Vladimir Putin arrived in Tianjin this weekend like a man determined to prove he still matters.

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, hosted by China and hailed by state media as a “historic moment”, the Russian president clasped hands with Xi Jinping and basked in applause from some 20 leaders, including India’s Narendra Modi.

This was no harmless talking shop. The SCO has become the most brazen attempt yet to fashion an alternative world order – one in which Beijing and Moscow call the shots, America is the villain, and democracy is a dirty word.

A stage for pariahs

For Putin, besieged by sanctions and bloodied in Ukraine, Tianjin offers a rare chance to strut on the world stage without being treated as an outcast. The Kremlin will sell the pictures back home as proof Russia is not isolated, that Western pressure has failed, and that Moscow still has friends.

For Xi, the calculation is more cynical. China has long sought to reshape global institutions to reflect its authoritarian instincts. The SCO, founded in the 1990s to combat terrorism, is now his chosen vehicle to promote “multipolarity” – Beijing’s euphemism for weakening America’s influence and writing rules to suit autocrats.

The theatre is transparent: a Russian strongman desperate for legitimacy, and a Chinese leader eager to expand his reach. Together they present themselves as champions of stability even as their armies menace neighbours and their censors throttle dissent.

India’s awkward seat

Narendra Modi’s presence at Tianjin shows just how uncomfortable the SCO makes democracies. India values its freedom to hedge: joining America, Japan and Australia in the Quad while still buying Russian oil and sitting at Xi’s table. But there is no escaping the optics. Every handshake with Putin is noticed in Washington. Every nod to Beijing’s “multipolarity” narrative risks being read as acquiescence.

Delhi insists the SCO provides useful intelligence sharing on terrorism. Perhaps. But Modi must know he is playing a dangerous game, propping up the illusion of legitimacy for a club that exists chiefly to weaken the West.

Not a NATO, but not irrelevant

Some Chinese commentators crow that the SCO is an “Asian NATO”. That flatters to deceive. The group has no mutual defence pact, no unified command, and no real capacity to fight as one. Its members range from nuclear powers to struggling Central Asian republics, each with wildly different agendas.

But to dismiss it as hollow would be a grave mistake. The SCO matters not because of its military strength but because of its message: that the West’s dominance is over, that America no longer writes the rules, and that authoritarian cooperation is respectable. In authoritarian capitals from Tehran to Minsk, such symbolism emboldens.

Economics wrapped in muscle-flexing

What began as counter-terrorism drills now doubles as a platform for pipelines, railways, and Chinese technology. Xi is tying the SCO into his Belt and Road scheme, using investment to bend countries into Beijing’s orbit. Russia, desperate for markets after being shut out of Europe, happily plays along. Central Asia, once Moscow’s fiefdom, is sliding firmly into Beijing’s embrace.

Alongside the trade come military exercises, intelligence swaps and the parade of hardware – all aimed at presenting a united front against “external interference”. Everyone knows who that phrase is meant to target.

Propaganda dressed as diplomacy

Strip away the communiqués and Tianjin is really a propaganda show. State television splashes images of Putin laughing with Xi, Central Asian presidents nodding obediently, and endless talk of “shared security”. It is psychological warfare, designed to tell the world that there is a viable bloc outside the West’s orbit.

This matters because geopolitics is no longer only about armies and weapons. It is about who writes the story of the age. America insists this is a contest between democracy and tyranny. China counters that it is between “multipolarity” and Western hegemony. Each narrative finds takers – especially in countries tired of Western sermons but hungry for Chinese cash.

The West cannot scoff

The danger is that Western leaders laugh it off. It is tempting to see the SCO as a bloated club of autocrats with nothing in common. But that complacency is perilous. The SCO is chipping away at the legitimacy of the Western-led order. Its very existence reassures pariahs like Putin that they are not alone, and gives cover to fence-sitters who would rather not choose sides.

The Tianjin summit shows that authoritarian states are learning to collaborate – not to form a coherent alliance, but to shield one another from pressure and to normalise their model of governance. It is a cartel of convenience, but a cartel nonetheless.

The real task

The West cannot counter this with mockery alone. It must show nations caught in the middle that there is a better offer than Beijing’s loans and Moscow’s cheap oil. That means serious engagement, meaningful investment, and an unapologetic defence of democracy.

The SCO is not yet a military alliance, but it is already a narrative alliance – a stage on which Xi and Putin can pretend to be the architects of a new order. If the free world shrugs, the illusion will harden into reality.