How Beijing is neutralising Washington’s sanctions machine
All 10 member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to mark the bloc's 25th anniversary; it began in 2001 as a club of six. This year's summit produced 27 documents alongside the Bishkek Declaration, which condemned the military strikes on Iranian territory by the US and Israel as violations of international law. At the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump asked whether he should "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly", said the United States would not join global regulation of AI and urged countries to abandon the International Criminal Court.
Why it matters: The Bishkek Declaration places ten states on record against US and Israeli military action, extending the sanctions theme from unilateral US measures to a contest over international legal authority.