The need for the enhanced scientific development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is conditioned, in particular, by its dynamic growth in the Eurasian space and by the SCO's support for the Chinese initiative ‘One Belt – One Road’. There is no doubt about the relevance of the above collective monograph, in which the contributing authors include a wide range of reputable and young scientists from various SCO member states (such as Russia, India, Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan). Thirty-two authors took part in the work, indicating the large-scale integration of various points of view and ideas on the research issues raised. The editors of the monograph note that “the project involves representatives of various fields of knowledge – political science, international relations, international law, jurisprudence, history, finance, physics and mathematics, and economics” (p. 4). Choosing such an approach to forming the team of authors provides a comprehensive and diverse doctrinal study of the subject. The subject's breadth is also noted.
Through the prism of legal regulation, the authors focus on the economic, humanitarian, legal, trade, labour, migration, and environmental aspects of the SCO and the key issues for this international organization of interstate cooperation in security and defence. Such extensive research makes it possible to form a more holistic scientific understanding of the main directions of international activity within the framework of the SCO.
Interestingly, “[t]he main purpose . . . [is] to show that the exploration of the SCO issues is carried out not in static (the current state of the Organization and its activities), but in dynamics: what the SCO was in the times of its creation, what it is now and how it works, what would be potentials of it in future” (pp. 5–6). Conducting this study in a retrospective approach is to the monograph's undoubted advantage since consideration of the problematic issues of the SCO, divorced from its historical and legal development, will not show the prerequisites for their occurrence and prospects for their solution.
The monograph opens with a review of the history of the formation of the SCO and a study of the legal foundations of its construction and functioning. Further, the monographic study moves into the mainstream of individual current and promising areas of SCO activity. The final part is devoted to the issues of further development and the establishment of new areas of action for the SCO.
In conclusion, this monograph significantly contributes to the development of legal science in the study of legal cooperation in Eurasia and the processes of regionalism and universalism in international law. On the one hand, it invites discussion of the stated topic. On the other hand, it guides future legal research related to Eurasian integration, international law, and other legal sciences. In addition, it is only possible to note the practical significance of this scientific work. The identified problems of interstate cooperation within the framework of the SCO and the solutions proposed for them can positively impact the future development and functioning of this international organization.
Conflicting interests
The authors declare none.
