ABSTRACT
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is China's first major attempt at creating a multilateral institution. The SCO held its 15th summit in Ufa, Russia, on 9 and 10 July, 2015, at a time when Russia's relations with the West were particularly acrimonious given the Ukrainian crisis. The SCO summit immediately followed the BRICS summit held in the same city, which brought together the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The declaration of the 15th SCO summit emphasised that the member states attach great importance to the consolidation of the global governance systems formulated after the end of World War Two, in particular the United Nations. Observers have paid special attention to three major measures achieved at this summit: strategic planning for the SCO for the next decade, the first enlargement of the organisation, and organisational bridging between China's Silk Road Economic Belt and the Russian-dominated Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
