A delegation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has held talks with representatives of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS, London) on the margins of a major security gathering in Singapore, underscoring the bloc’s growing engagement with leading global think tanks. According to a report published on the official SCO website, sectsco.org, the meeting focused on key issues of regional security, economic cooperation, and the evolving architecture of Eurasian and Indo-Pacific affairs. The contacts in Singapore highlight the SCO’s efforts to deepen dialog with influential analytical centers beyond its traditional geographic sphere, at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions and shifting strategic alignments.
SCO delegation engages with International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore to deepen security dialogue
During a working visit to Singapore, representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held substantive consultations with experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, focusing on current security dynamics across Eurasia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. Discussions centred on emerging threats, including the misuse of digital technologies, the evolving landscape of counter-terrorism efforts and the implications of great-power competition for regional stability. Both sides exchanged assessments on how multilateral mechanisms can better respond to complex, cross-border challenges and agreed that sustained expert-level engagement is essential to anticipating risks and preventing escalation.
The meeting also explored practical formats for future cooperation between analytical centres and regional organisations, with attention to sharing research, organising joint events and enhancing dialogue between policymakers and the strategic studies community. In this context,participants highlighted several priority strands of interaction:
- Regular policy dialogues on strategic stability and confidence-building measures.
- Expert workshops on countering terrorism, extremism and transnational crime.
- Collaborative research projects on digital security and critical infrastructure protection.
- Track 1.5 conferences linking officials, scholars and practitioners from member and observer states.
| Key Focus Area | Planned Format |
|---|---|
| Regional security trends | Annual strategic briefings |
| Counter-terrorism | Thematic expert roundtables |
| Digital and cyber risks | Joint analytical reports |
| Confidence-building | Policy recommendations to member states |
Key themes of the SCO IISS consultations regional stability counterterrorism and great power competition
The exchanges in Singapore underscored how the evolving security landscape across Eurasia is increasingly shaped by overlapping crises and shifting power balances. SCO representatives and IISS experts examined how fragile ceasefires, unresolved border disputes, and the weaponisation of energy and infrastructure projects are reconfiguring risk across Central and South Asia. Particular attention was given to the security vacuum in Afghanistan and its ripple effects on neighbouring states, with both sides stressing the role of regional formats in preventing local flashpoints from escalating into broader confrontations. In this context,the dialogue highlighted that sustainable stability depends not only on traditional security guarantees,but also on coordinated economic connectivity and resilient governance structures.
On security threats, the discussions focused on the persistence of transnational militant networks, their exploitation of digital platforms, and the financial pipelines that sustain extremist cells. Participants explored options for more granular intelligence-sharing, joint capacity-building, and coordinated responses to radicalisation narratives, noting that counterterrorism is becoming inseparable from cyber resilience and border management. At the same time, analysts from both sides assessed how sharpened rivalry among major powers is reshaping strategic calculations within Eurasia, with competition now extending into technology, critical minerals, and standards-setting. Key strands of the conversation included:
- Cross-border security: aligning surveillance, crisis hotlines, and deconfliction mechanisms along sensitive frontiers.
- Counter-radicalisation: sharing community-based approaches, including education and online monitoring frameworks.
- Economic statecraft: evaluating how sanctions, export controls, and investment screening affect regional integration.
- Military posture: tracking the impact of new basing arrangements, joint exercises, and defense modernisation on the regional balance.
| Focus Area | SCO Lens | IISS Lens |
|---|---|---|
| Regional stability | Confidence-building among neighbours | Risk of crisis escalation |
| Counterterrorism | Joint operations and data-sharing | Disruption of global networks |
| Power competition | Protecting strategic autonomy | Mapping shifts in influence |
Insights from London based IISS experts on Indo Pacific dynamics and implications for SCO member states
Drawing on field research and high-level dialogues across Asia, London-based analysts underlined that the strategic seascape from the eastern coast of Africa to the Western Pacific is being reshaped by overlapping security architectures, technology races and infrastructure corridors. They noted that SCO members now operate in an environment where naval posturing in the South China Sea, competition over digital standards, and the militarisation of supply chains increasingly converge. According to the experts, the states best placed to navigate this turbulence will be those that can translate continental connectivity into maritime influence, while avoiding entanglement in zero-sum alignments. Key themes highlighted during the exchanges included:
- Maritime chokepoints and their vulnerability to geopolitical shocks
- Dual-use infrastructure linking ports, rail and data cables
- Energy transition routes for LNG, critical minerals and green technologies
- Risk of bloc fragmentation in trade, finance and digital governance
| Priority Area | Expert View | Relevance for SCO |
|---|---|---|
| Sea Lanes | Need for shared situational awareness | Joint naval dialogues and exercises |
| Digital Corridors | Emerging fault lines in data regimes | Coordinated cyber and data standards |
| Supply Chains | Search for redundancy and resilience | Integration of Eurasian and Indo-Pacific routes |
| Crisis Management | Gap between power projection and rules | Use of SCO platforms for de-escalation |
For SCO members, the discussions underscored both heightened exposure and expanded agency. Analysts stressed that Central and South Asian corridors can function as stabilising “middle spaces” between competing security blocs, provided they are backed by credible conflict-prevention mechanisms and obvious investment norms. The meeting identified practical avenues for cooperation with research centres and think tanks to refine early-warning tools, align risk assessments and feed evidence-based analysis into ministerial tracks. In this context, IISS specialists encouraged the development of:
- Regular scenario-planning workshops focused on naval incidents and sanctions shocks
- Shared databases on critical infrastructure along emerging economic corridors
- Joint policy briefs on de-risking trade without fragmenting markets
- Track 1.5 platforms linking officials, scholars and industry on Indo-Pacific issues
Recommendations for strengthening SCO analytical capacity strategic partnerships and policy coordination based on Singapore talks
Building on the exchanges in Singapore, the SCO can elevate its analytical depth by establishing a joint research agenda with IISS that focuses on emerging security trends, regional economic corridors and the impact of technological disruption on stability. This could be operationalised through shared data hubs, co-authored policy briefs and periodic scenario-planning exercises supported by mixed teams of SCO analysts and international experts. Targeted capacity-building programmes-including secondments, scholar-in-residence schemes and short executive courses-would help SCO structures assimilate global best practices while retaining the organisation’s distinct regional outlook.
- Launch SCO-IISS analytical fellowship schemes to rotate young researchers through both institutions.
- Create secure digital platforms for real-time exchange of open-source analysis and policy updates.
- Institutionalise annual policy dialogues in Asia’s key financial and strategic hubs, including Singapore.
- Align research outputs with SCO priority areas such as counterterrorism, connectivity and digital governance.
| Priority Area | Proposed Mechanism | Expected Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic Foresight | Joint scenario workshops | Shared early-warning insights |
| Policy Coordination | Thematic task forces | More coherent SCO positions |
| Capacity Building | Exchange programmes | Up-skilled analyst network |
| Public Outreach | Co-branded reports | Higher global visibility |
Policy coordination could be further reinforced through synchronised policy calendars and more structured engagement with national think tanks and foreign ministries of SCO member states. Drawing on the Singapore talks, the delegation can pilot issue-specific coalitions-for example on maritime security or critical infrastructure-where IISS and regional partners act as neutral conveners and knowledge multipliers. A more integrated communications strategy, featuring joint briefings to media and stakeholders, would ensure that analytical findings translate into timely, actionable guidance for decision-makers, thereby reducing policy fragmentation and amplifying the SCO’s voice in global governance debates.
The Way Forward
As the SCO continues to broaden its external engagements, the Singapore discussions with the International Institute for Strategic Studies highlight a pragmatic effort to deepen analytical dialogue beyond the organization’s traditional geographic and institutional partners.By placing issues such as regional stability,counterterrorism,and economic connectivity at the centre of its exchanges with a leading global think tank,the SCO is signaling its intent to test its ideas,policies,and priorities against a wider spectrum of expertise.
Whether these contacts evolve into more structured forms of cooperation will depend on how both sides translate this initial round of talks into sustained,working-level interaction. For now, the meeting in Singapore underscores a shared recognition that the complexity of contemporary security challenges demands not only intergovernmental coordination, but also informed, autonomous analysis-something both the SCO and IISS appear increasingly prepared to pursue together.
