It was a nine-day event that went by the name "Peace Mission 2007," and it took place in Chebarkul, Russia near the country's southern border with Kazakhstan. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao peered through black binoculars at their armed forces making an allied attack. On what? Empty houses that had been built to be blown up.
This wasn't the first time that the former superpower and soon-to-be superpower had played wargames before, but this was the largest display of unified power with 7,500 troops from the six countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) driving tanks across grassy fields and repelling out of helicopters, simulating an attack on a terrorist holdout.
The origins of the SCO date back to the mid-1990s, and today members (colored blue on the map at right) include: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Observer countries, and possible candidates to later join the club (colored in green): India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan.
According to Reuters, Putin said that the SCO does not serve as a countermeasure to NATO, despite the fact that "The SCO on Thursday sent NATO a thinly coded warning at its summit, saying the world must let the region resolve its own security."
It has also been said that the SCO was created in response to the threat of a US missile defense system. Interestingly, the US reportedly applied for observer status and was denied.
Considering the strained relationship between Russia and the US of late, are US and Western leaders sweating more than usual on their summer vacations this week?
