48% of Australian's view United States President George W Bush negatively. I doubt Putin is even on their radar.

Regrettably suave comrade Putin (eg KGB and karate specialist) will quietly have Bush "Chimpy" Jr (still tired and tipsy) for lunch.

An excellent analysis. I have a question and some doubts though. Which are the four Central Asian Republics included in Putin's Shanghai Cooporation Organisation. Particularly, does it include Kazahistan? I ask because the US has considerable influence, investment and military bases in Kazakistan. And Kazakistan is the most energy resource rich of all the Central Asian Republics.

An oganisation including Pakistan, India and China seems a little fanciful.

I understand China sources much of it's energy from Siberia so a compact between traditional enemies there is quite possible but a compact between India and China or India and Pakistan remotely possible...impossible is more likely no matter what Putin's resolve.

This is an area of foreign affairs that we as Australians should be discussing. As you suggest it could have massive impact on our region and our alliances within it.

We should be talking with our politicians to discover their policy in relation to these regions. I must admit while I have had a little interest in Central Asian affairs I have never considered it's role in the context of a re-emergent Russia and strenghthening China.

The 4 Central Asian members are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Voice of America reported on 16 August after the Summit of the 6 leaders in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan that the presidents of oil-rich Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, called for expanded energy ties among member states. Nazarbayev said the pipeline network that connects Russia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and China can serve as the basis for a common SCO energy market.

I suspect that Chinese tact is more important than Putin's resolve in shaping SCO's future, but I am sure that for the foreseeable future Putin will do all he can to support the effectiveness of that tact. It has been Putin's support of a Chinese initiative that has brought things this far.

An excellent article which gave me new insights.The US in the future cannot afford to put an intellectually challenged president in power.No matter how good the grooming or advice is,it is not a good look nor can effective bargaining be done in meetings like APEC.

Russia has vast quantities of oil and gas.Cheap energy is underpins prosperity and the US without the Middle East virtually has none.China is saving it's coal reserves and buying our coal and gas.Are we being smart in flogging off our energy so cheaply to maintain our present living standards?

Russia still remains second in global nuclear weapons and their old totalitarian ways have not given way to true democracy.India is closer to us than China or Russia as far as democracy goes and we have to be careful not to let short term economic greed take presidence over long term political stability.

"This environment will pose unfamiliar challenges for the APEC host nation, Australia. With the end of the Soviet Union, it has been inclined to see Russia as a distant nation, with limited relevance to Australia, requiring only basic diplomatic attention."

Australia, as both an opportunistic U.S. ally and China's quarry, has become inclined to see not only Russia, but most of the world as distant and requiring only basic diplomatic attention.

A century ago Australia looked soley to London, now we look to Washington and Beijing. Nevertheless, we remain a peripheral country with an overly narrow foreign policy focus.

The Emotional Life of Nations is on the table when we choose to observe the quality of our shared emotions and group-fantasies that occur in lawful stages which determine the sequence of political events.

Collective Securities and the difference between WAR and PEACE? What If economic, political and military misjudgments continue to compromise civic empowerment, how must we as Australian's position ourselves... as civilians?

Lloyd deMauses book "The Emotional Life of Nations", discussing the historical extent of War and Human Misery is another way to gaze at political behaviour revealing an untold story of how "literally billions of innocent, helpless children have been routinely killed, bound, battered, mutilated, raped and tortured and then as adults have inflicted upon others the nightmares they themselves experienced', through world of reproductive cultural-abuse making.

Find his perface: http://www.psychohistory.com/htm/eln00_preface.html

and a book review by Robert Godwin - http://www.primal-page.com/godwin2.htm

If this is Peace than 'Peace is a helluva letdown' go to "Chapter 1----The Assassination of Leaders" in the Emotional Life of Nations. Contents to the book found on - http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/childhod/chindex.htm

Can we relie today on any of our world leaders of any forum to redirect our history away from threats of War and Social Violence?

What will it take to rid our chaotic selves toward a relative or unified stage of human modernity?

If we are an archaeological road map of various personality types that have emerged through history then it is mindful to state that human progress is a function of the evolving space where one gets to view history in the making from many different aperspectives, simultaneously... if we try.

I wish the APEC forum well and hope all the effort made by civilains to accomadate its opportunity for visiting leaders to communicate constructively pays-off.

http://www.miacat.com/
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It is rather scary, but maybe this Putinised revolt is so much needed, to help bring in a bi-polar global power balance, rather than the Bush-Cheney style unipolarism we are getting fed up with right now.

BB -WA.

Putin has been working out :) they showed some 'shirtless' images of the various world leaders... Putin is clearly in the best shape of all those portrayed.

be afraid.....very afraid... *CHOP, KICK, PUNCH*

Thank you for this article. I have no way of assessing whether it is profound or rubbish, but it does alert me to the multiplicity of powerful forces at play. I suspect no statesman will be smart enough to predict the future of political alignnments and power blocs 20-30 years hence. All the worlds greats will place their bets, and one or two will chance upon the way the dice fall - and be hailed as great statespersons.
This uncertainty does not absolve anyone from taking ethical positions. However the dice may fall, we need to think in "world" terms as well as more narrow national interest.

Fencepost.

Well Fencepost ,if the rest of the left finally had your insight into the complexity of the social/economic/environmental relationships of this planet,perhaps they would seek less simplistic solutions to the world's woes.

Neither George Bush or Saddham are evil people.We all just perform within the constraints of our knowledge/ethics and cultural heritage.Saddam was the best ally the US ever had since he kept a balance of power that supplied the rest of the world energy at competitive prices.Saddham just reflected the culture that bred him.

People protesting against APEC hate the idea of economic growth.

**Once upon a time there were some smart cattle and the leader of the Bullherd, whom for whimsy I shall call John Bullard, set up a meet for all the big Bullards on the planet. They called it APEC and vowed never to tell any of the cows that it meant Abattoir Per Execution by Consumerisation. That was their secret-plan for it meant they would always be in POWER and yet worshipped by all the aspirational, democowcies, cows. Cows would eat, breed and invest in real estate till they became fat, content APEC devotees.

Of course when they were fat and the herd was full and plenty, the Bullards knew there would be no fighting for the cows would be sent to the APEC Abatoirs. Their fat real estate and share portfolios would be available to be sold by Banker repossessors at clear profit to the next boatload of skilled cow immigrants, who in turn would be fattened on APEC futuristic Consumerist farms.They called this a "Market Correction" but in reality it was just plain old "Farming".

Then one day some smart SOB ( son of a Bull) said that John Bullard was wrong. That APEC failed to understand that there were already too many aspiring, content cows. There was not enough Energy, water or environmental sustainability and that soon, with crude oil vanishing, the cows would cowmence killing each other for the right to occupy the space they stood on.

John Bullard was furious as the APEC secret was nearly in the open. He flew into a red-faces rage and castigated the SOB thus: "People who protest against APEC hate the idea of economic growth."

So now all the cows felt safe and content again and as interest rates got higher and fuel prices drifted higher they all said.:

" Mooooo, our leader John Bullard will save us by making the economy grow so we can get fatter and fatter and fatter. Animals saying that 'APEC is Farming Cows' should be shot out of Moooorris Iemma's new water cannon"

Economic growth is good for people who want to enjoy more goods and services. It does not necessarily mean more pollution or depletion of world resources. Growth in high technology, service industries - education, knowledge, art, gambling, counselling, cultural enrichment, etc etc do not necessarily imply great drain on resources.

Instead of blanket protests against economic growth, and by doing so dooming many poor people to lack of necessities, we should be promoting sustainable economic growth. Everyone a graduate, everyone an artist, everyone healthy, everyone having a jolly good time.

A lot of growth potential in my opinion.

Thank you Arjay for crediting me with some insight! The first time ever in this Forum.
But, you seem to classify me as one of the Left. I am not. Maybe in the best of all possible worlds I might be described as a Utopian Socialist. But in this present real world I am wary of all ideological positions.

Between You, Me and the Fencepost.

I think he wants to communicate .....

Mooooooooo .. (translation: - APEC is farming People)

APEC's South East Asia an Overlooked Success - Farmers who have given up a source of their livelihood, where governments had succeeded in slashing poppy cultivation are struggling to find subsistance - livilhood - an income.

Alternative economic strategics required

We ALL have the knowledge to help DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

APEC MUST PROBLEM SOLVE!

The border zone between Burma, Thailand and Laos that was once the world's most prolific supplier of opium, is still in human conflict on issues of liberty and livilhood.

Farmers have no income. More has to be done to find alternative crops and enterprises to help village farmers and their families.

Burma's "roadmap" is not working. Situation is still extremely fragile... Myanmar's 53 million people wish for support to restore civilian rule. Political roadmap needs to be as inclusive, participatory and transparent as possible.

Displaced People in Burma Call for Action and Economic Support.

Australia - HELP APEC LEADERS FIND FOCUS for VILLAGE FARMERS

http://www.miacat.com/
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APEC is farming People!

And what do farmers call things that conflict on issues of liberty and livilhood?

They call them weeds or pests.

And what do farmers do with weeds and pests?

They poison and eradicate them!

Anyone wishing the best for Burma (or Tibet) had better come up with something better than relying on APEC world governments that are bought and sold by global corporations