The Shanghai Cooperation Organization And Its Evolving Global Ambition

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, hosted via videoconference on July 4th by India, was Putin’s first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rattled Russia and comes as he is eager to show the West has failed to isolate Moscow over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and signifies the disruption of the global order.

A rising China is challenging the U.S.-led liberal international world order. Beijing has introduced new initiatives (the Global Security Initiative and the Global Development Initiative), helped negotiate a peace treaty amongst Middle Eastern rivals (the Iran-Saudi Arabia peace deal), is part of a major regional trade deal (RCEP), and has led the formation of new development banks (Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank and the New Development Bank). Additionally, China has assumed a significant role in establishing multilateral organizations, namely BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).