The West and The Rest of Them

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization represents almost half the world's population, and consists of countries not particularly happy with George Bush's arrogant imperial designs.

This is how the SCO describes itself on its website.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental, international organization founded in Shanghai on15 June 2001 by six countries:
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan,Tajikistan andUzbekistan.

Its member states cover an area of over 30 million km2, or about three fifths of Eurasia, with a population of 1.455 billion, about a quarter of the world's total. Its working languages are Chinese and Russian."

The original purpose of the organization was to cooperate on border problems and resolve them among the member states. With that mostly accomplished, the organization expanded its purpose to include mutually beneficial cooperation in the political, security, diplomatic, economic, trade and other areas among the five states.

At its latest meeting on July 5, 2005, the SCO added Iran, India, Pakistan, and Mongolia as observer nations, bringing the organization's informal representation to about half the world's population.

Most importantly, the SCO issued certain statements which were not particularly friendly toward the Bush regime. The SCO urged America to announce a timetable for removal of its troops from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Russia and China also issued a joint declaration entitled "World Order in the 21st Century", described as "an important document, which shows the common, fundamental Russian and Chinese views on key issues of the modern world order and reflects their common vision of the development of humanity."

The SCO also issued a statement against "international terrorism" which, in the eyes of the founding members, is viewed as a direct message to civil unrest at home. In Russia, the Chechen rebels are "terrorists." In China, the Uyghur rebels are "terrorists." The so-called "colorful" or "orange" revolts of Georgia and Ukraine are not opposed per se, but are not welcomed or encouraged either.

Cooperation between China and Russia is appropriate and reasonable given the Chinese economic juggernaut, and the astonishing growth in its need for energy to fuel itself. Russia will supply a significant portion of that fuel.

The autocratic governments of Russia, China, Pakistan, and the central Asian Republics have little interest in playing Bush's American dominion game, disguised as it is as a democracy-and-freedom ploy. The countries of the SCO have their own dominion game, with their own rules.