Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Make it Large...

Revolution is dead – henceforth, all human beings will stop indulging in politics- announced the spin doctors of globalization. Individuality dovetailed with indifference will make the forces of resistance redundant, thundered the generals of neo-liberalism. I stood in attention, almost ready to follow them. My friends told me – grow up, and move on. But my heart resisted - telling me to hold on. I refused to believe that an unequal world can be just. My sensitivities just refused to accept the logic that only a select few had the right to live with dignity  - but I did not dare to oppose them.

I packed my faith in people’s power and hid it in the deepest recesses of my heart. I had almost forgotten about the packet, until of course, the Egyptians began gathering at the Tahrir Sqaure. The mass upsurge and the unity of human beings on display made my heart pound harder. My  eyes could see the resurrection of revolution. This sudden burst of lighting was not a flash in the pan - chants of change started emerging from Greece, Portugal, London, Paris, Italy – Wall Street began getting filled up with masses.

The ‘class war’ cries in Washington made the richie-rich like Jamie Dimon, chairman JP Morgan Chase,  wail in pain- "When I hear the constant vilification of corporate America, I personally don't understand it. I would ask a lot of our folks in government to stop doing it because I think it's hurting our country". Poor Jamie is concerned – he just can’t bear to see the pus flowing out of his country’s wounds. He is complaining against vilification of the corporate but why was he quiet when the public sector and everything with a government stamp was being maligned? Jamie is nothing but a scoundrel – patriotism is his last resort to retain his privileges that he advocates denying to millions. 

Amidst abundance of positivity - yesterday I heard negative news – ‘25 Coptic Christians have been killed in Egypt.’ My heart missed a beat - Jamie Dimons’ of the world came and possessed me - whispering in my ear – “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” I immediately rushed out into my balcony for fresh air and freedom from evil, but could not shed the doubt implanted in my mind. Perhaps, Jamie is right – he and his friends will never let revolutions happen. They will successfully employ the age old tactic – divide and rule.

So, is all this resurgence of protests movements just an illusion? Will people forget this financial crisis too -  go back home and continue to weather the assault on their dignity? Will the western world once again loot the less developed world to keep their homeland calm - Will they again make colonies? Will the ethnic and religious divide in the third world deepen? Searching for answers to these questions, I looked up, saw a shooting star and made a wish – Don't allow even God to destroy the unity among masses.   

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Forget South China Sea, let’s sail to Arctic Ocean

"China wants to confine India to South Asia”, is the normal lament on television shows and seminars circuits in Delhi. While, the Indian strategic community is thrilled at the idea of discovering  South China Sea, the world is calmly moving into the Arctic Ocean - the emerging theater of geopolitical struggle. It is being widely predicted that future oil wars are most likely to shift up north.

The thawing of Arctic ice is opening up a new shipping route. The Northwest Passage from Yokohama (Japan) to Rotterdam (Holland) is about 4000 km shorter than the existing shipping routes. According to experts, “A new Arctic route between Rotterdam and San Francisco will cut shipping time by 12 days, bypassing the Panama Canal. Since the Northwest Passage traverses very deep waters, large container ships and super tankers will escape the size and volume restrictions imposed by the narrow and relatively shallower passageways of the Suez and Panama Canals. It is estimated that this alone may cut shipping freight by over 40 %.”

The gradually melting sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean is unleashing new economic avenues too. It is estimated that the Arctic has approximately 25% of the world’s oil reserves and possibly even gas and diamond. The embedded resources in the Arctic are leading to a fresh wave of competition among the major players in the world. Arctic powers Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Norway, Russia, and US - claim to share a border with the frozen Arctic Ocean. Some of these nations have claimed parts of the region to be their territory and are increasingly asserting their sovereignty seawards.

The Russians and the Norway Navies are cooperating to take charge of the likely situation in the region. Russia not only uses the nuclear-powered icebreaker ‘Rossiya’ but is also in the process of making a nuclear powered train that would able to survive in the Arctic, “where it can work throughout the winter season without additional supplies.” These modes of transport are essential for the floating ice station that Russia has been operating since 1937. In early October, the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev is reported to have visited Nenets, the northernmost corner of the Barents Region.

Beijing does not want to be left behind in the race for Arctic. It operates the world’s largest non-nuclear research icebreaker, Xue Long (Snow Dragon) and has undertaken four Arctic research expeditions, travelling up to the North Pole to conduct research. Much to the chagrin of China baiters in India, New Delhi and Beijing are beginning to see eye to eye on raising the issue of only a few countries planning to exploit and divide the global commons in the Arctic region. The former Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran posits, “There is little doubt that the developments taking place in the Arctic will have significant and perhaps even irreversible impacts on the global ecology, the global economy and the distribution of political power. These developments have so far remained off the radar in most of the world. A good case can be made for countries like India and China and other emerging countries leading an initiative to put this item on the international agenda.”
One is sure that India realizes the importance of the changing geopolitical dynamics being shaped by climate change and shall develop resources that can meet the ensuing challenges that exists much beyond the narrow confines of South China Sea.