Strength in Numbers

It's hard to project power with a name like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Certainly, the 10-country Eurasian assembly, which gathered in China's financial capital last week, can't claim the brand recognition of the European Union. But the SCOwhich consists of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as observer nations India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongoliais rapidly raising its profile. The regional bloc's massive population (more than 40% of the world's total), wealth of natural resources (more than 20% of the world's oil reserves) and strategic location could give considerable influence to an alliance that is sometimes dismissed...