The Shanghai Spirit: A New Vision of World Order Challenges the West

A new “Shanghai Spirit” is challenging the Western-led world order. Embodied by the unity of India, China, and Russia at the recent SCO summit, this spirit promotes a multipolar vision of global governance that has been met with alarm in the United States.
American commentator Van Jones described the summit as a “historically big deal,” seeing the bonhomie between the leaders as a sign of a “new world order.” He warned that the image of Modi, Xi, and Putin united in purpose is a “chilling” one for a West accustomed to setting the global agenda.
This new vision is gaining traction as a direct response to US unilateralism and its tariff-based economic strategy. The SCO is emerging as a key platform for countries to coordinate their efforts to build a global system that is less dependent on Washington.
Jones argued that this has left the US strategically isolated and on the “bad side of the triangle.” The West is now “in a box,” he stated, facing a cohesive and powerful bloc of nations. This new reality, where “it’s everybody against us,” is a fundamental threat to Western interests.