by the meltingpot: Where are our leaders?

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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, August 06, 2015

Where are our leaders?

A day after the former chief of Federal Investigative Agency revealed that 26/11 Bombay attackers were trained in Sindh,Pakistan,one Pakistani national,who,together with a colleague ambushed an Indian paramilitary convoy inside Kashmir,was caught alive.

What to make out of this?

In a single word--planned.The above events form a part of a carefully planned episode.

They are asking India--would you dare to have an active Western front?

They are so brazen as they know well that India cannot afford to have an active Western front at the moment.Why?Because they also know quite well that India's Eastern front is about to get active sooner than later.

Now,come to the epicenttre of India's Eastern front--Imphal.Imphal is now in tumult as its residents,together with the whole citizens of Manipur,come to their slow realization that they are being doomed with the silent influx of vast numbers of people of mainland India.They know that their society would become untenable withn decades,if the current influx is not checked.

As an intrument to check this influx they would most likely get an appropriate legislative tool.To my mind,the Manupr Legislative Assemby would soon approve the legislative bill.But for the bill to become a law,it would need the assent of either the Governor of Manipur or the President of India.Sadly,the dynamics of India's politics dictate that the all important assent won't be forthcoming.

In such a scenario,the whole populace of Manipur would slowly get mad waiting for the elusive assent to the bill.The ever active rebels of Manipur would seize the momemt realizing that they are most likely facing an inflection point in the historical journey of the Manipuri people.To get the line of the inflection point curving towards their point of view,they might present the Manipuri people with a military quagmire along the Manipur-Burma border.As the people is getting mad,questioning New Delhi's sincerity,the rebels might lead New Delhi's military into a quagmire.Such a quagmire would show,without any shred of doubt,the capability or the streght of New Delhi's military.

How would the people of Manipur react to such a quagmire?If New Delhi's military is pinned down in a quagmire,would the people of Manipur still continue to beg for the all important assent to their legislative bill?

I truthfully believe that this is one of the possible scenarios which are coming to our society in the next couple of months.

There is also one very possible scenario.To my mind,the descendents of Chanakya are actually aiming for this particular scenario.

Suppose New Delhi's military pretend to walk into the quagmire planned by the rebels of Manipur.This might possibly happen in New Lazang sector along Manipur-Burma border.This does not mean that they won't carry out their surgical strike along Moreh-Tamu sector(my next last post).It's reasonale to think that they would first carry out the surgical strike along Moreh-Tamu sector.The nature of the attack dictates that they would quickly wiihtdraw to their base in Moreh.Then,they would continue their regular attacks on rebel positions along New Lazang sector.

In this scenario,we can visualize regular fightings between New Delhi's military with one particular rebel group of Manipur.

This will put immense pressure on the remaining rebel groups to do something.If they don't come out with a plausible explanation to the people of Manipur about their responses to the newly developing scenario,it would be suicidal for them.

With the scar of the surgical strike still fresh, this moounting pressure to do something might prove to be too much for some rebel groups.They would have no choice but to go deeper inside Burmese territory to set up their bases afresh.

If they choose this option,they are walking straight into a trap,so carefully laid by New Delhi.

With this option,they would come in direct contact with a particular ethnic group which is also in a dominant position along Southern moountain ranges of Manipur.Now,New Delhi would instigate the leaders of the ethnic group to carry out provocative actions against the Manipuri rebel groups.The provocations would be cunningly planned that the enraged cadres of the rebel groups within the territory of Manipur would be forced to attack the fellow ethnic members along the Southern mountain ranges of Manipur.

Actually,I think great geo-political forces are in active work to unobtrusively lead some rebel groups of Manipur to carry out ethnic cleansing along the Southern mountain ranges of Manipur.

It's very crucial moment in the history of Manipuri people.We are looking for a great leadership.

Where are our leaders?

by the meltingpot

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