by the meltingpot: India under attack(updated)

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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.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

India under attack(updated)

Just got the news that IS gunmen infiltrated the high-security diplomatic zone in Dhaka and killed an Italian aid worker.What's making the news is not the IS itself--the location of the action is doing the news making.My point--Bangladesh is the immediate area of influence of India and India has always been saying that IS is no threat to them.

But it's not the only newsmaker inside the territory of India's immediate area of influnce.

1)Nepal.The Madhesi--the Nepalis of Indian origin are up in arms against the just adopted constitution of Nepal.Nearly 70 member strong representatives of the Madhesis did not sign on the new constitution.Rigth now,they are blockading the entire nation of Nepal.The Nepali government has resorted to petrol rationing and threatening to open the land roads to China if the blockades is not lifted.As Nepal is landlocked most of the essential items come via India and Madhesis are sitting on the route.

The verdict--India fail to safeguard its interest in another of its immediate area of influnce.

2)Maldives.It's brutal amd raw there.It's pro-India president had had a narrow escape in a bomb blast inside the boat he was travelling.We have to remember here that Indian prime minsiter had invested a lot of time and energy in visiting and befriending all these small island nations proclaiming that they are guarantors of India's interest in Indian Ocean.

It's a nasty slap on the face of India.

3)Afghanistan.Previously Afghanistan,though almost a neighbour,was not considered an immediate area of influence because of Soviet and American show of force there.But recently,India started taking intiating steps to show that it's one of its immediate area of influnce.

Now,the Taliban fighters have just overran the city of Kunduz--an attack of great symbolism because the city was the stronghold of the Northen Alliance.

Should we not take note that all these were happening while the Indian prime minister,Mr Narendra Modi was meeting world leaders to ask them to acknowledge India's rising stature.He was specifically asking them to help India in gaining a permament seat in the security council of UN.

While India's prime minister was at his diplomatic best in New York,there were those attacks inside its immediate area of influnce.

It can be taken to mean as a clear declaration of war on India.

India,through Madhesis,is blockading Nepali.So far,it's the only counter-attack from India.

Nearer home,should we expect another blockade as a counter attack from India?

Counter attack from India?Here is my earlier post to make sense of this.

UPDATE-1
01-10-15(11 pm)

Just one day after this post was published,there were series of bomb blast in China.

I'm firm in my opinion that this should not be construed as proving the importance of this blog.If it has got any importance,it is everything to do with it trying to faithfully portray the wishes of Manipuri society.That it has got such a quick response points to the fact that New Delhi is trying to reach out to some people within the Manipuri society.They are using this blog to connect with those people.To understand who these people are,we must delve deeper into the underlying historical processes that dictate the present moves and counter-moves.

The bomb blast targetted a historically very significant constituent within the Manipuri society.Agreed--influencing this constituent is not the sole aim of the bomb blast.There are other significant objectives as well.

But we are intrigued at how the bomb blast aimed to influnce this significant constituent within the Manipuri society.

The message sent by the bomb blast to the 'Anti-Pakhangba Constituent'--Playing antagonistic peripherals to the centre of the Manipuri polity is not yet a lost game--we have the resources to go for an-eye-for-an-eye---for example,a bomb blast inside China for that bomb blast in Maldives.

New Delhi is diligently courting the 'Anti-Pakhangba Constituent'.

At the moment,the 'Anti-Pakhangba Constituent' has a stark choice before them--going along with New Delhi in defiance of revolutionary tradition of Manipur or discharging their historical responsibilty by following the footspeps of those tradition.

UPDATE-2
02-10-15(3.40pm)

I made some corrections in my first update.My intent was to use some mythical figures as the symbol of Manipur's revolutionary tradition.But I now think that those mythical figures might also be taken as religious leaders.I have absolutely no intention of writing along religious line.That's the reason why I need the correction in my first update.

I sincerely apologize for this seemingly wandering off to religious lines.

by the meltingpot

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