Did anyone even know there was such a thing as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization? I certainly didn’t. It seems the Organization is yet another multi-national pacts, though this one is less like the EU and more like NATO.
Well, it turns out that this group includes China (duh), Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Nations looking to join this group include our buddies Iran and Pakistan. The admission or denial of these states is at least one item on the agenda for their current meeting, happening right now. There are concerns, as one might expect, about the United States’ response to adding those members in what is at least on paper an alliance of military proportions.
It might be illuminating, when viewing world affairs, to keep this coalition in mind. For a start, it’s worth considering the fact that neither Iran nor Pakistan feels compelled to join in any similar coaltions with Middle Eastern nations. . . because of course, they are ethnically and historically separate regions.
