Coming up to the Berlin Treaty meeting it's worth glancing at another Union, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.
'The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has a population of nearly 1.5 billion and covers 3/5 of the Eurasian continent...
Four years ago in the city of Shanghai leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan announced the birth of this new organisation of regional cooperation. The SCO makes efforts to strengthen good-neighborly relations, mutual trust and friendship between its member states; contributes to effective cooperation between its member states on economy, trade, transport, energy, tourism, environmental protection and humanitarian affairs; combats forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism; protects peace, security and stability in the region; promotes the creation of democratic, just and rational international political and economic order'.
'..the SCO has basically completed its work on mechanism [organisation] building... and establishing external ties. A recent summit in Astana outlined strategic plans, aimed at further development of the SCO, and, following the admission of Mongolia to the SCO as observer state, accepted Pakistan, Iran and India as new observers.' The United States sought observer status but was refused, as was Ukraine the last on the grounds that it is a European state.
Every year the Union strengthens: customs union, inter-Union transport, particularly highway links, energy supply and use agreements, investment, environmental protection, foreign relations, (that is Union relations with other blocs), banking, development funds, health and social welfare, human rights; by now the organisational structure from Secretary General through various councils of ministers from head of state level to interministerial co-operation, representation in discussion forums, budgets, bureaucracy, is complete.
'The Council of Heads of Government /Prime Ministers/ of SCO Member States agreed to hold its next meeting in Tashkent in 2007'.
A look at the map to remind oneself where these countries lie, and the thought that although they are more or less at the stage the European Union was in the late fifties, the speed with which the SCO has formed, developed, and established itself in only 5 years is increasing, puts Berlin into another light.
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Well spotted HG, the SCO hardly appears on anybody's screen, partly because current members are still behind anywhere full economic integration, as you rightly say they are where Europe was in the late 'fifties, partly because people automatically screen out information that does not fit with their established belief patterns.
But the potential economic integration of SCO member countries is - as you say - staggering, in view of their complementarities (oil exporters and importers, technology and cheap labour, and their geo-political vantage point), size, global connections and - last but not least - free cash, billions of dollars to throw about and buy up anything they fancy in the global market.
Watch This Space!
When Russia and China regularly have get togethers along with the former soviet asian states at head of state level, and Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia are admitted as observers, C, and their entire Union structures are all set up and budgeted for with objectives being steadily realised and further objectives then set, we ought to notice.
This Union goes from the straits of Hormuz to Russia's western borders. Afghanistan's president Karzai was at the last heads of state meetings. There have been various Union manouevres (military ones) and there is an extensive security and 'terrorist' control aspect to the organisation. It now has observer status at the UN, as a Union , not the individual states.
The invasion of Iraq obviously wasn't about WMD, didn't need the physical occupation of the territory to achieve 'regime change', but has resulted in huge and permanent US bases on these union borders. US continuance in the use of Uzbeck and other former soviet asia air bases is by no means secure; they've been told to leave at least one of them.
How many billions of dollars has China? How much of the planet's oil and gas resources are in Russia's territory? And 1.5 billion people.
HG, you ask "how many billion dollars has China?" One thousand two hundred billion dollars, at the latest count, of which three hundred billion have been set aside in a special Fund to invest productively instead of financing "global imbalances" (=USA government deficit). And Russia has set aside a slightly smaller Oil Fund to smooth their consumption if and when oil price will (?) fall.
They can buy up any global company they fancy - except that USA neocons now suddenly discover that national control over oil has priority over the market and will not let China, for instance, buy into US oil or any other assets of any importance. Market begins at home, but it is so much easier to export it.
One thousand two hundred billion dollars, at the latest count,
Eeek!
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