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Judging the Future Success of the SCO
Matthew Oresman
Within the next two weeks, the lights will turn on at the new Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) secretariat in Beijing and at the new counterterrorism center (known as the Regional Antiterrorism Center, or RATS), in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. These two locations will begin preliminary operations in preparation for the official launch of the SCO in January 2004. The organization has been abuzz with work in the last several months in preparation for this event. Beginning in August with the SCO counterterrorism exercises [for details, see the September 2003 edition of the CEF Monthly], there have also been two major meetings, including one for SCO Foreign Ministers on September 5th in Tashkent and a Prime Minister’s summit in Beijing on September 23. At these meetings, the SCO member nations worked to resolve the final problems relating to the official launch of the organization. These problems included the SCO’s budget, staffing arrangements, and future development. While no solution has yet been reached on how cooperation with other non-member nations or international organizations should occur, a budget agreement was finalized.
