Eric Walberg: SCO Versus Bilderberg: Where are REAL Decisions Being Made?

While the so-called Western elite gathered in picturesque St. Moritz to analyze our pressing world crises, the "outsiders" met in the bleak steppes of Central Asia. Last week's (SCO) - 10th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Kazakh capital Astana highlighted how the REAL rivals to empire, led by Russia and China, who are also "rivals", are trying to fashion an alternative to US hegemony. The SCO is the only major international organization that has neither the US nor any close US ally among its members, and its influence is growing across Eurasia. Leaders of member states Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan were joined by leaders from observers: Iran, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Mongolia. Belarus and Sri Lanka have been admitted as dialogue partners, and prior to his arrival in Astana to attend the summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the Ukraine. With a Chinese rhetorical flourish, the "Astana Declaration" stressed the goal of combating the "three forces" of "terrorism, extremism, and separatism". The summit called for a neutral Afghanistan, without US bases, supported by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, even as the US is actively discussing a post-2014 strategic partnership agreement with him. The prospect of permanent US military bases in Afghanistan lies at the core of current US-Pakistan tensions. To top it off, India has indicated its aversion to a "New Cold War", to allay tensions appearing in the region. Russia and China fear that the US plan to establish permanent bases in Afghanistan lies at the core of current US-Pakistan tensions, and India has indicated its aversion to "new cold war" tensions appearing in the region, while Russia and China fear that US plan is to establish permanent bases in Afghanistan, while India has indicated its aversion to "new cold war" tensions appearing in the region. China is clearly the power behind the SCO, offering the region much more economically than Russia, but the common will of all is to keep the US at bay. The high-flown words about peace, regional security and cooperation were for the press and Obama. Behind closed doors, the attending leaders discussed their growing concerns about how the Arab Spring might impact the region, particularly Central Asia's most populous state and harshest dictatorship - Uzbekistan. Another topic at the SCO meeting was how to move toward a new world currency, one NOT established by world bankers at secret Bilderberg meetings, but openly by the major world resource and population centers. A healthy supranational currency is needed, and a return to some form of gold standard would be one of the options.