Is it possible to explain China's role in regional organisations with world system theory?: Shanghai cooperation organisation

Abstract

This study examines the rise of modern China and its behaviour in the international system within the framework of World System Theory. China has experienced fundamental transformations in its economic, social and political structures with its post-1978 reform and opening-up policies and has become a rising power in the international system. While the World System Theory provides a powerful analytical framework to explain the hierarchical relationships among centre, semi-periphery and periphery countries, how effective is this theory in explaining a dynamic and rapidly changing actor like China? This article argues that the World System Theory can still explain the rise of modern China and its behaviour in the international system. The research analyses China's role in regional organisations, using the example of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and how this affects the international system. In this context, it addresses the limitations of World System Theory in explaining modern China's behaviour.