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SCO: More than a talking shop, just
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is developing fast. But what it is becoming depends on which member you ask, writes NJ Watson
JUDGING by August's summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and the scale of the war games held afterwards in the Urals, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has now developed military, as well as political and energy, dimensions. The SCO has become much more than what was originally envisaged when it was founded in 1996 to help maintain relations between China and four former-Soviet republics – Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – which had occasionally fought border conflicts. The group has since grown in number, adding Uzbekistan as a full member and Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia as observers. "Comparing the results of the annual summits shows a steady expansion of topics of political co-operation and discussion," says Marcel de Haas, an analyst at The Power and Interest News Report (PINR), a consultancy specialising in conflicts. However, analysts say the SCO is unlikely to become a full-fledged political-military security organisation – ...Click here to continue reading SCO: More than a talking shop, just
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