SCO will be the strongest and can be the best block on this world, if it will have a good and strong social policy and does not allow a disproportionate polarity of people. Then SCO will have a time for quiet work. The world of working people is in movement and call for better social system.

Sorry to dissapoint You Borec but SCO compared to NATO is like a rat compared to lion - NATO is few times more powerful in terms of economy, military and political influence than SCO will ever be. It will end in the same way as CIS - as a paper tiger no one cares about.

Brave words from a nation that is virtually bankrupt. You Poles are pathetic, like the snotty nosed brat hanging around the schoolyard bully and poking his tongue out at bigger kids. Idiot.

The above comment “from Poland” is broadly accepted attitude of contemporary East Europeans missing any experience of individual or state or even ideological sovereignty. It mostly shares the concept of Vatikan state or the illusion that one can stay sovereign on account of some environment caring for you. It is vastly irreligious holy sutra concept of real life. East Europe in entirety regards NATO as an option one can trade and fail to conceive SCO as no optional reality of what you are, being ready to stay. We in East Europe – we are simply not! …but political risk already transgressed to hazard for any environment having an own identity, which is religious by the very substance.

Our friend from Poland mentioned the power in terms of economy of the states consisting the SCO. Granted that there are countries in it with a very poor economy but including the two leading countries of the organisation is a tick unfair. Who here would say the Chinese have a poor economy when they already own half the businesses in Europe and the Americans? How much does the USA alone own the Chinese? Then there is Russia whose economy is rising extremely fast too. Then the military, funny how everyone likes to compare. Tell me would any country in this would even likely to dream of an armed conflict with China alone not even including adding the Russian military with its world largest nuclear arsenal into the equation? Its not a matter on who is stronger, more a matter of if the stronger on can survive any armed conflict with the weaker one. Therefore not likely to even try. As for political influence, while Bush was busy bombing the hell out of Iraq, the USA has already lost most influence in Latin America and the Russians have a hell of a lot more friends there then the USA.This is only an example. Even within NATO you have the Greeks that are more likely to shot other NATO troops rather then at the Russians.The Bulgarians and many others that still hold strong historical links to Russia are there too. Lets face it, you already have an Estonian NATO officer passing military secrets to the FSB, how many more are there?

Hey guys chill out, Dear Gazza - as far as I know polish GDP didn`t shrunk by 10% as russian GDP did - do the math fool. Dear Ricard - as You know it was hard to be independent under Warsaw Pact boot - eastern european countries have no alternatives than to join some kind of block - concept of neutrality is not an option. For Poland the choice between EU and NATO or CIS and some-kind-of-future-Warsaw-Pact-bis was obvious. Dear Sam - russian economy rising? Sorry to dissapoint You but 25% decline of GDP in quarter is not even considered a loss - it is a catastrophy. About comparisions NATO>SCO in all terms - sum up the GDP, number of troops, military spending and so on - You can`t blame simple equations here. If You take South America - please check which country is the biggest exporter and importer in those countries - won`t spoil it but not China nor Russia. Bulgaria is one of few new NATO countries that hold foreign bases on their teritorry - even hawkish Poland didn`t do that - this is how much love Bulgaria has for russian fears of NATO expansion. And how many FSB officers are passing secrets to NATO? It is a good thing nobody knows - this means NATO is quite professional to hide their agents and detect others (as it did in Estonia). SCO is some sort of unlikely dream for Russia that if it will team up with China then it will be a empire again :) sorry but how about China aknowledge of Abkhazia and South Ossetia? They are Your allies or not?

Wow, a Pole talking down Russia and China? China has money, Russia has natural resources, what on earth does Poland have? Does anybody even know the President or Prime Minister of Poland? As far as we all know, Poland is a puppet state that hides behind Obama's pantyhose. And if your NATO is so great, why aren't they protecting Georgia from the big bad wolf?? Do you think an SCO state would get attacked and have their territories taken away from them? Didn't think so!

The biggest power in the world, just arising is CHINA!!! NO doubt... in the next 20 years it will be the most inovative, technological and ecnomic strongest country. Either it will be SCO or something else... CHINA will play one of the most important roles in the world.

Dear lolo, Poland has mostly potatoes, cabbage and dell laptops - which doesn`t interfere in having higher income and live expectancy than in Russia. I don`t feel like living in a puppet state - which propably is a good sign even if Poland is a puppet state. When I visit Belarus I can feel that Russia is everywhere for comparision - and not to mention that Poland is much richer country than Belarus. Thank you Obama pantyhose for this comfort :). Well simply Georgia is not in NATO - so NATO does not have any obligation for Georgia. I don`t know if You are ignorant or just playing dumb. Dear Vesselin, If so - then for what China needs Russia and SCO anyway? Chinese dragon will eat russian bear because it is their weakest neighbour with lots of treasures hidden in its cave. Siberia is almost deserted with lots of resources and chinese land is poor and overpopulated. Lately Russia did sold some land for China - I wonder how many years will pass till Siberia will be sold to China as Alaska to the US?

The Chap from Poland keeps telling us how better off then Russia it is in Poland and how unaffected by the economic meltdown. Yet China's GDP growth for 2008 was 11.6% ranking 6th.Russia ranks 25th with 7.4.Poland ranks 32nd with 6.5. UK my country along with the USA was hit hardest with only 1.1 growth and that explains why the Poles are leaving the sinking ship aka the UK. As for China not recognizing the two new republics, well I guess they do not have the Slave master relations that eastern Europe seem to have with the USA.I would like to point out that several old NATO members did not recognize Kosovo. Why does China and Russia need each other? Well why does the USA need the UK and Germany? Why does SCO need Kazakhstan? for the same reason NATO needs Poland.

Yes Sam, SCO countries do not have to do anything Russia says, there is no master-slave relationship, unlike the EU-America relationship. And no, I am not dumb, perhaps I should have used a non-SCO country as an example, which would equate to the non-NATO Georgia issue. So, if NATO attacked a former soviet, non-SCO country like Armenia, take her territories away, would Russia sit and watch like NATO sat and watched last August? And, Belarus was part of Russia once, they were all soviets once, which explains their nostalgia and the heavy Russian influence. Poland has never been part of America, you live in separate continets. So explain your nostalgia for your master America.

Russians should remember the source of anit-russian sentiment in Eastern Europe. Baltic states were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary etc., were put under its influence, against their will. Denying this by Russians is the reason why their country is treated with distrust in this part of the world and is forced to seek allies among the least democratic states while trying to find counterbalance to the USA and their policy of surrounding Russia. And this is a shame, because the rest of Europe needs Russia and the other way round. It's worth remembering that Russia is much closer to Europe than to China, because of our common history.

Paszczak Says Russia is forced to seek allies among less democratic countries. Would that be anything similar to The USA aka NATO seeking allies in Georgia and Ukraine? We all know how democratic these countries are. Did not hear NATO complaining much about the way Georgia is stamping out its opposition. Why is it that the Russians have to take the blame for the evils of the USSR. Stalin who killed more Russians then anyone was Georgian, Do we hear the Russians complaining about what USSR did to them and blaming the Georgians for it? Largest part of Germany was under control of the USSR for as long as eastern Europe and they are very good friends and business partners with the Russians and we are not even counting the millions of each other they killed during the war. I guess some countries are more mature then others. You make it should that before you become an ally of the USA you have to be democratic. Do we have to go into examples of the kind of allies the USA had kept in the past or present? Maybe a Friday afternoon beheading in Saudi Arabia would remind you.

Please do no forget that America is the one that kidnaps people from their homes, takes them to Guantanamo Bay, which by the way righfully belongs to Cuba, detains them without trial, tortures them mercilessly, AND all in the name of freedom and democracy. Is this the kind of country you want Russia to be friends with??? And Russia has a huge Muslim population, and we all know that Europeans and Americans are on a mission to wipe Muslims off the face of the world, just like they did with the American Red Indians. So NO, russia does not need Europe.