BISHKEK ¨C Just a few years ago, it would have been practically unimaginable for Saudi Arabia, America¡¯s , to join an economic and security organization led by China and Russia.
Last month, however, the kingdom a memorandum of understanding granting it the status of ¡°dialogue partner¡± in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization ¡ª the first step toward full membership.
The SCO¡¯s foundations were laid in the 1980s, when the Soviet Union and China were attempting to navigate tensions over their shared border. After the Soviet Union¡¯s dissolution, two parties became five: the People¡¯s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In 2001, the so-called Shanghai Five agreed that they should move beyond demarcation and demilitarization of borders to deepen regional cooperation ¡ª and the SCO was born.
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