Saint Petersburg summit builds the SCO’s formal legal framework

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...

The member states signed an agreement establishing the RATS framework to coordinate information and counterterrorism work. The agreement institutionalized security cooperation; its broad remit makes...

The member states’ Moscow declaration argued that no country could address terrorism, narcotics and other cross-border challenges alone. The declaration strengthened cooperation while raising the...

The declaration supported cooperative international action rather than unilateral responses. Its language of multilateralism challenged claims that security policy should be set by a single dominant...

The summit continued to define the SCO as a regional coordination forum and emphasized political consultation among its members. The organization’s influence rested on consensus among governments...

The Charter entered into force after the member states completed the required procedures. The SCO now had a binding constitutive instrument governing its institutions and stated purposes, creating a...

At the Beijing meeting, heads of government adopted a long-term programme for multilateral economic cooperation. It named transport, trade and investment as fields for coordination and imagined a...