R. ANDREESHEV, Candidate of Economic Sciences HOPES AND CONCERNS OF THE ORGANIZATION'S MEMBER COUNTRIES The abbreviation SCO is increasingly used in the media when it comes to solving political and economic problems related to Asian states in one way or another. And although it is known that the SCO, or Shanghai Cooperation Organization , is a political association of only 6 countries, the influence of this "six" now goes far beyond the borders of the states that are its direct participants. For 7 years of its existence in its current form, the SCO has turned into a virtually new "center of power", which cannot be ignored not only by political" players " in the Asian space, but also by European powers, the United States, influential states of the Middle East, and other countries of the world. What is the modern Shanghai Cooperation Organization? What is the basis of its authority and political influence? What problems do the SCO member states face? What are the prospects for this organization? The answer to these and other similar questions can be found in the article published today. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a sub - regional international organization that includes six states - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The total territory of the SCO member states is 61% of the territory of Eurasia. Its combined demographic potential is one-fourth of the world's population, and its economic potential includes the most powerful Chinese economy after the United States1. The formation of the SCO was initiated by the signing by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia and Tajikistan in April 1996 in Shanghai of the "Agreement on Confidence-building measures in the military field in the area of the joint Border". Initially, the organization was called the "Shanghai Five", which follows from the above list of member states of the organization - at first there were five of them. At that time, the main factor uniting them was the c ... Читать далее