by the meltingpot: Would the Tatmadaw act as the 'transient avatar' of the pent-up geo-political energy piling up since the time of our Architects?

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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.

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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.

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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, October 05, 2021

Would the Tatmadaw act as the 'transient avatar' of the pent-up geo-political energy piling up since the time of our Architects?

Something had just happened in Bishenpur district headquarters.It has also occupied a large space in today's newspapers.

Before going further,we need to note here that there is a co-relation between the 'patriotic organization' (my last post) with Bishenpur district.That co-relation is not in the wide open area of public narrative but it will need a minimum effort to dig up a little before anybody can come face to face with it.

Having said this,we ourselves also need a little digging up! I mean--the post,entitled, 'The Tatmadaw-linked Us Capitol lockdown points to nuclear-powered drones?",dated,4th April 2021. There is the relevant portion:

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Every nation has secretly working on miniaturization of nuclear proplusion.Even some US space startups has put their money on the nuclear-powered rocket engine--they are not aiming for some distant future but ,are aiming for workable prototype within some years.

Has the Chinese beaten them all in the race of manufacturing of deployment ready nuclear-powered drones?

This is a huge question.

But if we go back to the points mentioned in (a) and (b) above,we can safely say that the possibility is quite real.

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(We need to read the whole post slowly and carefully and also follow the direction in the post itself. I think we will need a lot of patience here.Otherwise,the nuances of the intricate inter-relationship of various (but independently) occurring events and deductions obtained thereof cannot be fully understood).

Now,let's put the above re-produced portion in a canvass together with the just dug-out co-relation and yesterday's event in the Bishenpur district headquarters.What do we get?

Of course,Manipuri rebel bases along the India-Burma borders and military drones!

Thus,Delhi ruling class tells us that as soon as the attack on the leaders of the 'patriotic organization' (my last post) begins they will also commence a commensurate attack on the rebel bases along the India-Burma borders.

Having come this far,let's add another object to the mix!

Howitzers and ultra-light howitzers!!

Any newspaper reader would not miss the sudden emergence of the narrative of howitzers and ultra-light howitzers as the key to attain the Indian edge in the current military situation along the India-China borders.But that makes no sense.Because as soon as the deployment of howitzers happens on the Indian side,China will immediately seek parity by deploying their own howitzers.

Thus,they are hinting that they will use howitzers or military drones in their attack on the rebel bases along the India-Burma borders.

But,to my mind,both the howitzer and the drone are brought into the present narrative to secure a diversionary military strategic value.The actual attack might come about by utilizing proxy fighters.It's a common-place knowledge here in Manipur that some hill communities are serving as the proxy fighters for New Delhi and their role will expand in the future to come.

Now,let's jump into the scenario where New Delhi's proxy fighters are launching their attacks on the bases.Can they strike and retreat quickly enough to get everyone by surprise? Unlikely if meaningful damages are to be inflicted on the bases.There is likelihood of a much prolonged operation.The main reason for this is that civilian leadership in New Delhi is likely override military commanders to make that point.The present civilian leadership in New Delhi is likely to gravitate towards area of 'irrationality' when it comes to safeguarding the dignity of the 'patriotic organization'.They would most likely insist on inflicting considerable damages on the bases--come what may.

This prolonged operation is sure to attract the attention of the Tatmadaw.How will Tatmadaw react?

In the present situation,it is very likely that the Tatmadaw would embark on a hot pursuit of the New Delhi's proxy fighters.They will cross the international border and undertake military operation well inside the Indian side of the international border.To enable this, they will most likely use howitzers targeting strategic points well inside the Indian side of the international border.

How can all these possible in the present day 'stretched' condition of the Tatmadaw?

The answer is that the Tatmadaw would act as the 'transient avatar' of the pent-up geo-political energy that has been slowly but surely piling up since the time of our Architects.

To my mind,every military strategist and security analyst would be caught off guard by the ferocity of this pent-up geo-political energy.

by the meltingpot

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