The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): An evolving platform that should not be overlooked

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, afterwards expanding to nine members. At its launch, it declared ambitious aims to foster security and economic cooperation. Yet in the two decades since it has had relatively limited success. In the security realm, it has produced statements about furthering cooperation on countering terrorism, separatism, and extremism, and coordinated annual military drills, but has done little to address regional security crises. Economically, it has helped to facilitate lending, trade, and cooperation between members, but other economic aims have not been accomplished. This ineffectiveness of the SCO can be attributed to the divergent interests of its members. Recently, however, there are signs that they are coming more into alignment. This could mean the SCO will become a more significant organization in the future.