The main goal of this paper is an analysis of activities, purposes, problems of the (SCO) since its inception in order to understand what is the main reason behind its creation and existence? What are its achievements and what benefits have got each member state? Is it beneficial to all members? The hypothesis is that SCO serves only its big members, it was intended to be a China’s tool to enter Central Asia without vexing Russia. The article analyzes the activities of the SCO with the existing theories in IR in order to answer these questions. The main objective of the SCO was an attempt by the powers of the Central Asia to control the region. The SCO faces problems of distrust between its members. It is a very important instrument of guaranteeing Sino-Central Asian partnership. It is also a guarantee that China will never dominate Central Asia due to many signed agreements within the organization. With more than twenty years of history and existence, the SCO may become a real force on the international arena. The SCO’s intention is to become a world power and to construct a fairer international order. The SCO has the economic potential and political will to do it.

The People’s Courts of the nomadic population of tsarist Turkestan – an important element of the “local” authorities’ structure (based on archives, legal documents and other materials)

The article considers the status and the role of “native” judicial power in the system of common local self-government bodies among the nomadic population in the pre-revolutionary Central Asia.

Characteristics of Russia’s relations with the Kyrgyz tribes in the late 18th and early 19th century

The author of the article describes Russian relations with the Kyrgyz tribes from the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. The main objective of Kyrgyz legations sent at that time to Russia was to acquire certain material goods. In relations with neighbouring powers the elders of the Kyrgyz tribes were guided by several principles. Firstly, they wanted to maintain the position of the only ruler in their tribes and clans. Secondly, to this end, the elders shifted between neighbouring powers (Russia, China and the Khanate of Kokand). Thirdly, the Kyrgyz ensured that no one interfered in their relations with the Kazakhs, with whom they shared common confession (Islam). Up until 1840s Russian politics towards the Kyrgyz tribes essentially focused on protection of merchant caravans which passed through Kirgiz lands on their way to East Turkestan. In later time Russia sought to create from the Kyrgyz territory a buffer zone between itself, China and the Khanate of Kokand.