Szanghajska Organizacja Współpracy – wymiar polityczny i wojskowy
The Political and Military Dimensions of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Summary/Abstract: The author examines the political and military dimension of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which was established in June of 2001. Since its inception, the organisation has become an ever more important subject in international relations. Among its main goals are to jointly counteract terrorism, separatism and extremism, and to combat illicit narcotics, arms trafficking and illegal migration, to name just a few. The military cooperation of member countries is an important factor in this fight. Once the Shanghai Five, today’s SCO member states now interact effectively enough to have solved the most important problems following the disintegration of the USSR. This includes effectively regulating the course of the borders between the PRC and its neighbours Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirgistan and Tajikistan, as well as reducing troop numbers along the Chinese-Russian border. Issues in the rivalry between Russia and China and countering U.S. influence in Central Asia are also addressed in the paper. In the final part, the author emphasises, among other things, that today’s SCO is a powerful regional grouping that has progressively institutionalised its cooperation, that the participation of both Russia and China is fundamental to the SCO’s success, and that Central Asia is becoming an important strategic region.

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