This article reviews past developments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and studies its potentialities in the areas of economy, trade, investment, energy and military power. A Study conducted on statistical information of the SCO state members shows that the organization has the capacity to be turned into one of the biggest international hubs in the fields of economy, trade, foreign investment, energy and military in the coming decades. Among other factors, vast geographical domain, largepopulation, vast energy reserves, nuclear weapons, sizable armed forces, power of veto in the Security Council can be mentioned as the reasons behind the SCO high economic, political and militarily power; the advantages that Iran should definitely benefit from to advance its regional and international relations.

In twentieth century, especially during the Cold War era, the two ideas of Nationalism and Internationalism were the main competitor approaches in different schools of thought in the field of international studies. However, global integration between states and nations from economic, cultural, and communicational aspects has created a new magnificent world which is more integrated and the interests of political units are more incorporated. Based on this new world order, the major rival trends in the world arena are two recent dominant approaches of globalism and regionalism. The appearance of the successful regionalism regimes in Europe and also in the South East Asian region while they have tried to keep their correlations with the global trends, have prepared a suitable model for other regions to construct regional unities in a globalized framework.This paper aims to examine one of the most important issues in the SCO region - the exploration and transportation of energy-in the framework of regionalism and globalism approaches. Regarding to this matter, the outlook of the energy cooperation between the SCO countries and the position of the other powerful players in the region will be analyzed. The opportunities and challenges confronted with the producers and consumers of this strategic commodity to achieve energy security in this region also will be discussed.

The increasing depth of globalization effects has resulted in many countries seeking accomplishment in light of the regionalist perspective and its capacities. Some crucial economic factors in Central Asia such as oil and gas, pipelines, commodities, consumer markets, assembly industries, and the impact of SCO on regional trends have resulted in Iran's economic diplomacy's attention to the region inevitably. The question of this article is what are the most crucial capacities and challenges of Iran's economic diplomacy in Central Asia in light of SCO? This article, with descriptive- explanative method, argues SCO can play a significant role in Iran's economic diplomacy more than an organization. This role depends to recognizing capacities and fortifying them and challenges and mitigation of their effects. The findings of this article represent some capacities that can support economic diplomacy with Iran. These are organization members inclusive in the region, organization performance in line with Iran's Look to East Policy, and the definition of the new structure of economic cooperation. In contrast, axes such as the security approaches governing the organization and the non-economic structure, the interventions of extra-regional powers and their effect on restricting the non-security actions of the organization, and finally the approach linked with the doubts of some members towards Iran's international behavior are the most significant challenges facing Iran's economic diplomacy in the path of this institution.

Today, With the increasing trend countries towards globalization, Regionalism is also considered And regional organizations have been formed in many parts of the world geopolitical.. One of the manifestations of regionalism are regional organizations that In the second half of the twentieth century as a means to achieve regional integration in geographic areas with different functions in the economic, political and military, have been developed. One of the most important geopolitical regions in Central Asia, which has formed several organizations that can be considered the most important of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This paper seeks to answer the question of whether today the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as one of the new regionalism is considered? In response to it can be argued that, given that the first meeting of the board members stated that The purpose of establishing this organization is ensuring security in the Central Asian region, supporting the process of moving towards a multipolar system and the democratization of the international system, Shanghai Cooperation Organization as one of the new regionalism, Under development Parallel with the globalization.

Various aspects and areas in developing countries have always been affected by brain drain. In fact, the migration of elites is one of the challenges that these countries face. Examining the results of the effect of institutional variables, especially social capital, on brain drain in these countries can provide a suitable solution to solve or correct the problems caused by this important phenomenon and by creating an appropriate mechanism and a coherent plan for wasting human capital and skilled workers prevent in these communities. Therefore, this article examines the effects of social capital on brain drain in the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization during the years 2009-2018. The results show that social capital has a nonlinear and threshold effect on brain drain. Considering that the coefficient of social capital is positive and the coefficient of quadratic power of social capital is negative, so social capital at low levels intensifies the brain drain from the studied countries, but raising the level of social capital and passing it beyond the threshold level in society is an effect. Negative left on brain drain. By determining the threshold level in these societies and trying to promote social capital to this level, as an influential factor on brain drain, it is possible to prevent the exit of the elite in these countries.

Introduction: Trade has long been one of the main engines of economic growth and development of countries and almost all economists, economic schools and thinkers have paid great attention to it. In line with Iran's accession and considering the importance of trade development between Iran and the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), this study examines the multilateralism of Iran's trade with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, toexamines the multilateralism of Iran's trade with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for optimal use of its geopolitical position in the period of 2017-2020. Research Question: The main question of this research is: Is Iran moving towards convergence with different groups? Will convergence with the Shanghai Group help the Iranian economy? What is the degree of similarity between Iranian trade and members of the Shanghai Group? What variables are important for Iran's convergence with the Shanghai group?Research Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this research is as follows: Iran's economy is moving towards convergence with different groups. Convergence with the Shanghai Group helps the Iranian economy. The degree of similarity between Iranian trade and members of the Shanghai Group is high. The variables of population, distance and GDP are important on the convergence of Iran with the Shanghai group.Methodology (and Theoretical Framework if there are): To calculate the commodity composition of trade and the intensity of similarity of exports and imports between Iran and the eight countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization between 2017 and 2020, two Cosine indexes and the Finger-Kreinin (FK) index have been used. Also, the studies were performed using Finger-Kreinin (FK) similarity index and Cosine index as well as data panel model with random effects.Results and Discussion: According to the Cosine index, the highest value is obtained for Pakistan (0.610869) and then India (0.545614), and the lowest similarity is obtained with Uzbekistan (0.269423), Russia (0.250048), and Kazakhstan (0.221851). According to Finger-Kreinin (FK) index, the highest degree of similarity with Pakistan and India with (44.5385) and (40.51033) and the lowest degree of similarity with Uzbekistan (28.19768) then Russia (27.3071) and Kazakhstan (25.08058) is calculated. Therefore, the correlation co-efficient of the results obtained from the two Cosine indexes and the Finger-Kreinin (FK) index is clear that this value (0.86499898) has been obtained, which indicates the high correlation of the above two indices in a way that confirms the results of each other. That is, in the Finger-Kreinin (FK) index and the index of Cosine, it has a high correlation with Pakistan and India. It also has the least degree of similarity with the countries of Uzbekistan, Russia and Kazakhstan. The results panel data model with random effects showed that the coefficients of distance, population, and GDP in both models were meaningless. Population variables in both methods had a positive effect on Iranian trade and the GDP variable had a negative effect on Iranian trade. On the other hand, the distance variable in estimating the model is negative with Finger-Kreinin (FK) index and positive in the Cosine index. Interpretation of the results obtained from estimating the patterns implies that; The coefficients of distance variability in both models are meaningless, i.e. Iran's trade plan is not based on using the potential of closer countries. The variable coefficients of GDP indicate the power of the opposite country to absorb the goods of Iran, which is meaningless in both models. Variable population coefficients have been obtained in both meaningless models, i.e. Iran's trade plan is not based on the use of crowded markets and their demand. Therefore, the findings of estimating the patterns indicate that Iran has not yet revised its trade plan in accordance with the optimal use of the Shanghai Group's geopolitical opportunities. Also, real-world statistics show that China, although both in terms of population and GDP can be a good opportunity for the export of Iranian goods, has a significant role in Iran's import basket. Despite both of these advantages, Iran's supplies only 0.16 percent of the Russian economy, much less than one percent. Despite having all three geopolitical advantages of proximity, distance, high population, and high economic growth, India has a very small place in Iran's trade basket. Despite its economic strength, large population, and bordering Iran, Pakistan has not yet received much attention in the trade basket with Iran. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in addition to Shanghai Group, joint membership in ECO Economic Cooperation Group, as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, in addition to Shanghai Group, joint membership in ECO and Eurasian Economic Union as well as the proximity of distance and growing economies, have a low place in the business map of Iran. Therefore, real-world statistics show that Iran has not yet modified its trade plan to make the most of the Shanghai Group's geopolitical opportunities.Conclusion: According to the results obtained from the estimation of patterns as well as real-world statistics, both of which do not take advantage of the opportunity to join the Shanghai Group and make the best use of its geopolitical position, the following policy recommendations are proposed: 1-  fundamental revision of Iran's trade plan has been made and Iran's trade portfolio has been targeted and tracked based on the benefits of proximity, population and economic growth of countries to make the most optimal use of membership in the Shanghai Group to develop Iran's trade. 2- Iran should make efforts to complete and make good use of the south-north corridor as soon as possible, because a major part of the geopolitical position of trade with China, India, and Pakistan can be expanded with the completion of this project, especially the Chabahar port project. It can be very helpful in this direction. 3- Iran must do everything in its power to position and use the new Silk Road, i.e. the connecting corridor (one belt-one road), because this project is the most important commercial geopolitical megaproject in the current situation.

Economic integration such as SOC can prepare member states for confronting globalization in a smaller scale. On the other hand, the exact understanding of trade potentials of trade partners is one of the ways of boosting exports and imports to their optimum levels. In this study the trade potentials of SCO member countries and Iran are estimated using gravity model and panel data. The results show that in addition to GDP of the member states, the coefficent of trade potential is positive and significant. Also, Iran has not fully used its trade potentials with China, India and Russia.

Introduction: Regionalism has been introduced as a conventional model of interaction in international relations and it is also a different model of exercising power in international arena which is based on values such as cooperation, unity and peace. Regionalism has undergone a transformation since the Cold War. The classical model of regionalism was the European model and some developing countries tried to copy the European regionalism model and implement it in their regions. But the European regionalism model was based on the goals and needs of European countries and was not suitable for other regions so developing countries have designed and implemented new models of regionalism. Modern regionalism does not have the elements of the European-oriented model. Organizations such as NAFTA, ASEAN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are examples of new and different models of regionalism that have broken the monopoly of the European model of regionalism and have launched their own model of regionalism. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is one of the important regional organizations that offers a new model of regionalism, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is also a member. In this article, we examined the interaction pattern of the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the mechanisms of convergence and the challenges and perspectives of the regionalism of this organization.Research Question: The main question of this research is what is the regionalism model of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization? What are the interactive patterns and mechanisms for convergence in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?Research Hypothesis: Considering that in this research we have used the systematic exploration strategy and historical review technique, we have not presented a hypothesis for this research because the main question of this article is about the regionalism model of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the answer to this question is related to the issues objectives and existing mechanisms in the structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Therefore, the answer to such a question requires examining the structure of this organization, documents, reports and historical events related to the convergence of this organization, so in this research we did not pay attention to the hypothesis or its possible answer.Methodology (and Theoretical Framework if there are): To answer the main question in this research, the systematic exploration strategy and historical review technique have been used. In this strategy, the author does not provide any hypothesis for the main question and instead of checking the validity of the hypothesis, he directly refers to the evidence. Documents, reports, historical events, books and articles are the sources that are examined to answer the main question. Therefore, based on the historical study technique, we examined a historical period from 2001 until now, that is, since the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization until now and we examined the sources available in this historical period and we were able to identify the patterns of internal interaction, the mechanism to identify the convergences, challenges and perspectives of the regionalism of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.Results and Discussion: The findings show that since the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, two different models of regionalism have been formed in this organization. The first model was common since the establishment of the organization until 2017, we call this model "guided", in fact, the structure of this regionalism model was "2 + 4". Two countries, Russia and China, were leading four other Central Asian countries towards regionalism. Russia and China provided financial support to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and provided practical ideas and plans to strengthen regionalism. But after the two nuclear countries India and Pakistan joined this organization in 2017, the second model of regionalism began. In fact, the "guided" model was changed to the "pervasive" model. In this model, the "2 + 4" pattern has been changed and different branches have been created in the organization. The leadership role of Russia and China has decreased and each country is trying to independently use the regionalism capacities of this organization. Based on this pervasive model, Iran's permanent membership has been accepted and Turkey's permanent membership is also being considered. With the increase in the number of members and the diversity of their interests, the fields of activity of the organization have expanded and various mechanisms have been launched to strengthen convergence. These mechanisms work in different fields including security, economic and cultural. These mechanisms are the most important factors for the deepening of convergence in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization because they provide the conditions for mutual trust between the member countries of the organization and facilitate cooperation and participation.Conclusion: The conclusion of this research is that the concept of convergence has been continuously enriched and developed since the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Convergence mechanisms have become more efficient and advanced and various fields of cooperation have expanded, so the possibility of cooperation in this organization has been facilitated and the motivation for the effective participation of the Shanghai Organization in global governance has increased. The organization now has the capacity to act as a driving force for the reconstruction of the new world order, but it should not be forgotten that the organization lacks a "strong collective identity", and there are many internal conflicts among members. The different religions, languages, cultures and histories of each of the member countries prevent the formation of a common identity and the conflicts between India and China, India and Pakistan, as well as Russia and China are so deep that we cannot easily ignore them. Therefore, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization does not have a sufficient condition (strong collective identity) to achieve complete convergence, but in general, the organization has been able to maintain mutual trust among members with agreements and annual meetings of the heads of member states and joint projects. Therefore, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has the necessary condition (mutual trust) for regionalism.

Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an observer member in 2005 and the year after applied for full membership. This application raised debates among SCO members, inside Iran and outside this organization in international politics. In the positive side, Iran's geostrategic importance and huge energy resources give impetus to SCO members. On the negative side, Iran’s challenge with the West, nuclear in particular, discourages SCO members to accept Iran at this juncture because they hesitate to pretend that they are standing against United States and the West. This article studies these debates in the theoretical framework of neorealism and examines these events through historical analysis and according to their historical context. Considering the current international environment, membership of Iran in the SCO seems remote and very much depends, on the one hand on future progress of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear dossier, and on the other hand on relations between SCO members and the West.