Transboundary Interactions Between Afghanistan and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization After the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan

This paper aims to examine the functional utility of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for regional stability after the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan. The instability in Afghanistan may become a serious regional challenge for the SCO to seek an acceptable solution. The study addresses the question that how the SCO members are dealing with the emerging crisis in Afghanistan. Hence, the prospective role of the SCO in building consensus among member states is unravelled with a conceptual framework, based on two theories of international relations namely regional security complex and functional cooperation theory. These theories provide a conceptual understanding that the interests of states, belonging to a general geographical region, are integrated and their mutual cooperation is more durable than the states outside the region. Subsequently, the study explored the role of the SCO in maintaining regional security and traced its efforts for stability. To explore the complexities within the SCO while managing the nascent government of the Taliban (forbidden in Russia) in Afghanistan, qualitative data has been collected. The data includes government websites, official statements and documents, books, research articles and newspapers, published in different countries. It is found that the worsening security situation in Afghanistan is a common threat to all the members of the SCO, so consensus is required to promote practical measures including the development of Afghanistan. Therefore, the SCO is focusing on addressing the immediate and tangible consequences of the Taliban’s takeover after the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan and supporting regional states to adopt functional cooperation to reconstruct Afghanistan.