Submitted by Harold Saive<\/p>\n
\u2018Samarkand Spirit\u2019 to be driven by \u2018responsible powers\u2019 Russia and China (Pepe Escobar – 9\/16\/2022)<\/b><\/span> https:\/\/thecradle.co\/Article\/ Amidst serious tremors in the world of geopolitics, it is so fitting that this year\u2019s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)<\/b> heads of state summit should have taken place in Samarkand \u2013 t<\/b>he ultimate Silk Road crossroads for 2,500 years.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n When in 329 BC Alexander the Great reached the then Sogdian city of Marakanda, part of the Achaemenid empire, he was stunned: \u201cEverything I have heard about Samarkand it\u2019s true, except it is even more beautiful than I had imagined.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fast forward to an\u00a0Op-Ed<\/a>\u00a0by Uzbekistan\u2019s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev published ahead of the SCO summit, where he stresses how Samarkand now \u201ccan become a platform that is able to unite and reconcile states with various foreign policy priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n After all, historically, the world from the point of view of the Silk Road landmark has always been \u201cperceived as one and indivisible, not divided. This is the essence of a unique phenomenon \u2013 the \u2018Samarkand spirit\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n And here Mirziyoyev ties the \u201cSamarkand Spirit\u201d to the original SCO \u201cShanghai Spirit\u201d established in early 2001, a few months before the events of September 11<\/b><\/u>, when the world was forced into strife and endless war, almost overnight.f<\/p>\n All these years, the culture of the SCO has been evolving in a distinctive Chinese way. Initially, the Shanghai Five were focused on fighting terrorism \u2013 months before the US war\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>terror (italics mine) metastasized from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond.<\/p>\n Over the years, the initial \u201cthree no\u2019s\u201d \u2013 no alliance, no confrontation, no targeting any third party \u2013 ended up equipping a fast, hybrid vehicle whose \u2018four wheels\u2019 are \u2018politics, security, economy, and humanities,\u2019 complete with a Global Development Initiative, all of which contrast sharply with the priorities of a hegemonic, confrontational west.<\/p>\n Arguably the biggest takeaway of this week\u2019s Samarkand summit is that Chinese President Xi Jinping presented China and Russia, together, as \u201cresponsible global powers\u201d bent on securing the emergence of multipolarity, and refusing the arbitrary \u201corder\u201d imposed by the United States and its unipolar worldview.<\/p>\n Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pronounced Xi\u2019s bilateral conversation with President Vladimir Putin as \u201cexcellent.\u201d Xi Jinping, previous to their meeting, and addressing Putin directly, had already stressed the common Russia-China objectives:<\/p>\n \u201cIn the face of the colossal changes of our time on a global scale, unprecedented in history, we are ready with our Russian colleagues to set an example of a responsible world power and play a leading role in order to put such a rapidly changing world on the trajectory of sustainable and positive development.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Later, in the preamble to the heads of state meeting, Xi went straight to the point: it is important to \u201cprevent attempts by external forces to organize \u2018color revolutions\u2019 in the SCO countries.\u201d Well, Europe wouldn\u2019t be able to tell, because it has been color-revolutionized non-stop since 1945.<\/p>\n Putin, for his part, sent a message that will be ringing all across the Global South: \u201cFundamental transformations have been outlined in world politics and economics, and they are\u00a0irreversible<\/em>.\u201d (italics mine)<\/p>\n Iran: it\u2019s showtime<\/strong><\/p>\n Iran was the guest star of the Samarkand show, officially embraced as the 9th<\/sup>\u00a0member of the SCO. President Ebrahim Raisi, significantly, stressed before meeting Putin that \u201cIran does not recognize sanctions against Russia.\u201d Their strategic partnership will be enhanced. On the business front, a hefty delegation comprising leaders of 80 large Russian companies will be visiting Tehran next week.<\/p>\n The increasing Russia-China-Iran interpolation \u2013 the three top drivers of Eurasia integration \u2013 scares the hell out of the usual suspects, who may be starting to grasp how the SCO represents, in the long run, a serious challenge to their geoeconomic game. So, as every grain of sand in every Heartland desert is already aware, the geopolitical pressure against the trio will increase exponentially.<\/p>\n And then there was the mega-crucial Samarkand trilateral: Russia-China-Mongolia. There were no official leaks, but this trio arguably discussed the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline \u2013 the interconnector to be built across Mongolia; and Mongolia\u2019s enhanced role in a crucial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) connectivity corridor, now that China is not using the Trans-Siberian route for exports to Europe because of sanctions.<\/p>\n Putin briefed Xi on all aspects of Russia\u2019s Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine, and arguably answered some really tough questions, many of them circulating wildly on the Chinese web for months now.<\/p>\n Which brings us to\u00a0Putin\u2019s presser<\/a>\u00a0at the end of the summit \u2013 with virtually all questions predictably revolving around the military theater in Ukraine.<\/p>\n The key takeaway from the Russian president: \u201cThere are no changes on the SMO plan. The main tasks are being implemented.\u201d On peace prospects, it is Ukraine that \u201cis not ready to talk to Russia.\u201d And overall, \u201cit is regrettable that the west had the idea to use Ukraine to try to collapse Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n On the fertilizer soap opera, Putin remarked, \u201cfood supply, energy supply, they (the west) created these problems, and now are trying to resolve them at the expense of someone else\u201d \u2013 meaning the poorest nations. \u201cEuropean countries are former colonial powers and they still have this paradigm of colonial philosophy. The time has come to change their behavior, to become more civilized.\u201d<\/p>\n On his meeting with Xi Jinping: \u201cIt was just a regular meeting, it\u2019s been quite some time we haven\u2019t had a meeting face to face.\u201d They talked about how to \u201cexpand trade turnover\u201d and circumvent the \u201ctrade wars caused by our so-called partners,\u201d with \u201cexpansion of settlements in national currencies not progressing as fast as we want.\u201d<\/p>\n Strenghtening multipolarity<\/strong><\/p>\n Putin\u2019s bilateral with India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not have been more cordial \u2013 on a \u201cvery special friendship\u201d register \u2013 with Modi calling for serious solutions to the food and fuel crises, actually addressing the west. Meanwhile, the State Bank of India will be opening special rupee accounts to handle Russia-related trade.<\/p>\n This is Xi\u2019s first foreign trip since the Covid pandemic. He could do it because he\u2019s totally confident of being awarded a third term during the Communist Party Congress next month in Beijing. Xi now controls and\/or has allies placed in at least 90 percent of the Politburo.<\/p>\n The other serious reason was to recharge the appeal of BRI in close connection to the SCO. China\u2019s ambitious BRI project was officially launched by Xi in Astana (now Nur-Sultan) nine years ago. It will remain the overarching Chinese foreign policy concept for decades ahead.<\/p>\n BRI\u2019s emphasis on trade and connectivity ties in with the SCO\u2019s evolving multilateral cooperation mechanisms, congregating nations focusing on economic development independent from the hazy, hegemonic \u201crules-based order.\u201d Even India under Modi is having second thoughts about relying on western blocs, where New Delhi is at best a neo-colonized \u201cpartner.\u201d<\/p>\n So Xi and Putin, in Samarkand, for all practical purposes delineated a\u00a0road map for strengthening multipolarity \u2013 as stressed by the final \u00a0Samarkand declaration\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0signed by all SCO members.<\/p>\n The Kazakh puzzle\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There will be bumps on the road aplenty. It\u2019s no accident that Xi started his trip in Kazakhstan \u2013 China\u2019s mega-strategic western rear, sharing a very long border with Xinjiang. The tri-border at the dry port of Khorgos \u2013 for lorries, buses and trains, separately \u2013 is quite something, an absolutely key BRI node.<\/p>\n The administration of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev\u00a0in Nur-Sultan (soon to be re-named Astana again) is quite tricky, swinging between eastern and western political orientations, and\u00a0infiltrated by Americans<\/a>\u00a0as much\u00a0as during the era of predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan\u2019s first post-USSR president.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, for instance, Nur-Sultan, in partnership with Ankara and British Petroleum (BP) \u2013 which virtually rules Azerbaijan \u2013 agreed to increase the volume of oil on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to up to 4 million tons a month by the end of this year. Chevron and ExxonMobil, very active in Kazakhstan, are part of the deal.<\/p>\n The avowed agenda of the usual suspects is to \u201cultimately disconnect the economies of Central Asian countries from the Russian economy.\u201d As Kazakhstan is a member not only of the Russian-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), but also the BRI, it is fair to assume that Xi \u2013 as well as Putin \u2013 discussed some pretty serious issues with Tokayev, told him to grasp which way the wind is blowing, and advised him to keep the internal political situation under control (see the aborted coup in January, when Tokayev was de facto saved by the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO]).<\/p>\n There\u2019s no question Central Asia, historically known as a \u201cbox of gems\u201d at the center of the Heartland, striding the Ancient Silk Roads and blessed with immense natural wealth \u2013 fossil fuels, rare earth metals, fertile agrarian lands \u2013 will be used by the usual suspects as a Pandora\u2019s box, releasing all manner of toxic tricks against legitimate Eurasian integration.<\/p>\n That\u2019s in sharp contrast with West Asia, where Iran in the SCO will turbo-charge its key role of crossroads connectivity between Eurasia and Africa, in connection with the BRI and the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).<\/p>\n So it\u2019s no wonder that the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, all in West Asia, do recognize which way the wind is blowing. The three Persian Gulf states received official SCO \u2018partner status\u2019 in Samarkand, alongside the Maldives and Myanmar.<\/p>\n A cohesion of goals<\/strong><\/p>\n Samarkand also gave an extra impulse to integration along the Russian-conceptualized\u00a0Greater Eurasia Partnership<\/a>\u00a0 \u2013 which includes the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) \u2013 and that, just two weeks after the game-changing Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held in\u00a0Vladivostok<\/a>, on Russia\u2019s strategic Pacific coast.<\/p>\n Moscow\u2019s priority at the EAEU is to implement a union-state with Belarus (which looks bound to become a new SCO member before 2024), side-by-side with closer integration with the BRI. Serbia, Singapore and Iran have trade agreements with the EAEU too.<\/p>\n
\nThe SCO summit of Asian power players delineated a road map for strengthening the multipolar world<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n