Keywords: SCO, Central Asia, regional security S. G. LUZYANIN Doctor of Historical Sciences Yu. V. MOROZOV Candidate of Military Sciences Today, in the Central Asian region (CAR), the geopolitical game is played not only by the countries of this region and its neighbors, but also by the United States, the states of the European Union, NATO, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The stakes in this game are quite high: whoever is able to influence the situation in the region will also ensure access to its rich natural resources. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has become a prominent political factor in this region and an important link in the formation of a new multipolar world order. The SCO, due to its geostrategic position and Eurasian development vector, could in the future become one of the main poles of the modern world, a major production, raw materials and transport hub with access to South Asia and the Persian Gulf zone. HUGE POTENTIAL, BUT... The geographical focus of the SCO's activities can be defined primarily as Central Asian. De Jure, this dimension is fixed in the SCO legal documents and will remain a determining factor for a long time to come. The Shanghai Five emerged and took shape in 1996 as a group of post-Soviet Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan) and Russia adjacent to China. In 2001, the transformation of the "five" (consisting of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) into the SCO took place in connection with the accession of Uzbekistan to the Organization. The total area of territories in the member states of the Organization is 30.2 million square kilometers (20% of the land, and with observer countries-25%), the population is 1.5 billion. people (i.e. 25% of the world's population, and with observers-and all 48%)1 The total volume of foreign trade of the SCO member states is estimated at trillions of dollars. Intraregional trade within the Organization is growing rapidly, alt ... Читать далее