Jochen Prantl
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199672097
- eISBN:
- 9780191756030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199672097.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines the legitimation efforts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). It shows that despite its very weak institutions and close resemblance to ‘enterprise association’, ...
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This chapter examines the legitimation efforts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). It shows that despite its very weak institutions and close resemblance to ‘enterprise association’, legitimation offers an important perspective for understanding the roles the SCO plays for its member states. The chapter argues that on the one hand, the SCO legitimates itself with regards to its members by addressing regional functional cooperation problems, by providing an institutionalised framework for managing relations between the region’s hegemonic powers (China and Russia), and by occupying political space in the region that could otherwise be entered by more liberal organisations and states. On the other hand, the SCO also legitimises non-liberal norms (and exceptions to otherwise applicable international norms) that are advanced by its members, especially China and Russia, and provides states that want to escape the scrutiny of Western-dominated international organisations with an institutional alternative and an attractive alternative model.Less
This chapter examines the legitimation efforts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). It shows that despite its very weak institutions and close resemblance to ‘enterprise association’, legitimation offers an important perspective for understanding the roles the SCO plays for its member states. The chapter argues that on the one hand, the SCO legitimates itself with regards to its members by addressing regional functional cooperation problems, by providing an institutionalised framework for managing relations between the region’s hegemonic powers (China and Russia), and by occupying political space in the region that could otherwise be entered by more liberal organisations and states. On the other hand, the SCO also legitimises non-liberal norms (and exceptions to otherwise applicable international norms) that are advanced by its members, especially China and Russia, and provides states that want to escape the scrutiny of Western-dominated international organisations with an institutional alternative and an attractive alternative model.
Shibashis Chatterjee
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- June 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199489886
- eISBN:
- 9780199095506
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199489886.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
This chapter is about how spatial imagination steeped in sovereign territoriality bedeviled local efforts to achieve a viable regional political community in South Asia. I invoke functional, security ...
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This chapter is about how spatial imagination steeped in sovereign territoriality bedeviled local efforts to achieve a viable regional political community in South Asia. I invoke functional, security community, and post-colonial perspectives to interrogate regionalism in South Asia. This chapter shows that despite all South Asian states agreeing upon the virtues of regional cooperation, their underlying expectations are very different, which frustrates regional cooperation among countries. The chapter explains why spatial imagination is cardinal to this failing. It puts in bold relief how India has addressed regionalism in its immediate surroundings and achieved little in the process. The author shows that the civil society has failed to have any impact in reversing this trend. While a few states have found sub-regional cooperation more convenient, the net result has not been very exciting so far given that such sub-regional cooperation is also subject to the familiar geopolitical dynamics unleashed by territoriality. The limited record of collaboration among India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and China in some sub-regional efforts gives an excellent account of this process.Less
This chapter is about how spatial imagination steeped in sovereign territoriality bedeviled local efforts to achieve a viable regional political community in South Asia. I invoke functional, security community, and post-colonial perspectives to interrogate regionalism in South Asia. This chapter shows that despite all South Asian states agreeing upon the virtues of regional cooperation, their underlying expectations are very different, which frustrates regional cooperation among countries. The chapter explains why spatial imagination is cardinal to this failing. It puts in bold relief how India has addressed regionalism in its immediate surroundings and achieved little in the process. The author shows that the civil society has failed to have any impact in reversing this trend. While a few states have found sub-regional cooperation more convenient, the net result has not been very exciting so far given that such sub-regional cooperation is also subject to the familiar geopolitical dynamics unleashed by territoriality. The limited record of collaboration among India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and China in some sub-regional efforts gives an excellent account of this process.
