The Shanghai Pact: The SCO and Implications for America in Eurasia

Date:	June 9, 2006
Time:	10:00 a.m.
Speaker(s):	Ariel Cohen, Ph.D. Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, and Editor of Eurasia in Balance Martin Sieff Defense Correspondent, UPI and Author of The Rising Supergiants: The Challenge of India and China for U.S. Policymakers in the 21st Century (Cato Institute, forthcoming) John J. Tkacik, Jr. Editor of Rethinking ?One China? and Author of the forthcoming Reframing the Taiwan Strait Richard Weitz, Ph.D. Senior Fellow and Associate Director, Center for Future Security Strategies, The Hudson Institute and Author of ?Averting A New Great game in Central Asia? (The Washington Quarterly)
Host(s):	Ambassador Harvey Feldman Distinguished Fellow, Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation
Details:
The Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium On June 15, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will convene in Shanghai, China. On the agenda is a deadline for the U.S. departure from the air force base at the Manas Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This is less than a year after the SCO, under Chinese and Russian leadership, pushed the U.S. out of a military base in Karshi Khanabad, Uzbekistan. Last year, joint Sino-Russian military maneuvers took place simulating amphibious assaults and combined operations against a strong conventional enemy. This year, such maneuvers will be repeated. Is the SCO, where Iran is welcomed as an observer and touted as a potential member, but the U.S. is kept out, a new de facto anti-American bloc in Eurasia? How strong are Sino-Russian ties and what is their motivation? Is resistance in Beijing and Moscow to America’s role as the “sole superpower” sufficient glue to overcome their inherent strategic incompatibility in Central Asia? How significant is Sino-Russian cooperation as far as the search for a diplomatic solution for the pending Iranian crisis is concerned? Join us as our panel of experts examines these questions and the implications for American policy in Eurasia. Related Reading Hedging Against China Sino-Russian Military Maneuvers: A Threat to U.S. Interests in Eurasia Averting a New Great Game in Central Asia

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