Last time ...from recollection ...when i had a personal audience with Pope Paul VI ...in 1973 (with some nuns and priests and a few pilgrims), there were still a few Catholics around in Europe ...and there were a few Sunni Moslems hanging about together in the Middle East, too ...partying regularly at meetings of their Arab League.
...now there's about 9:1 Sunnis to Shia in the Middle East ...and the Catholics of Europe, that the Arabs hate, have recently swelled in number with Tony Blair joining their ranks ...and now George Bush making overtures of converting as well. Australia is next on the upcoming tour circuit in that regard ...and maybe ...who knows ...John Howard will convert too ...then ...and join his other 2 pals.
As for the growing unity between China and Russia with joint major military manouvres ...rather than counting the numerous bodies from their conflicts of the 70's ...they seem to be developing just fine, too, in their own eyes.
