The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is entering a period in which connectivity and economic cooperation are becoming increasingly important alongside its traditional focus on regional security. As representatives gather in Bishkek, the organization’s evolving role offers an opportunity to consider a broader question: how can Eurasia’s increasingly connected economies make better use of their geographic advantages?

The organization’s expanding economic and connectivity agenda is particularly relevant for Azerbaijan, which cooperates with the SCO as a partner. This is especially true because Azerbaijan has become an important link in the Middle Corridor, connecting Central Asia and China with the South Caucasus, Türkiye and European markets.

The Middle Corridor, formally known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, connects China and Central Asia with the South Caucasus and Europe through the Caspian Sea. Its importance has grown as businesses and governments across Eurasia have sought to develop efficient and reliable transportation links between major economic centers.

The SCO is particularly relevant to this discussion because its geographical reach includes many of the economies located along, or connected to, major Eurasian trade routes. China and the Central Asian states are central to the organization, while countries such as Iran, India, Pakistan, Russia and Belarus add further economic and geographic dimensions to the wider network.

This does not mean that the SCO itself is becoming a........

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