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"The meticulous study of the SCO provided by the volume edited by Fredholm ensures that the contributions make available a comprehensive overview of the institutional history and practices of the organisation.

"The meticulous study of the SCO provided by the volume edited by Fredholm ensures that the contributions make available a comprehensive overview of the institutional history and practices of the organisation.

(…) The book offers a detailed account of the organisational structure of the SCO. The vivid account depicts not only the aims and intentions of the organisation, but also illustrates the interplay between its permanent and non-permanent institutional arrangements. The picture that emerges is of an elaborate interaction between frameworks for informal discussion and regularised institutional processes. Thus, by demonstrating the complexity and diversity of institutions, initiatives, and interactions, the volume edited by Fredholm makes conspicuous that the SCO is much more than a geopolitical tool for either Moscow or Beijing.

(…) Fredholm’s collection distinguishes itself by devoting an entire section on the motivations and rationale of the individual member states of the organisation. Such a parallel assessment has definitely been missing in the literature and offers a much-needed insight into the involvement and input of the Central Asian republics in the agenda of the SCO."