Samatov, O.Zh. International legal basis of Shanghai Organization of Cooperation, as an instrument of stability and development in the Central Asian region of the CIS.

Abstract: The Member States of the so-called “Shanghai Five”: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, which inherited all the problems of the former Soviet-Chinese border after the USSR collapsed, form the international legal basis of the Shanghai Organization of Cooperation. Unique geopolitical situations of the SOC Member States allows us to hope that the SOC shall become a transnational bridge between the European and the Asian continents. O.Zh. Samatov’s article contains analysis of the key international documents and of the SOC practice, its value and potential for the stabilization in the region.