by the meltingpot: February 2013

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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.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Now,the battle is joined.

On the 6th of January 2013,India initiated the first fighting of the first battle of the war so slowly but surely
developing war between itself and the GRand Coalition against Nazism.

I still think that it was not a well-planned or well-thoughtout initiation by India.It seemed to happen along this
scenario--'we don't plan it--but one thing leads to another,then to yet another--then,before we know it,it just
happens'.But whatever be the actual players and circumstance that led to the actual initiation,it had actually happened and the proverbial die has been cast.On that fateful day,India's military crossed over to the Pakistani territory and killed two Pakistani soldiers.Again,I still think that students of history would have hard times trying to find out what went wrong to the legendary and much-vaunted Indian patience on that day.Of course,I do have a theory of my own but I would defer writing about it in another full post,partly beacuse I'm so hardpressed to find time because of some personal reasons.

Exactly after 30 days,on the night of 6th Feb 2013,when Indian military again crossed over inside the territory yet another neighbouring country,Burma,it was a well-planned and well thought-out operation.They targetted a bridge insdie Burma.

To cap it all,the announcement by Indian political leadership to the effect that they had already initiated the first battle of the coming war happened on the 18th of February 2013 at Khuzama,Nagaland.The political leader was Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde,the Union Home Minsiter.For so many years,they had been continously but covertly instigating the Nagas against the Meiteis.But,now that the first battle had already been initiated,there is no point in doing it covertly.So,Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde finally lifted the veil and proclaimed publicly that the Meiteis are the real culprits behind the derailment of the what they term the Indo-Naga peace talk and the Nagas should go after the Meiteis' throat--the only saving grace is that Mr Shinde made the announcement under the garb of electioneering and without naming any names with the measured tone of
typical Indian diplomatese.

Having come ths far,we are at the risk of losing touch with the actual political developments around the 6th of January 2013 and so,I would list a few of them,though I have more than 20 of them listed on my desk.

-7th Jan:China said--'As a friend of both India and Pakistan,China wants the two-between themselves- resolve the ongoing battles along their borders'.Divested of diplomatese,China said it had a stake on how India carried on its battles and wars with Pakistan.I think it's the first official utterance from the Grand Coalition against Nazism.

-10th Jan:Japanese F15s were matched,plane by plane,by Chinese J10s over the East China Sea.

-11th Jan:India sent official diplomatic demarche to Pakistan.

-11th Jan:Malis rebels were at the gate of the capital city,which prompted bombings by French warplanes and subsequent deployment of French troops.

I think what had happened in East China Sea and Mali signifies the contours of the coming war,the first battle of which was initiated by India on the 6th of January 2013.

Who would welcome war and bloodshed?But,in case,if we take it as a necessary evil needed for course correcting the stream of history,which if allowed to continue in its current course,would wipe us out of the surface of this earth,it would be best for us to get prepared for it.So, we must talk of what impact would come to this tiny valley of ours in the near terms.

1)As already been noted earlier,Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde had already publicly exhorted the Nagas to go after the Meiteis' throat.So, the likes of the tragedy of Chandel in which a Manipuri film actress was publicly molested would visit us again--but with much more intensity and frequencies.I think massive upheavals are coming in our way in the coming months themselves.

What about the long-term political fallouts?As noted in my last post,the equilibrium-enabling political space,now symbolized by the Chief Minster,Mr Okram Ibobi,got a serious beating by the tragedy at Chandel.So,the significant but struggling political space would get further squeezed exponentially by the coming upheavals.

2)Simultaneously,there would be moves to tie down many more rebel groups to what India called peace talks,as was seen during the past several weeks in Imphal.

What's amazing is that such peace talks would have outsized impact on the health of the said equilibrium-enabling political space.This political space,now dominated by Mr Okram Ibobi,in spite of its inherent corruptions and con-man like players,have,at the least,the sanctity of the ballot box-the universal franchise.But,now,by virtue of the peace talks,the players of this political space would be forced to co-inhibit with emerging power centres which would be certainly legally and conventionally indefinable,resulting in the very crisis of indentity of this crucial political space.The rebel leaders engaged in peace talks would form various power centres within this equilibrium-enabling political space and as time goes on,would,as Jawaharlal Nehru talked of the emergence of Indian National Congress,seek more and more 'elbow rooms'.

The peace talks,wittingly or unwittingly,would have the exact impact of imploding the equilibrium-enabling political space,which is likley to be already bearing the full brunt of the squeeze applied from outside,initiated by the very powerful players like the Nagas.

by the meltingpot

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Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd