SEATTLE — In the wake of the Russian military incursion into South Ossetia and Georgia in early August, the Russian government has looked far and wide for support. As Russia's European neighbors discussed economic sanctions and both U.S. presidential candidates spoke of naked aggression, Russian leaders looked to their partners in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for moral support.
By coincidence the annual SCO summit took place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, three weeks after the commencement of hostilities between Russian and Georgia, and two days after Moscow recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. If Moscow was hoping for recognition of these two rump republics — if not overt support for Russia's military actions — then the response they received in Dushanbe had to have been disappointing.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attended the Dushanbe summit, where he hoped to rally the support of the organization's core members, especially the Central Asian states that once formed part of the Soviet Union. If a public show of support from China could be had, all the better.