| Summary/Abstract |
Now in its 21st year, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) finds itself in a period of transition. The organization has successfully completed its first round of expansion, altering the global and regional political landscape. As a result of this expansion, the organization has encountered some functional difficulties that include drafting and implementing important decisions. The SCO's authority in the global arena has thus grown, but coordinating the positions of all members of the organization and seeking consensus is now laborious. The administrative status of the organization's secretariat must be raised and its powers expanded in order to make its operation more effective. This article proposes a rethinking of the decision-making format that reflects the changing correlation of forces within the organization after its expansion, in light of objective difficulties in reaching consensus.
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