by the meltingpot: End of the hiatus?

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Indeed, what is at work in the recent return of realism is the revenge of geography in the most old-fashioned sense. In the 18th and 19th centuries, before the arrival of political science as an academic specialty, geography was an honored, if not always formalized, discipline in which politics, culture, and economics were often conceived of in reference to the relief map. Thus, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, mountains and the men who grow out of them were the first order of reality; ideas, however uplifting, were only the second.
And yet, to embrace geography is not to accept it as an implacable force against which humankind is powerless. Rather, it serves to qualify human freedom and choice with a modest acceptance of fate. This is all the more important today, because rather than eliminating the relevance of geography, globalization is reinforcing it. Mass communications and economic integration are weakening many states, exposing a Hobbesian world of small, fractious regions. Within them, local, ethnic, and religious sources of identity are reasserting themselves, and because they are anchored to specific terrains, they are best explained by reference to geography. Like the faults that determine earthquakes, the political future will be defined by conflict and instability with a similar geographic logic. The upheaval spawned by the ongoing economic crisis is increasing the relevance of geography even further, by weakening social orders and other creations of humankind, leaving the natural frontiers of the globe as the only restraint.
So we, too, need to return to the map, and particularly to what I call the “shatter zones” of Eurasia. We need to reclaim those thinkers who knew the landscape best. And we need to update their theories for the revenge of geography in our time.
Here is the link for the whole write up.

Now at 2nd place

My view is that relations between countries in the coming decades are most likely to reflect their cultural commitments, their cultural ties and antagonism with other countries rather than other factors. Quite obviously, power will continue to play a central role in global politics, as it always does. But usually there is something else behind conflicts. In the 18th century in Europe, the issues to a large extent involved questions of monarchy versus the emerging republican movements, first in America and then in France. In the 19th century, it involved states identifying themselves through nationalism. In the 20th century, ideology came to the fore, largely, but not exclusively, as a result of the Russian Revolution. We had fascism, communism and liberal democracy competing with each other. Well, that’s pretty much over. Liberal democracy has come to be accepted, in theory at least, around the world, if not always in practice. So the question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades? My argument remains that cultural identities, antagonisms and affiliations will not only play a role, but play a major role in relations between states. The full interview is here.

This is the 3rd

Every citizen in the City of Richardson will be able to access 756 Kbps of internet connectivity for free, from anywhere in the city. They will be able to access the internet from their homes, schools, restaurants and parks using standard wi-fi connections which are now installed on almost every notebook computer. That is almost as fast as many so-called high speed broadband connections that one pays dearly for today, and several times faster than the various hotspots at your local coffee shops. And I should note that the tax-payers of the City of Richardson are not paying one penny for this, and in fact are going to see additional revenues as a benefit. ... At the beginning of this letter, I suggested that this would be one of the fastest worldwide rollouts of a technology ever seen. It was just 20 years ago that the first cellular systems were being built. The rollout for mesh wireless systems is going to make that look slow. There are several reasons I make this assertion. But they all center on the facts that installing mesh systems will be cheaper and easier than any previous system and the economics in both the developed and especially the developing world will be so radically compelling. Throw in the fact the any astute politician will want to be at the front of this parade (They will all want to say, "I was the man who helped bring free internet to everyone!") and the groundwork is laid for rapid deployment. In Richardson and elsewhere, MeshLinx is offering the basic infrastructure for free. This avoids all the time consuming, political budget battles in the cities. When a service is offered for free, much of the mandated competitive process is eliminated. Next is the low cost of installation of the system. As noted above, Richardson is a city of roughly 100,000 people living in 27.4 square miles. It will "only" cost about $2,000,000 today to lay the wireless blanket I mentioned above. It will cost a great deal less in the future, as MeshLinx is building the pods at a pace of 100 a month today. The maximum output of the US pilot assembly line is 500 a month. When the demand exceeds this (and it will in a very short time) discussions have been held to move volume production to China. Of course, the world will need tens of millions of pods. The cost for a pod will be a fraction of today's cost, with that installation number for a city like Richardson soon being half (or less) the cost of today. What does that $1 or 2 million get you? The infrastructure to be an internet connection, telephone, security, entertainment provider and a whole lot more company. As noted, it will get cheaper as the number of pods being made each month rises, thus lowering their costs dramatically. This technology does have scale. The cost of physically putting up a pod is not a large part of the equation, as you simply need to run a power line, attach a few bolts to a mount on the side of a building or light pole and then off to the next point. Think about the 40,000 homes and businesses in Richardson. If and (hopefully) over time when 10% decide to pay $50 a month for 10-20 Mbps high speed internet access you could see a revenue of $2.5 million a year just from internet access. Now add in all the other income possibilities (phone, entertainment, security and don't forget advertising revenue on the free service!). Think about your town or country. What would service like this be worth? If you are a small city that does not have high speed connections available, how many businesses that could bring jobs do not come your way because they need reliable communications for their work and their employees? If you are in a developing country, where internet access is difficult and expensive, it will open whole new vistas. Couple that with the various programs which want to give cheap laptops to kids in poor countries, and you could see significant social progress in a generation. Here is the link.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

End of the hiatus?

The Manipur Police Commandos has done it again. They cooly arrested a young man from the house of his brother in law and shot him death in cold blood.

It happened in Thoubal district 2 days back.

If my memory serves, it's the first time the Manipur Police Commandos has reverted into its lawless mould since the suspension of the 5 months long class boycott. Here, in my blog, it need not be reminded that the 5 months long class boycott was initiatred in protest against another of such shooting down of an arrested person in the middle of Khwairamband Bazar in broad daylight.

Outwardly, it may seem to be just another ghastly case of those 'policemem going trigger happy' or another of those 'fake encounters'.

But it is not.

In my mind, it is a well-planned act of cold-blooded murder with a sinister intent of sending out a devilish political message.

Here's how it is.

I think we can believe the murdered man's family when they said that he was a former cadre of a rebel group but he discontinued working for it for sometime now. Actually, he was a tiller of the land to eke out a living for his family.

The rebel group to which he belonged is widely believed to have the so-called 'Meetei revivalism' in its agenda.

And, it's very crucial, 'Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba' is in the top spot in the work in progress program of the so-called Meetei revivalists.

So, it's clear that some sophisticated but evil minds in the upper power echelon of the State Government decided that the front pages of the newspapers of the day of 'Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba' should be splashed with the news of a slaying of a 'Meetei revivalist'.

Seen in this light, the intent of this murder goes beyond the boundaries of the usual narratives of the Rebels vs the Police or the Rebels vs the State--it's a well-thought out plan to redraw the present society of Manipur with a casteist and divisive brush and hence, to pit one section against the another.

But,does this episode ends here now?

The answer is a big NO.

Another 2 days later , suddenly China again started talking about the boundary with India, though,outwardly,in a positive tone. They are saying they are willing to work with India to solve the boundary issue.

Again, if my memory serves me, it's again the first time since the suspension of the 5 months long class boycott when China started talking about the boundary issue with INdia.

It would be foolish to brush aside it as some some kind freaky coincidence. It's following a pattern.

Here's how it does.

Immediately after the first case of documented murder of an arrested person by the Manipur Police Commandos in Khwairamband Bazar, China raised a hue and cry over the boundary dispute with India. They even raised objection to the official visit of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to Arunachal Pradesh. They openly said that Arunachal Pradesh is actually Western Tibet and so, a de-facto part of China.

After the suspension of the 5 months long class boycott, China kept mum.

I had already said that this suspension of 5 months long class boycott is only a hiatus in the long drawn out political stalemate.(My next last post).

During this hiatus, the ruling class in Delhi had already announced the raisning of brand new 26 batalians of Assam Rifles, wich,for all practical purpose (leaving aside the legaistic smokescreen) is an active part of India's military.

They have also looking for suitable land for a brand new Air Force base here in Manipur.

And, most importantly, they are still letting the Manipur Police Commandos to kill innocent and arrested persons, as seen in the murder of an arrested person in Thoubal district 4 days back.

Then, China suddenly started talking about boundary dispute with India.

Isn't it the case of a clear pattern?

Then, the Manipur Police Commandos might have initiated the chain of events that would mark the end of the ongoing hiatus.

by the meltingpot

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Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd