by the meltingpot: February 2017

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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.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

The public desecration of the most valued ethos of the Manipuris on an important day

The Prime Minister of India had just publicly desecrated one of the most valued ethos of the Manipuris

Deep down in the hearts of all Manipuris there are the pure instint to love unconditionally all things related to the hills and the mountains surroudning them.The ongoing economic blockade,though slowly but surely acquiring a geo-political dimension,has its genesis in the hill-plain relationship.The last thing a Manipuri wants is to put a condition on the hill-plain relatioship.

The Prime Minister of India has just done that when he publicly proclaimed in Imphal that his political party,BJP,would end the econmic blockade if voted to power.

To my mind the Prime Minister did it fully knowing that it would trample on the feelings of the Mamipuris.To multiply the impact of this trampling he also chose a particular day in February which happens to the birthday of one of the most important rebel groups of Manipur.

Another unspoken feeling truly embraced by all Manipuris is that the ongoing economic blockade is the negation of all thngs considerd to be the values of a good human being--they silently consider it to be a crime against humnanity.The last thing they want is hearing anybody,least of all,a prime minister of the country,to put a condition on becoming a good human being.

The corollary is that the BJP Prime Minsiter of Inida had just publicly conoceded the defeat of his party in the election of Manipur Legislative Assembly.

The only reason why he was doing that so cheerfully is that he has other important thing in mind--the thing which have far more importance than a five yearly election to a State Legislative Assembly.That's why he had chosen this particular day in February.

In another sense,this is a publicly announced challenge to the rebel groups of Manipur.

The Prime Minister of India to the rebel groups of Manipur--we will continue the economic rendering the diminutive rebels of Manipur effectively option less;now is the moment for these rebels to publicly showcase an action plan to counter our move,the economic blockade.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Artificial land demands:Pema's innocence and Rajnath's 'Khilafat moment'.

Today should be a memorable day for Manipur.That is,for no particular reason,other than the person of Mr Pema Khandu,the Arumachal Pradesh Chief Minister.Suddenly,Mr Pema Khandu jumped into A-lister space,in the same league of Mr Rajnath singh,India's Home Minsiter.That is,judging by the space occupied by Mr Pema Khandu in the front page ads in Imphal dailies.

Why giving such an intriguing importance to Mr Pema Khandu?

In the present context of Manipur,election for the State Legislative Assembly is the topmost priority for everbody concerned.But even in the context of electoral politics.Mr Pema Khandu is a novice.

Then,why this intriguing importance given to him?

Let's try justaposing this question with two major headlines of today.

1)US aircraft carrier group starts patrol in the South China sea.

2)The Iraqi Prime Minister personally announces the start of offensive against Islamic State in West Mosul.

Seen in this new perspective,we can infer that Mr Pema Khandu is not merely the Chief Minister but the symbol of Arunachal Pradesh,which is an actively disputed area between India and China.Wasn't Rajnath Singh's main focus here the territorial integrity of Manipur?The flip side of Manipur's territorial integrity is the question of Naga's ancestral land,which is the covenient way of putting up artificial demands for land.By letting in Mr Pema Khandu into surreal world of A-lister political players,didn't Mr Rajnath Singh,by deed,say that the land disputes in Manipur is real and vey much throbbing with life?

Now comes another area of artificial land disputes--South China sea.Between two combatants,US aircraft carrier starting patrols there coinciding with Mr Rajnath Singh's Imphal visit is wholly appropriate.We can take it as the legitimate parrading of one combatant's military assets.

But Islamic State?

Here we hve to note that it's not the routine offesive agaisnt IS.Iraqi Prime Minster made it a point to announce the start of the offensive in person in a televised address to his countrymen.

Now,we see that all the three develpoments are the culmination of a carefully planned and well co-ordinated joint efforts of several nations spanning several continents.

But the question remains still unanswered--why drag in IS into the fighting space of two combatants where main point of contest is the artificial demands for land?

We start probing the issue by remembering the narrative of development.Whenever the issues of insurgencies of Maoist and NE come up,we immediately come face to face with the narrative of development.If there is development,there would be no issues of the two insugencies.This is the classic example of skirting the real issue by dragging in another apparently related story,here,the story of development.Did Mr Rajanth Singh just make a start in trying to skirt the central issue of artificial demands for land by dragging in the story of IS?

In trying to probe the question,we need to remind ourselves that IS is the present day embodiment of age old Khilafat movements of the Islamic world.I still remember the days in my high school life when I tried to memorize the stories of Khilafat movements.Seen in this context,there is no surprise in the emergence of IS.The only surprising aspect is the spectacular brutality of the present incarnation of the age old Khilafat spirit.

The second point is that the Khilafat spirit have no direct impact in a non-Islamic world,like,ours.We can only watch the unfolding of the Khilafat spirit in the context of its impact in the geo-political permutations and combinations affecting the relationship amongst nations in a global scale.

Despite the above facts,Mr Rajanth Singh has just dragged in the Khilafat spirit into combat area of artificial demands for land.He did so beautifully by putting the innocence of Mr Pema Khandu in sharp conrtast to his dangerous and unexplored enterprise.Can we term it as Rajnath's 'Khilfat moment'?

Just like Mr Pema Khandu symbolizing Arunacha Pradesh,Mr Rajanth Singh is a also an appropriate symbol for the Indian State.So,can we term it as India's 'Khilafat moment'?

Having come this far,we are now confronted with immediate practical issue.Would the guardians of the Khilafat spirit remain silent and inactive sensing India's 'Khilafat moment'?

Another practical issue in the near term is military one.

Once Mr Rajnath Singh effortlessly glided down to Imphal and during the same night he was staying in Imphal,nearly 50 Burmese soldiers were killed in an ambush in Kokang area of Burma.In response,there was that ambush in Paraolon in Chandel district of Manipur.If my memory does not fail me the number of Dogra Regiment soldiers killed in the Praolon ambush was 19.

Today is 19.Apparently,Mr Rajnath Singh wants everybody to remember the Paraolon ambush.

So,could we expect a military story in the near term as a direct impact of Mr Rajnath Singh's 'Khilafat moment' incorporated Imphal visit?

by the meltingpot

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