Sept. 16—The leaders of nine countries, representing around 25% of the GDP of the world with over half of the world’s population, finished the two-day annual conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the historic city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Their “Samarkand Declaration” delineates a non-aligned force in the world, alive and well, determined to forge a pathway out of the tired, geopolitical morass of the London-Washington dollarized system. The necessity for the large-scale infrastructure projects, centered around China’s Belt and Road, is never more apparent, given the induced breakdown of supply chains of food and energy. And the specific necessity of recruiting national currencies to settle trading accounts has been a feature of the bilateral meetings amongst the participating countries, and also of the final conference declaration. Importantly, the curtain is being pulled back on the Wizard of Oz.