by the meltingpot: March 2014

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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.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Malaysia's hijacked plane and India's doctrine of relative truth

They are saying that hijacking a plane with hundreds of innocent people on board is bad and condemn-able but under some circumstances(like the still shifting geo-political fault lines) it is quite ok.

It is just like saying that the Armed Forces(special Powers) Act 1958 is indeed a black law and highly condemn-able but under some circumstances (like the present situation in Manipur) it is quite ok.

They are the classic examples of the throbbing vitality of Indian's social doctrine of relative truth.

This doctrine was invented to perpetuate and strengthen the Indian social dynamics which is based on highly regressive and archaic law of Eugenics.In its social application it is pure Eugenics and such a society in its political expression should have a widely and clearly visible manifestations of Nazism in its pure form.But a clever application of this doctrine of relative truths imparts an admirable flexibility to the whole system,which,for example,enable it to have a strange but workable co-habitation of a social system based on Eugenics and a political system based on universal franchise.

So far,the international community has had the interactions with the multi-faceted manifestations flowing out of this political system based on universal franchise.

Hijacking of the Malaysian jetliner(1/3 of its passengers being Chinese) is the first instance whereby the Indian social dynamics based on Eugenics is projecting its image to the international arena.They are now on a new turf.For centuries it have been ravaging the geographical area as defined as Indian Sub-continent and a shift in the geo-political fault- line has forced this regressive Indian social dynamics to override the presently shaky but still universal-franchise-based political superstructure and thus, reveal itself in the international arena.

Seen in this light,there would be a clash between the regressive Indian social dynamics based on Eugenics and the rapidly modernizing social values of South East Asia and Asia Pacific.

But to accuse a State of hijacking a passenger plane is in the realm of conspiracy theory.But as the still developing situation show,there might be more than one State involved in the hijacking.It is quite reasonable to infer that they would need only a brief jamming of Pakistani radars to get the plane to Turkmenistan(China has a rebel group aiming to establish an East Turkemenistan).And,it's quite reasonable to think that the radar-jamming technologies might have found their devices installed,however briefly,in Afghanistan.

But still.why should we waste out valuable time in a conspiracy theory?

To answer this question,we have to go back to the 13th of March 2014.And,the place of our interest is Imphal.

They have the temerity to do something with natural disaster on a 13th day!More than that,the day before, the guys from New Delhi,in a press conference,held in place no other than the seat of power in Manpur,the Secretariat complex in Imphal,grandly announced that 2 lakhs people would be hurt and 37 thousand people would be killed!Some kind of mock drill indeed!!

Reading between the lines,it's quite clear that New Delhi,under the guise of a mock drill,was issuing threats to Manipuri society.They are effectively saying to the larger Manipuri society--

--'Beware,you will get hurt'--.

Psychological warfare,isn't it?Let's say it is one in micro level.What about the macro level?Of course,the hijacking of the Malaysian jetliner.

Even if the hijacked jetliner did not reach Turkmenistan or it was crashed in Indian Ocean,the objective of the mission has already been accomplished.The mission was clearly another psychological warfare aimed at China.They want to send out the message that even though you have your much vaunted 'string of pearls' with their attendant listening posts,we have just snatched away a wide-bodied jetliner from under your own nose.So, your 'string of pearls' is impotent?Look, we have even flown the wide-bodied jetliner right inside the core area enveloped by your 'string of pearls'!!Still proving impotent!!Like this,they can continue ad nauseam.

Seen in this light,it is quite clear who planned the hijacking of the Malaysian jetliner and,more important,where did the planning take place.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Would Telengana trigger a bipolarity in Indian polity?

Telengana--the word instantly carries us towards the spectacular dispaly of what Indian parliament is--a horrible hegemon.We also saw the Telegus deploying every trick in the book of parliamentary democracy to fight that hegemon.Now,do they realise that they had not been wielding the appropriate weapon to fight a hegemon?

It is likely that the unprecedented turmoil and ferment they are facing now are driving them to seek for 'something' to guide their future plans.

Now,the most startling question--

Would SM Krishna provide the Telgus the direction towards which they are most likely to find that 'something'?

Well,we have in SM Krishna a startling story.As far as I can remember,they brought him as the foreign minsiter of India during the process for scouting of talents at the State level leaders.Because Manmohan Singh cabinet was so bereft of talents.I also think that the general perception of SM Krishna is that he is suave and capable.Even than,he was so quietly dropped from the cabinet.At that time,I thought that he was re-assigned to State level politics to fight off the main opposition,BJP.

When that did not happen,I began to ask myself--'what's happening?'The paucity of talents in the Manmohan Singh cabinet intensifies as the time goes on.Then,why such a talent like SM Krishna was dumped so mysteriously?

Then,I suddenly remember how SM Krishna brought the then Chinese foreign minister to Bangalore.The Chinese foreign minister was even bedecked in traditional Kannadiga attire!

Was it that SM Krishna sometimes talked to his Chinese counterpart as a Kannadiga leader?WAs it that such a talk between him and the Chinese foreign minster being perceived as a threat to the power centre at New Delhi?Was it the 'startling'situation which led to the mysterious dismissal of SM Krishna?

If SM Krishna is a political outcast right at the moment,then I think all the above questions are silently but forcefully answered.

Is he a political outcast now?

I have no idea.I can't get the nuances of the State level political scenario sitting here at Imphal.So,I have to admit that it's mostly my hunches and gutfeeelings.But for my own blog they are good enough to let the streams of my thoughts flowing down uninterrupted!!

So,SM Krishna has got that 'something' that show the way of how to chart the Kannadiga's future course of action vis a vis the powers centres at New Delhi and Beijing.And,that's game changing.

Now,if we re-focus our thoughts towards the neighbouring Telegus,we come face to face with startling situation--the Telegus,right at the moment,are searching for that exact 'something'!

Here,we repeat our question--

Would SM Krishna provide that 'something' to the Telegus?

Here,we have to note that history might have chosen the person of SM Krishna to act as a conduit to get that 'something' across to his larger society.As such this idea might have started entering into the inner circles of the Kannadiga social and political elites.If that's the case,then,its only the matter of time before it also start travelling towards the neighbouring societies.Right at the moment,the Telegu society is at its receptive best.

All these lead us to think that we are seeing the contours of two emerging 'hotspots',besides the already existing one in the Tamil's land.Three 'hotspots' in a contigouos row constitute very significant developments,to say the least.

If we add the person of Sharad Pawar to this developing stew of three 'hotspots',we get a very strong recipe for the emergence of a competing pole to the power centre of New Delhi.To my mind,the cosmopolitan elites of Mumbai is very crucial to its emergence.The DNA of these elites of Mumbai,unlike that of provincial Chennai,is out and out cosmopolitan.Till date no provincial political aspirations emerging out of Maharastra,for obvious reasons,has not been able to carry with them these Mumbai elites and as such,all these political aspirations cannot have any traction.And,Mumbai cosmopolitan elites,for their parts,have been content with providing the leadership to culutre and finance spheres.With Sharad Pawar's last shot at the prime ministership,the Mumbai elites,for a change,might apply their collective minds to find ways to rumble through the nitty gritty of reaching that goal.In this process,a germ of an incipient thought might be implanted in their collective minds--'Why the North have been producing the leaders of the likes of Mulayams and Mayawatis?'(As we considering the emergence of multi-polarity in Indian polity,the symbols in the persons of a Jawaharlal or a Indira are very significant.But the elder son of Indira,when faced with the crucial crisis in the Delhi Sikh pogrom showed off his innermost self--a small mind.Thus,he decisively crushed the family legacy of providing the symbol of India's unity.Seen in this light,Indira's grandson does not even come into the picture).

There is every reason to expect that germ of an incipient thought might blossom into full growth and with that we might also see the gradual realization on the part of these elites that the collective 'provincial'aspirations of Maratha,Tamils,Telegus and Kannadiga would no longer be a proincial one.And the job of providing leadership to this collective political aspiration would no longer be a provincial endeavour.

To my mind,far too many things are happening at their right moments--unknowingly,we might be staring at a great inflection

point in history.

by the meltingpot

Now Reading!

Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd