Cold Dishes, Hot Alliances
The SCO Is serving something spicy
A big Far Side thanks to Francis, who dropped a caffeine bomb on us, causing our ears to ring. Not to be outdone, our Founding Member Timmy Taes (a great writer in his own right) Paid our Pal an exorbitant sum, paying for some software updates. Cheers to both of you. Honored to have you aboard!
Seems we stirred the pot with our piece on Darby and Scofield. Got some serious attention, not to mention a few new folks on the Far Side. The response was surprisingly favorable, so I guess folks really needed some solid background on all the insanity loose in the world right now.
Since readers in the Western world probably have little or no idea what’s really going on in the world, let’s take a trip Eastward and see how the rest of us are viewing the USrael/Trump/Nuttyahoo antics.
Folks behind the Rainbow Curtain probably didn’t hear about the meeting of Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO)’s Defense Ministers in Qingtao. Hosted by China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, the meeting brought together all 10 SCO member states’ defense chiefs—a first since Belarus’s inclusion in 2024. It was positioned as a counterbalance to rising global unilateralism and NATO’s recent summit.
On the surface, the Ministers agreed to boost strategic communication, increase practical defense cooperation, and jointly maintain regional peace and security.
The SCO is the formal designation for what most folks call the BRICS. Iran is a full member of the SCO. The Defense Ministers of Russia, China and Iran were seen whispering in the corner during coffee breaks. One guess what the topic was in those discussions.
The SCO is the rest of the world’s response to the EU/NATO/USrael threat. Some readers may not see the threat, but that’s because you aren’t on the receiving end. The SCO is quickly expanding, offers economic, cultural and military support to member states, and is headed by the world’s #2 and #3 nuclear powers. If you’re being attacked by the neighborhood bully, these are the kinds of friends you want walking home with you after school.
We recently witnessed the G7 and NATO “summits,” at which member states got together and issued joint statements of fawning mutual worship. At the same time, we saw the SCO and St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) get together and act like independent powers pursuing their own interests.
The G7/NATO represents about 1/8th of the world’s population, while the SCO represents about 1/3rd. While the G7/NATO are busy committing national suicide with bad fiscal policies, unhinged immigration, and aggressive forever wars, the SCO nations are busy creating alternative payment systems, bilateral trade agreements, and almost no military engagements (India-Pakistan and India-China the notable exceptions).
The EU/NATO has all but destroyed its diplomatic credibility over the Ukraine, and USrael pissed away the last of its creds on a meaningless and illegal attack on an SCO state. Both have exhausted their economic and military power supporting expansionism.
The SCO states are quickly becoming the go-to mediators and are attracting new partners and members with economic growth and trade opportunities, and respect for boundaries and sovereignty. More importantly, the SCO is offering nations a way out of the threat of sanctions and dollar dominance.
The SCO is not perfect, but it’s attractive to many nations dominated or marginalized by the EU/NATO/USrael club. Recent actions in the Ukraine and Iran have served to catalyze a shift to the East. Most importantly, the USrael attack on Iran has got the Defense Ministers of 10 large and important powers talking to each other about countering a perceived threat.
Add that to decades’ worth of sanctions, tariffs and blockades to maintain dominance and force obeisance, and you have the exact recipe for a major global split that may soon turn into a call to choose sides.
There seems to be a global meiosis happening, not only among nations, but within nations. Ideological chromosomes are splitting, cell walls are forming, nuclei are congealing. If we aren’t careful, we will have two distinct cultures, and given human history, that usually leads to a battle for king of the hill.
Keep an eye on the SCO (aka BRICS). The Ukraine got the world’s attention, but Iran was a swift boot in the behind. The fallout from USrael’s actions has just begun. Iran is no longer isolated, and its friends are powerful. It has no further motivation to submit to IAEA inspections, conduct transparent nuclear research, nor even to fear more sanctions. Iran is holding a lot more cards than it did two decades ago.
As Pierre Choderlos de Laclos reminds us in Les Liaisons dangereuses, "La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid." Revenge is a dish which is eaten cold, and the Iranians seem quite in control of their emotions.
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Our cinematic offering today is a powerful docudrama set in Algiers during the battle for independence from colonial France. The title, strangely enough, is The Battle for Algiers (1966). It’s raw and powerful and well worth a viewing.
Chilling our dishes on the Far Side:
E-book: Paper Golem: Corporate Personhood & the Legal Fiction
Contact Bernard Grover: bernard (at) radiofarside (dot) com
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Great article. The demographic numbers don't lie. The East is where the wealth, people, and somewhat sane leaders are today.
It's a shame, really. Western Civilization had the imagination and liberty. It was all squandered away for some idiots' lust for power and money.
Shanghaied and trying to catch up. Is there a lost & found ?