Six heads of state establish the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The five heads of state signed the Dushanbe Declaration, identifying the need to transform the Shanghai Five into a regional structure for multilateral cooperation across several fields. This marked a...

The summit endorsed mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and social stability, and opposed interference framed as humanitarian or human-rights protection. These positions asserted...

Uzbekistan’s president attended the Dushanbe meeting as a guest, foreshadowing its later accession to the organization. Its inclusion reflected the importance of Central Asian states’ own diplomatic...

The leaders’ meeting concluded the consultations that called for a wider multilateral structure. The subsequent formation of the SCO in 2001 built on this transition agenda rather than appearing...

The five participants accepted Uzbekistan into the consultation framework ahead of the Shanghai summit. Its participation widened the grouping beyond the original five states and brought a major...

The founding declaration said the SCO was not directed against other states or regions and described openness to dialogue and cooperation. This self-description complicates later portrayals of the SCO...

The six states linked cooperation to political multipolarity and globalization, presenting the organization as a way to increase their influence in international affairs. A decolonial reading...

The founding moment placed the so-called “three evils” at the center of regional security cooperation. These terms were politically consequential: they could address real cross-border violence, yet...

The six member states signed the SCO Charter, setting out the organization’s objectives, principles, bodies and working procedures. The Charter gave legal form to a regional institution built on...

The SCO Charter recognizes sovereign equality, territorial integrity and non-interference. These principles respond to histories of foreign domination and intervention, while their use by...