The issue isn’t simply anti-Westernism. A new global order is needed. But this order won’t be the order of Russia, China, India, Iran, and North Korea. The crony capitalism and statism of the Shanghainese, in the face of the West’s neoliberal order known as the Washington consensus, is like being caught in hail while avoiding rain. And the hailstones are large enough to dent the hood of a car! Let’s elaborate a bit. The 25th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), held at the beginning of September, was generally greeted with disdain in the West. Most notably from Trump. Addressing Xi on social media, Trump wrote, “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un as they plot against the US.” He lamented that we have lost India and Russia to a deep and dark China, adding, “May they have a long and prosperous future!” He added. Personally, I can't say "amen" to this wish.
The SCO is, of course, a challenge to the post-World War II global order. That is, it's a challenge to the order the US shaped around the IMF, the World Bank, the GATT (now the WTO), and NATO. But this challenge isn't an ideological counter-project like the Soviet bloc's. Neither Xi Jinping, Putin, nor Modi have a holistic and coherent vision of how the world should be. They're more concerned with "let's play a little." Because the West doesn't accept this, it turns up its nose at the SCO. But it also fails to see that the current order has collapsed and needs to be replaced by a new one.
The challenge to the current global order is easy to understand. Every country wants to raise the living standards of its citizens. Yet, the number of countries that have overcome the middle-income trap can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Everyone boarded the industrialization train, but now that train has left the station. The new locomotives are digitalization and artificial intelligence. Getting rich by selling goods to the West was difficult before. With Trump's second term stifling globalization, it has become even more difficult. The issue isn't just the rise of tariffs; it's the chaos and uncertainty that dominate world trade. During this period, global trade and growth will weaken compared to the past. This is driving countries to seek better opportunities for their citizens. If the West isn't a center of attraction with its economic performance, technological superiority, military power, and even democracy, where will the new center be? It's possible to see the SCO meeting as a reflection of this search.
The SCO accounts for 43 percent of the world's population and 34 percent of global GDP (PPP). While the world's average growth rate was 3.3 percent in 2024, these countries grew by 5.4 percent. The military parade held to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II became an opportunity to showcase China's military and technological might. Both China and India are experiencing impressive economic growth. India is even projected to become the world's third-largest economy by 2028. It's expected.
SCO countries also want to reduce their economies' dependence on US markets, credit, and the dollar. The establishment of a SCO development bank to develop alternatives to the dollar and provide infrastructure and trade financing is also on the agenda. If this were to materialize, it would shake the foundations of the current global financial architecture. But the SCO hasn't had a stellar track record to date. Attempts at cooperation among SCO members have been fruitless. The key determinant has been bilateral relations. It's a kind of "we created a joint WhatsApp group, but no one's writing about it."
The "new, democratic, just, and rational order" in the SCO's official texts sounds wonderful. Expressions like "mutual trust, equality, respect for the diversity of civilizations, neutrality" are also heartwarming. If someone unfamiliar with the countries and their leaders read it, they'd say, "Here's the dove of peace we've been waiting for." The point is this: the post-World War II order cannot be saved; we've woken up from that dream. The real question is, can the rules and institutions of a truly democratic, just, and rational new global order be created? What Neither Washington's neoliberal hyperglobalization nor Shanghai's state capitalism… Another alternative is possible.
