Vancouver

A new message from the other side of the world  

A new international organization promises to restate the future of national behaviors and norms  

By Christian J Knopf  

The SCO should be top of mind for every conscientious citizen in the Western hemisphere, but chances are you have never heard of it. The SCO is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which consists of a consortium of states including Russia, China and various smaller states from Central Asia. Also on the guest list for a recent June 15 meeting were Iran, Mongolia, India and Pakistan, whose full-fledged memberships to the organization are being discussed.

The SCO is powerful organization. It was set up five years ago as an outgrowth of a previous arrangement that sought to increase border security and confidence between member states. Its function then morphed to include a wider array of issues such as: cooperation in political affairs, economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education and energy. The kicker, and the reason we must all pay attention to it today, is the organization also seeks “the creation of a new international political and economic order.”

The SCO is an international organization with diverse functions. It has made news in the past when it helped to force the ejection of the US from a military base in Uzbekistan, where it had been set up since the beginning of the Afghanistan war.

For the small states of Central Asia, the SCO is a mechanism that allows them to balance investment opportunities and political relationships in the context of economic and security competition between Russia, China and the US. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are each burdened with living near the Caspian Sea, hence they have the curse of owning valuable energy resources. For them, SCO has a different function.

For the larger states, China and Russia, the SCO acts as an important chess piece in a greater geopolitical context, as it serves to assert new norms of behaviour for countries in the international arena. Some observers of the organization have focused on micro issues, such as regional security, which are reminiscent of a former era once called “The Great Game,” an era when Central Asia became the hapless forum for the struggle between great world-power nations. Other commentators stress energy competition. Today, however, the issue is globalization, and at issue is the important question of how we expect each other to behave in the new realm of international relations.

To that end, on June 15, the SCO made a joint declaration stating: "Differences in cultural traditions, political and social systems, values and models of development formed in the course of history, should not be taken as pretexts to interfere in other countries' internal affairs."

This declaration is quite pertinent in its own right, though let us consider a few non-extraneous factors. The first, China’s foreign policy, holds firm to the dictate that when it does business with other countries, it will not force them to alter their domestic practices. China is popular throughout the world, and the West, with our traditions for reforming them, is not. Second, both China and Russia are supporting Iran in its right to develop nuclear technology. This issue is being framed in terms of one nation’s ideology and superposition of values onto another. Iran is being considered for membership in the organization. It was invited to the recent conference as an observer.

The issue of Iran has become synonymous with the bad international reputation of the United States. Where the West is trying to prevent nuclear proliferation for good reason, our actions are perceived in the same vein as if we were bombing a country to spread democracy. The president of Iran is a good statesman and holds sympathetic ears, where for the West, distinctions in our different foreign policy objectives are not being perceived. However, the message from the SCO has much more to pronounce on besides the issue of Iran, including international behavioral norms.

Chiefly, what gives the SCO weight is that the participating governments in the organization, should they grow to include prospective members, would hold more resources than NATO, while representing over half the world’s population.

The joint declaration may sound like something that has been said before and may even sound like a post-colonial message restated. But if there is a difference between the past and the present, it is the unity being displayed as the message is given, and the legitimate means by which it is conveyed.

Some fifty years ago, the norms of the international system were created and announced by the victors of WWII. Today, we must listen to the words of this new organization who ask us to change again, and yes, it does mention Canada. Yet it is important that, while we change, we still hold true to our values.