opinion that the inclusion of India and Pakistan in the SCO will not contribute to strengthening the stability and strength of the organization.

Zhang Yao (SHIMI) devoted his speech to the problem of energy resources in the SCO. In his opinion, the idea of creating an energy club of the organization deserves attention. Zhang Yao noted that today cooperation in the SCO follows the formula of simple purchase and sale. But there is no interaction in the processing of energy carriers. Cooperation is limited to a bilateral format. This often leads to unfair competition. We should not be limited to seeking only our own benefits, Zhang Yao said. Based on our cooperation and joint actions, we must strengthen the SCO's influence on the world market and be a leader, not a slave. This depends on the effectiveness of our cooperation.

Lu Gang and Yang Zemian summed up the results of the conference in their closing speeches. They noted that all the speakers at the conference raised and analyzed important issues related to the SCO and Central Asia. V. S. Myasnikov's idea of adopting an Asian Charter was highly appreciated. During the discussion, different opinions were revealed on the following issues:: should we expand our SCO membership?; what are the US goals in Central Asia?; is NATO a potential partner or a threat to the SCO?; what is China's role in Central Asia? All speakers were unanimous in the view that in order to strengthen the SCO and enhance its international standing, it is necessary to expand cooperation among its members.

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