1 Shanghai Cooperation Organization: A NATO of The East Adem ÖZER  Abstract By the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was dissolved, the Warsaw Pact has beenabolishedand constituent republics under the Soviet influence in Central Asia and the Caucasus emerged as independent post-soviet states. Although Russia, which did not want to lose its influence over the region, wanted to continue its influence in the region by establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States, the gap of the emerging power was honored in the interest of non-regional actors. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was established under the leadership of Russia and The People's Republic of China (PRC) and defined as the “NATO of the East” and “Western-style organization” against the unilateral world order imposed by The United States of America (USA), emerged as the Shanghai Five in 1996 and in 2001 with the accession of Uzbekistan, a political, economic and military organization has been transformed into an institutional structure. In June 2017, the characteristic structure of the organization was transformed by the membership of India and Pakistan. Among members of SCO in South East Asia, Central Asia, Near East and Europe, two of them are permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The organization harbors 4 nuclear-armed states and covers 40% of the world's population. The total limit between the member countries and the observer countries is 37 million square kilometers. Russia and PRC are among the top three largest military forces in the world. On the other hand, Russia is the energy exporter with the largest arms trade volume;while Uzbekistan,  Research Assistant, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations, ademmozerr@gmail.com&adem.ozer@hbv.edu.tr