Shanghai Cooperation Organization Forum

Vladimir Putin "..the SCO Forum that was created not long ago and unites representatives from various professional and academic circles will also play an important role. It is destined to become a unique nongovernmental mechanism that unites experts from the Organisation’s member states."

Foreign Affairs Minister of the People’s Republic of China Yan Jiechi: “For the last two years the Forum has organized various types of exchanges, discussions and bilateral events, conducted a comprehensive exchange of information and opinions, and offered various proposals. By supplying state agencies with useful proposals and the bases for making decisions, it has significantly helped foster the development of the SCO. The Chinese side values it highly.”From a speech at the Third session of the SCO Forum, May 19, 2008, Beijing, PRC.

The SCO Forum

1. General Information
2. SCO Forum Meetings  
3. Research Centers Studying the SCO
4. SCO Materials and Publications
5. Media Reports about the SCO Forum

   General Information

The Forum is a many-sided, non-government, consultative-expert tool created for the assistance and scholarly support of SCO activities, and to develop cooperation between  research and political science centers of SCO member states, conduct joint research on pressing questions within the Organization’s sphere of reference,  articulate the tasks and principles of SCO activities, expand its ties to scholarly and social groups, as well as to encourage the exchange of opinions between scholars and experts in the fields of politics, security, economics, environment, new technologies, and in humanitarian and other areas. The Forum bases its activities on the principles of the SCO Charter, on the laws of SCO member states, and on its own Regulation. The Forum works in close cooperation with the SCO Secretariat, the Council of National Coordinators and the Foreign Ministries of member states.

The Forum was constituted on May 22-23, 2006 at a meeting held at the MoscowStateUniversity for International Relations. Each SCO member state uses its own criteria to designate one authoritative research institution to be included in the Forum’s structure. Those institutions hold the status of NationalResearchCenter of the SCO. At present, the following institutions have the status of NationalResearchCenter – Member of the SCO Forum:

1.     International Institute for Modern Policy (Republic of Kazakhstan).

2.     China Institute for International Studies 

3.    Institute for Strategic Analysis and Assessment under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (2)

4.     Center for East Asian and SCO Studies at the Moscow State University for International Relations

5.     Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan 

6.    Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan 

The main tasks of the Forum are:

– to establish communications and the exchange of experience and research materials between research and political science centers and institutions of higher learning of SCO member states and observer states, as well as with other states and organizations interested in cooperating with the SCO in various fields;

– to conduct research and prepare materials providing analyses and forecasts, and to make recommendations concerning specific areas of SCO activity in order to increase the effectiveness of the work of the Organization;

– to participate in project appraisals within the framework of multilateral cooperative SCO programs;

– to prepare and conduct international symposia, seminars, conferences, round table discussions and other events dealing with questions of interest to the SCO;

– to publish materials related to research and activities carried out under Forum aegis.

SCO Forum Meetings

The Forum conducts annual meetings. The membership of national delegations is determined by the National Centers and includes the most authoritative SCO experts from various institutions in each member state. As a rule, invitations are also extended to representatives of the SCO Secretariat, Foreign Ministries and diplomatic representatives of member states, groups of experts from SCO observer states and SCO dialogue partners, as well as other interested states. The location for each successive meeting is determined by the Russian alphabetical order of the names of the SCO member states. The director of the National Center of the SCO member state hosting the Forum serves as Forum chairman from the day the previous Forum meeting ended until the closing of the next Forum in that particular state. The Forum chairman represents the Forum at all levels.

1.      First meeting. May 22, 2006. Moscow, Russian Federation. Materials, constituent documents.

2.      Second meeting. Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan, June 15, 2007. Materials.

3.      Third meeting. Beijing, The People’s Republic of China. May 19-21, 2008. Materials.

4.      Fourth meeting. Cholpon-Ata, The KyrgyzRepublic, May 18-19, 2009. Materials: list of participants  (1),(2),(3), the Protocol of the Fourth Meeting of the SCO Forum (1),(2),(3).

Research Centers Studying the SCO

• Center of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
• Center for Strategic Studies of North-Eastern Asia and SCO in the RAS Institute of Far Eastern Studies
• Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences
• China Institute of Contemporary International Relations
• Russian Institute of Strategic Research
• Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KazISS)
• Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies, Fudan University Institute of International Studies
• Euro-Asian Social Development Research Institute, Development  ResearchCenter of the State Council
• Center for Political Studies, Uzbekistan
• Russia Research Center, East China Normal University School of Advanced International and Area

SCO Materials and Publications:

1. Russia's Presidency of the SCO. 04.05.2009.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. A.Borodavkin,15 April 2009. 
3. Official documents of the Russian MFA.
4. Flemming Splidsboel Hansen, The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation: Probing the Myths
5. Leonid Moiseev: philosophy of the SCO gets positive resonance in the world.
6. Publicatons of the Center of East Asian and SCO Studies of the MosocowStateUniversity of International Relations, MFA of the Russian Federation.
7. SCO Secretariat.
8. SCO Business Council.
9. SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).
10. SCO Interbank Consortium.
11. SCO 2009 Yekaterinburg Session.
12. Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.
13. InfoSCO Website (Russia).
14. SCO Regional Economic Cooperation (China).
15. Official Website of SCO Summit.
16. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: Towards a full-grown security alliance? Marcel de Haas.
17. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Alyson J. K. Bailes, Pál Dunay, Pan Guang and Mikhail Troitskiy.
18. “Renmin Ribao” online, 29.08.2008
19. The SCO’s momentum towards a mature security alliance. Dr Marcel de Haas.
20. The EU should not ignore the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. By Oksana Antonenko. May 2007.
21. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
22. Sznajder, Ariel Pablo. University of California Press, May 2006.
23. Oresman, Matthew. National Defense University Press, August 2004.
24. Gill, Bates and Oresman. CSIS Press, August 2003.
25. Baris Adibelli. IQ Publishing House, Stanbul, 2007.
26. Yom, Sean L. (2002). Harvard Asia Quarterly 6 (4) 48-54.
27. Alexander Lukin, Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Russia in global affairs, 08.08.2007.
28. Alexander Lukin, Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Interview.RT. 09.07.2007, 14.10.2009.
29. Stakelbeck, Frederick W., Jr. (8 August 2005). FrontPageMagazine.com.
30. Daly, John. (19 July 2001). Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor.
31. Colson, Charles. (5 August 2003). Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
32. Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (24 October 2005). The Heritage Foundation.  
33. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute. By Stephen Blank "Iran and the SCO: a match made in Dushanbe or in Moscow?" (30.04.2008); By Marat and Asel Murzakulova "The SCO seeks energy cooperation, but problems remain" (21.08.2007)
34. IDN-InDepthNews. Afghanistan: NATO, SCO or PATO? Analysis by Eric Walberg. 23.04.2009.
35. Alexander Cooley "Cooperation gets Shanghaied". December 14, 2009.

Media Reports about the SCO Forum:

• Inaugural meeting of the SCO Forum was held on 22 June in Moscow…
• SCO Energy club: Asian strategy of the winners…
• Financing of multilateral cooperation projects was in the focus of the SCO Forum 3rd Session…
• Participants of the SCO Forum 3^rd Session paid tribute to the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan province…
• “Shanghai Spirit” promotes development…
• SCO experts discussed perspectives of overcoming the crisis
• RIA-Novosti holds international round table in the form of video conference Moscow-Beijing on the topic: “SCO – climate of trust and information security”
• The Jamestown. Russia sees SCO as potential energy cartel. 04.12.2006.
• Al-Ahram weekly on-line. "NATO, SCO or PATO?" Issue № 944, 23-29 April 2009.
• http://www.chinaview.cn/  Economic cooperation high on SCO summit agenda: Russian scholar. 14.06.2009.

• CCTVcom. Dialogue. SCO & BRIC gain momentum. 17.06.2009.