World Political Dynamics

WORLD POLITICAL DYNAMICS

NEED OF REORGANISING THE UNO

The United Nations Organisation was formed to bring about peace in the world. It is increasingly failing to fulfil the objective in the present complex world. It is an organisation without a voice to support its will, and a voice without power to support it like its predecessor, the League of Nations that had been set up after the First World War. The League of Nations then functioned akin to the present-day United Nations Organisation and badly failed to prevent the Second World War. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru respected the UNO and honoured its call for ceasefire while Indian army was successfully pushing Pakistan soldiers back from Kashmir in 1947 and in the process, lost half of Kashmir to Pakistan by declaring ceasefire and kept the irritating Kashmir issue alive to this day. No doubt, by listening to the United Nations Organisation, he had increased the prestige of India but it resulted in the main cause of the dispute between India and Pakistan. But the calls and resolutions of the UNO and its Resolutions are ignored as a rule by other countries. Absence of its own armed forces to force its resolutions and its complete dependence on other countries, particularly the United States of America, rendered it weak. Increasing the number of members of the Security Council to include rising powers of the world in deciding the world affairs may bring some initiatives and energy to the world body.

MILITARY ALLIANCES

Military alliances are very common these days. Many wars have been fought in the world in recent past. Countries in war need to team up with other countries to win the war. Military alliances are important for two reasons: political and moral support, and military and tactical support. Even in the Mahabharata, the sides that fought the war, that is, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, fought it with the support of allies, who enhanced their power. The need of allies is acute in conflicts in modern days. The shrinking world with the explosion of communication and transport facilities makes symbiosis foundation of the modern living. The famous declaration of a renowned mathematician turned philosopher of the 19th century that “Everything is everywhere at all times” holds more true for the material world of the present day. Everything everywhere in this world is interlinked. The world is developing into a huge net of inter-connections. Nothing occurring in one part of the world escapes the other part of the world. Wars and peace, constructions and destructions, successes and failures, falls and rises, riches and poverty, progress and new findings, all have a cascading effect throughout the world. Interests of nations are becoming inter-related. First and Second World Wars are World Wars because of this phenomenon. Both Allies and Axis Powers fought the wars as conglomerates of nations almost dividing the world to two opposing blocs. Later wars like the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq War and Afghan War prove this need of alliance between warring nations of the present world.

Even the Cold War of the two superpowers from 1950s to 1990 was not an exception to this compulsion. The world was almost divided to two blocs supporting the United States of America representing developed capitalist countries and the Soviet Union representing the Communist alliance. The only distracting influence against the trend at the time came through the institution of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) by the triumvirates of India, United Arab Republic and Yugoslavia by the initiatives of their leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, Nasser and Marshal Tito. The very fact that NAM had only partial success in world affairs and at its death throes now proves the futility of the nonalignment in the present world. No country is a friend or foe permanently in politics and diplomacy. It is all a matter of self-interests and security of a country. India played close to the USSR till the latter disintegrated in 1990. Soviet Union was really a loyal friend of India in those decades with liberal political, diplomatic, military, scientific and economic helps to India. India survived all international pressures for decades in Kashmir issue and recurring Indo-Pak wars only because of the dependable support of the Soviet Union. The perceived stance of the United States of America regarding Indo-Pak issue and its readiness to treat India with an exception with a nuclear deal are moving India closer to the United States of America. It is always the national interests that guide a country to decide with whom to ally and against whom. India is not an exception to this. The status of the United States of America as the only super power of the world added to this slant. Not that India is totally allied with any one country. Such a stance is against all annals of wise diplomacy. It is keeping its options

open. It is conducting joint military exercises with the United States of America as well as with China. It is seeking special relations with various countries in the name of axis like India-Brazil-South Africa Axis and India-Russia-China Axis et cetera apart from being member of various world bodies and groups to strengthen its standing. India has got a powerful enemy in China and a headache in Pakistan. India is in need of powerful military alliances with the United States of America against the ambitions of China in Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh, and with Russia against the ambitions of Pakistan over Kashmir to fight it politically. A balanced move between is the diplomatic need of India.

THE EUROPEAN UNION

European Union is a Union of select European nations, admitted only on majority consent of the existing members of the Union. L’ union fait la force. This is the principle that brought most developed nations of Europe together to form the Union. Its Initial purpose was economic and trade cooperation and open boundaries among the member nations. In spite of rivalries and conflicts of interests among the member nations, the European Union made considerable progress not only in economic and trade cooperation, but also in showing common front in important world issues, thereby extending their cooperation to the political front also. Consent for a common currency, Euro, for the member nations is a great step in consolidating their position as the member states of the European Union. European Union as a bloc has grown as a powerful economic force in the world in the span of a few decades, a force to reckon with and poses serious challenge to the dominance of the American

economy in the world.

It now forms the main pillars of the world

economy with that of the United States of America and China.

The common cause of the European Union in favour of the Kyoto Protocol is an example of the unity of purpose developed in the Union in a span of a few decades. It produces around 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions and agreed to a cut of 8% 1990 emission levels. The European Commission announced plans for a European Union energy policy in January 2007 for a unilateral 20% reduction in GHG emissions by 2020. The EU has consistently been one of the major nominal supporters of the Kyoto Protocol, negotiating hard to get wavering countries on board.

The success of the European Union has led to other nations of the Europe aspiring for the membership of the European Union. Turkey even though is a Muslim country is trying to become a member of the EU. But there is resistance to this move. East European countries are also eager to make common cause with the European Union. But, admission to the European Union is proved to be not easy involving circuitous processes and majority consent of the existing members. European Union believes in certain identity for itself based on history and culture. This bars open admission to the European Union. Most notable members of the European Union are England, France, Germany and Italy. All these four nations are historically rivals of each other. England and France, France and Germany, Germany and France, Germany and England, Italy and France, so goes on the list. The rivalries show up even now in their political differences to the world issues. England was a reluctant member of the European Union in the beginning. France and Germany repeatedly clash on economic

and political issues. Yet, European Union has succeeded in retaining its unity and common front to the world with its unique identity all these decades. It is not an ordinary accomplishment in the complex political world of today. The spirit of accommodation shown by these countries for the commune bonum of Europe and its people and their economic prosperity needs emulation by all other countries of the world. Because, L’ union fait la force. Joining together is the only road and means of prosperity inconceivable by individual efforts of nations. Joining together leads to the shedding of enmity and rivalry and forges friendship and cooperation for the common good of the all mankind. The European Union has shown a rather firm and good response to the different crises that have struck the world over the last few years. Climate change has become a very important topic and it has also been found that the EU has been tackling this crisis rather well. Another rather important crisis that the EU has tackled rather well has been the economic crisis. Thus, the EU must take a rather important role in world politics in order to rid us of this trouble that it is striking and irritating our world. The EU is very big geographically and economically and thus must take the leader’s role in eradicating these crises from this world. However, this will not prove to be an easy task and the EU must work hard in order to take the initiative and maintain it. Under the Presidency of Sweden over the next few years, the EU will try its best to resolve the problems that are facing it and the world. The Swedish Prime Minister is very determined to make a very strong message and stand during this time in which Sweden has the Presidency of the EU.

The EU will have to take the steps needed to resolve the economic crisis. The member countries will have to work with each other and must set up an administering body and must also not dabble in protecting their own economies at the expense of others, as this will only in the end make the situation in the world worse than it already is. The other crisis is that of climate change is also something that all the countries will have to work together on. The EU must some how co ordinate attempts made at resolving this crisis too. The European Union has not taken much initiative in this regard till now and thus, it will not at all be an easy task to push forward now, but Sweden is determined to make its Presidency a memorable one. ISLAM IN WORLD POLITICS

Islam is a religion that was founded about fifteen centuries back by the holy prophet, Mohammed. Now, Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity in the number of people who follow it. Islam is an aggressive religion. It believes in global brotherhood of Islam and spreading the teachings of holy Prophet Mohammed for enduring peace in the world. Islam does not differentiate between the concepts of nationhood and religion. It is the reason why Muslim majority countries tend to declare themselves as Islamic countries as opposed to the global trend of calling themselves as secular countries. The concept of Islamic Brotherhood and the aggressive nature of Islam as a religion are at the back of the rising militancy and unrest in the present world. Rabid militancy in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, problems in Kosovo, Chechen militants fighting

for the liberation of Chechnya in Russia, problems at Xinjiang in China are all symptoms of this. The United States is at the crosshairs of the Islamic militancy. By the popular doctrine known as the Eisenhower Doctrine of 1950s, the United States decided to befriend and use Islamic countries for oil and to neutralize the Communist USSR. It relentlessly continued with the policy and generously poured money and weapons to Pakistan to create Taliban to checkmate Soviet Union and gain control over the resources rich Central Asia. The present troubles in Xinjiang are an extension of this policy in the circumstances of the gas pipe project passing through Russia and Xinjiang in China. If the theory is true and the Special Forces of the United States of America succeed in its Machiavellian maneuvers, the focus of Islamic militancy and Taliban may

soon

shift

to

Central

Asia

from

Afghanistan.

Talks

of

accommodating Taliban in Afghanistan are the harbinger of this shift in the focus of the United States of America from Afghanistan to Central Asia. THE RISE OF TERRORISM

Terrorism is violence to terrorise the government to submit it to the objectives of the people who employ it. Terrorism is an immoral political tool and anti-human activity as it is targets innocent and peace-loving people for political gains. It involves mass killing and wide destruction. The common forms of terrorism are hijacking and use of bombs. There are many causes for terrorism. They include the highhandedness of the powerful, helplessness of the weak, unemployment,

and the indifference of those in power to just demands by peaceful and non-violent methods Terrorism is not new to mankind. History all over the world is replete with instances of terrorism by individuals or groups against the established power. There are instances wherein terrorists or terror groups succeeding in their efforts and establishing their own rule. Most of the powerful dynasties of the world have small terrorist groups as their origin. Terrorism in this sense is nothing more than asymmetric violence against the state power to bend it to the group’s will. It be Rana Prathap or Shivaji or Bhagat Singh of India, or the violent freedom struggle of Irish people against the British rule, or the wars of LTTE with Sri Lanka Government, or violent designs of Al-Qaeda for Islamic hegemony of the world, basically they are all terrorism. Mass destructions involved in present days because of sophisticated weapons and bombs and support of outside elements including enemy states in inspiring, designing and executing terrorism make terrorism of present days different from that of yore and more reprehensible. Causes for the rise in terrorism in present days are umpteen. They include successes of terrorist means, militant Islam, birth of Israel by less than just means leading to Palestine problem, hegemony of the developed countries in world politics, poverty and unemployment. The terrorism in India has also risen considerably and covers all regions of the country. ISI operators in North India, ULFA in N-E India, Naxalism in Central India, radical Muslims in West India and all of them in South India. India is one of the worst affected countries of the world in terrorism. TALIBAN

Taliban was ruling Afghanistan after the departure of the Soviet Union from the field till the fall of the World Trade Centre in 2001. The United States of America brought Taliban to power in Afghanistan by militarily helping Taliban through its creator and sustainers, Pakistan to pull down the Government of Afghanistan supported by the Soviet Union. But, Taliban being what it is, a militant Islamic outfit to the core, rebelled against its makers, the “Kaffirs” or “Infidels” from the United States of America. It harboured and provided hideouts Al-Qaeda outfit and its leaders, and provided infrastructure for the training of the Islamic militants to operate all over the world. Afghanistan under Taliban became the paradise of the Islamic militants from all over the world. It was from this state support that Islamic militancy spread like wild fire all over the world. The assets and interests of the United States itself repeatedly became targets of these terrorists culminating in the World Trade Centre incident on September 11, 2001. This act of Al-Qaeda leadership conceived and executed from Afghanistan brought curtains down on Taliban as the United States of America along with its allies acted promptly to remove Taliban from power, and the Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders fled the scene to hiding. However, neither Taliban nor Al-Qaeda was fully crushed and they soon resurfaced along the rugged borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Powerful tribals of the area supported them to the heels. Taliban continued its asymmetric war against the allied forces from the border areas of Pakistan with the active support of the Army and allpowerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. All strategies of the United States of America including billions of dollars of economic help to recover Pakistan from its economic crisis failed to win over Pakistan to its side from supporting Taliban. United States is aware that no solution is possible in Afghanistan till Taliban problem is solved,

and no solution to Taliban problem is possible until Pakistan’s unstinted support for the cause is available. The recent thoughts of the United States of America are to involve the Taliban in solving the problems of Afghanistan by accommodating the Taliban in the governance by a mechanism of power sharing by using Pakistan’s channels with the Taliban. So, the United States of America is coming full circle in its policy towards the Taliban. THE NUCLEAR THREAT

Man for millenniums inhabits the Earth now. Survival is his basic instinct and survival in uncivilised world means fighting others and surviving. In the process, he invented weapons for both defence and aggression in his fight for survival. And continually he improved upon the weapons making it more and more destructive and deadly. Mass and immediate destructions were what he sought in these new weapons. He moved from sticks and stones to knives and axes and swords, to bows and arrows and maces, to guns, tanks, missiles and bombs now. He rapidly improved on his recent weapon technologies with the help of science to produce weapons of mass destruction as rivalry and wars became common between nations of the present world and survival demanded and depended on the efficiency and destructive capabilities of the weapons a country possesses. Nuclear bombs were produced in this backdrop. Competition to produce the nuclear bomb was intense in 1940s during the Second World War after scientists discovered the weapons capabilities of the nuclear energy in the previous decade. The United States succeeded in producing the nuclear bombs first and did not wait long in using it

against Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to bring curtain down on the Second World War. The devastations and deaths the twin nuclear bombs caused shocked the sensibilities of the world and helped consensus to save the humanity from nuclear arms. Present attempts to contain the spread of the nuclear weapons and the significance of Non-Proliferation Treaty should be read in this context. Nuclear bomb is based on Uranium-235, which is a stable form of Uranium. When a nuclear bomb is released, a neutron strikes Uranium235 and that transforms the Uranium-235 to Uranium-236, a very unstable form of Uranium, releasing tremendous energy and a cluster of neutrons. The released neutrons strike other atoms of the Uranium235 again releasing more energy and neutrons, thus initiating a chain reaction that exponentially release energy, heat and fire that cause total destructions and loss of life. Attempts to contain the spread pf nuclear weapons and the NonProliferation Treaty can only delay or suppress the global spread of the nuclear weapons and nothing more. More and more countries producing and possessing these deadly weapons these days in spite of global opposition and threats of the United States prove this. India and Pakistan produced and possess them in the concluding years of the 20th century; North Korea declared itself as a nuclear power in 2009 and Iran is on that path. Once a country becomes a nuclear power, nothing else can be done about the matter by anybody. The most chilling prospect of the nuclear weapons is it falling to wrong hands of the terrorists and destroying the world order. None can rule out such a possibility. This is the price humanity pay for its thoughtless progress in the field of science. THE ECONOMIC RECESSION

Economic recession struck the world in 2008. This is the worst economic recession the world encountered since the Great Depression 1929 and affected almost all countries of the world. Many countries have rolled out plans to minimize the effect of the horrible crisis on their respective economies. Inter-dependence of countries in the modern global village primarily in world trade rendered independent efforts of countries to solve the crisis impossible. Coordinated action to attack the problem at the global level became inevitable and leaders of the major economic powers of the world along with China and India are meeting and discussing at various world forums about how to tackle the problem and save he world from the crisis. The United States of America, Japan and other economically powerful industrialized countries witnessed their exports rapidly decreasing to affect their trade balance and foreign reserve positions. The solution lies in boosting the economy by increasing or at least maintaining demand all over the world. Maintaining world trade at present level is the key to tide over this crisis. Fall in world trade in any part of the world would lead to a cascading effect to the ruin of the world economic structure. All nations as responsible partners of the world economic structure are cooperating to save the situation, but it is easier said than done.

ENERGY SOURCES

Energy is defined as the capacity of a body to do work. It is lifegiver in the world and life revolves around it. Energy runs the whole world. Appliances in the kitchen, refrigerators, televisions, cars, fans, lighting or heating appliance or anything in the world for that matter run with the help of Energy. Energy is the fuel of life. Fuel is basically classified into two groups based on the kind of sources they are derived from - as Conventional and Unconventional Energy. Conventional Energy is the source of energy that has been traditionally used by the world for a long time, say since the Industrial Revolution. Unconventional Energy is the source of Energy that is newly discovered and naturally needs lots of further research and propaganda to make it fit for mass and popular use. Conventional Energy is though important, fast depletion is its Achilles’ heel. Unconventional Energy is renewable and there is no problem of depletion in this source of energy and it takes a very short time to be renewed. A few examples of the Unconventional Energy are Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Tidal Energy, Hydroelectric Energy and Biomass Energy. Conventional Energy primarily includes Petroleum Products like Petrol, Diesel, Natural Gas and Coal that are present on the Earth in limited amount and fast depleted because of the constant and constantly increased use for centuries by the technology hungry life style of the mankind.