Membership Expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Theoretical and Political Analysis

Abstract: The membership expansion of the SCO has once again attracted extensive attention.This article aims to conduct a theoretical and political analysis of the expansion of SCO’s membership.The theoretical analysis focuses on the costs and benefits comparison; the political analysis considers different opinions among member states, especially between Russia and China, with regard to their understandings of the SCO’s orientation and its expansion.The article finds out that the costs of this membership expansion outweigh its benefits, and that there is a significant disagreement between China and Russia.As such, we expect that the prospects for realizing expansion of the SCO in the near future are minimal.Against this background, it is argued that the SCO needs to strengthen its internal organizational construction, while carefully managing discrepancies among member states.The SCO must also address the significant shortfall of financial resources necessarily for its projects implementation, and the problem that stuffs lacking relative experience.These steps can ensure the SCO’s healthy development.