Afghanistan's Political Future: Relations with China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The relationship between Afghanistan and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a relatively new area of research. This article discusses the interplay between Afghanistan, China and the SCO vis-à-vis the Bonn 2001 to Bonn 2011 Conferences. Afghanistan was granted observer status in 2012 in order to facilitate its integration in the wider region and lessen US-NATO influence in the country. Whereas Russia's priority is geostrategic, China is particularly interested in the mineral resources of Afghanistan but Moscow and Beijing both wish to defeat fundamentalist religious forces and prevent them from spreading in Central Asia.