Shanghai Cooperation Organization

This publication examines the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has often been cast as a tool of Russian and Chinese cooperation aimed at countering the West, yet has evolved to be a dynamic institution that is carving out a more diverse role in multilateral affairs. The SCO is comprised of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and has come to play an important part in representing its collective membership's viewpoint on international issues. Given that its membership includes China and Russia, it has a significant position within the international community. Indeed, the SCO appears to be placing itself at the center of the ongoing negotiation - or renegotiation - of the relationship between global and regional levels of governance.