One Western head of state seemed to seriously process some of the implications from the successful Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting earlier this week, particularly from the attraction of the Global South for what China, India and Russia have put together. And it provoked an outburst of honesty.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb pointed to the SCO summit in China and warned: “There’s an attempt to undermine the unity of the global West. My message, not only to my European colleagues, but especially to the United States, is that if we don’t drive a more cooperative or dignified foreign policy with especially the Global South, the likes of India, we’re going to lose this game.”
Clearly, Stubb perceived a problem—and he concluded: “This meeting in China on Sunday and Monday [Aug. 31-Sept. 1] is a good reminder to all of us in the global West what is at stake. We’re trying to preserve the remnants of the old order, and that’s what it’s all about.”
