“international institutions must ascribe to the ground
realities of today”
These
are the words said by Indian prime minister at recently held meeting of world
leaders from brazil Russia china india and south Africa in fontaleza town of
brazil.ground realities as voiced out in the meeting of countries from asia
Eurasia and latin America ,are though changing in every respect but still needs
to be seen that whether there is strategic shift in terms of rise of third
world,most of which resides in asia and fall of first world ,whose main symbol
is usa?
Asian continent is the largest continent of world with having in its
ambit some major powers like china india and japan.these nations are becoming
powerhouse of the world of today.while on the American side,its predominantly
the united states along with Canada as major ally,which is leading the guard as
a single superpower evers since the fall of ussr.rise of asia will itself means
the growing might of major powers of asia in world affairs whether be it the
military,economic or cultural field while fall of Americas will mean the declining
prestige of usa who got its position graciously after the second world war
which brought the emergence of new world order.
The issue
of rise of asia and fall of Americas come on table because of many recent
events like india’s launching of mars
orbiter mission and testing of nirbhay cruise missile,all this entailing the
technologies till now held by only western nations headed by usa or the
economic control by way of trade as done by china earning huge foreign reserves
or the failure faced by usa in middle east symbolized by the rise of dreadful
isis.not only this,the latest human development report points out that for the
first time ,combined national income of third world crossed that of first
world.is all this pointing to a major change in the way the world affairs will
be conducted now on ? certainly yes
But for that it needs to be seen that in which areas there is increasing
leverage of asian powers and in which fields ,they are still lagging behind.it
should also be seen that what can be done to make the world a prosperous valley
of humanity with the rise of neglected and upliftment of downtrodden as a goal
in end and rather than mere as a support for achieving the end as of now.
First and foremost of all is the emergence of political unity and
stability in asian nations.nothing can be an apt example of this than india.its
post independence history is marked with integration of 562 scattered princely
states with Indian union due to great efforts of sardar vallabhbhai patel,who
is also called as iron man or Bismarck of india.not only this,india became a
place where the people who were always seen to be constituting separate nations
in the eyes of westerners,were moulded as a single state.while on the other
hand,in united states it’s the emergence of political complacency in the system
which in today’s time is marked by lameduck presidency at the end time of
maximum possible two presidential terms in their governance system.the history
tells us that stability is a chariot wheel in the progressive path of a country
like seen by a rapid industrial progress in united kingdom in 18 th century.if
it holds true in the future ,then certainly communist china and democratic
india will lead the world in coming times compared to politically complacent usa.
Another field is the economic one where the story of asian rise and
American or europpean fall is being written.whether be it the business process
outrsourcing industry or the knowledge process outsourcing or the supply of
cheap but highly educated workforce ,it’s the india that leads the world.when
it comes to consumer goods market,it’s the china who by virtue of its large
industrial intstallations and cheap labour ,is playing dominant role in world
market and when it comes to field of higher or cutting edge technology,it’s the
japan which shows the way to the world.this had become possible due to huge
advantage of demographic dividend as nearly 40-45%population in asia is in
working age group.
While on the other
hand,usa is suffering from the setbacks of loose monetary policy followed by it
till now.result of it was that the superpower first suffered from bursting of
home bubble and later by economic depression marked by crash of lehmann
brothers bank.over and above it,the contagion effect of euro crisis and
increasing costs of war in middle east,made the usa one of the largest
debtorsin world market.irony is that its largest creditor is china,who boasts
of its huge foreign reserves ,and is an asian nationalistic power.
Another arena in which there is significant shift in favour of asia is
the international negotiations and agreements.third world led by india forced the
inclusion of principle principle of common but differentiated responsibilities
in Kyoto summit of 1997.copenhagen summit of 2009 marked the rise of BASIC
nations which include brazil south Africa india and china.recent standoff over
the issue of inclusion of hydrofluorocarbons as ozone depleting substances or
green house gas is also a noteworthy step articulating the rising weight of
asian nations.not only this,a major international body that is imf,have started
for major changes in its governance structure with more voting rights to
developing world.
On the other
hand,united states jealousness of protecting their private companies is now
seen as the one obstructing most of the
issue of today to be solved.for example
recently due to efforst due to efforts of world intellectual property
organization ,marakesh treaty signed by which there will be production of even
copyright material in the formats which are accessible to visually handicapped
people like Braille script.this treaty till now,not ratified by usa though most
of the world’s major publishing houses are in usa..there are othr areas where
problem are cropping up like usa refusal to have legally binding emission cuts
or its overt attacks on intellectual property right affairs of other countries
like india.all these issues make the image of America look like as an
irresponsible power.
Fourthly it’s the market demand which is putting a fuel towards the rise
of asia.multinational and transnational companies are heading towards Indian or
Chinese markets from that of usa,not becaue of the presence of large population
in these countriesbut because of the presence of huge middle class who is both
educated as well as have grown in the age of consumerism .demographic advantage
of these countries have acted as a catalyst,aiding the setting up of factories
in these countries by various mnc.there are ample examples of such companies
like apple,nokia or Microsoft .
Other
areas where there is asian rise along with declining prestige of America are
internet demand and use ,geographical advantage of asia as at crossroads of
major shipping lanes ,soft power capabilities because of rich cultural heritage
etc.
But though there are a lot of areas where asia ismarking its resurgence,there are also
a lot more other areas where still America is in clear lead and is having
strategic advantage over any other country of world.
First such area is technology and particularly ,cutting edge one.whether
be it the continental ballistic missiles or tomahawk missiles or first super
computer or reaching upto moon and mars ,it’s the clear cut lead of usa which can be
appreciated.’science’ magazine observed that though the patents coming from usa
haave ddecreased vis a vis to other countries but still it’s the largest one in
number.india and other asian powers have always demanded for sharing of
technology from usa but still its hesitation on part of America to share it
without subsequent benfits in return.
Second area where the usa clearly leads the world even now is the
military capabilities.defence expenditure of usa is the largest in world and
even more than that of combination of 16 major powers around the world.an important
advantage with usa is that of its dynamic relationship with the current
needs.for example recently it had set up a command named cybercom to fight in
cyber warfare.asian nations not only lag behind in this field sorely but are themselves,a major dependent on
defence partnership with usa like japan is a country that depends on usa for
protection at times of any war or aggression.
Third is the area of brain drain which makes usa a powerhouse of intelligence
from not only its own soil but from different parts of world.irony is that most
of this brain drain comes from the major powers of asia that is india and
chin.usa not attracts the unskilled and semiskilled labour class from third
world but the professional well educated people from these areas.silicon valley
in usa ,which is power center of its major computer industries ,is a symbol of
this brain drain.
Fourth issue which negates the rise of asia and fall of Americas is the
presence of disputes between asian nations.whether be it the indo china border
dispute lading upto 1962 war between both or japan china islands dispute or
Chinese interfence in affairs of south east asian nations or the
misunderstandings in the minds of south asian nations about the big brotherly
attitude of india,it’s the asia as a whole in the world context which is
coughing up a large price on such disputes.while usa ‘s geographical avantage
of to be away from regions of conflict makes it a peaceful country..nno war or
battle with any foreign power was fought on usa soil after its independence.
Fifth is the rise of inequalities which will act as a braker in the rise
of asia on account of its multireligious ,multiethnic identity.recent un
economic and social council report articulate these inequalities when it points
out that only nearly 50000 people of asia as a whole own 40% of total asian
capital.rest 60% is shared by left billions of people.it should be kept in mind
the warning of Socrates that-“poverty is the mother of revolution and
crime”.but if this economic inequality continues then it will breed social
tensions and conflicts.whether be it the rakhine disputes of Myanmar or budhist
muslim clashes in srilanka or xinjiang disturbance in china,these all points to
this single fact that inequality is dangerous for asia.
Yet there is hope that one
day asia will rise wlong with rise of whole of America and not just usa .but
for that there needed to be some solutions so as to solve out the existing
problems and device a way to tackle the coming ones.
First
suggestion is to move towards the setting up of such international bodies that
are reflective of needs and aspirations of people at large and not some
influencive world powers.first step in that direction can be taken by reforms
is united nations security council by giving permanent member status to india
.second step is to make the concept of ‘one country one vote’ applicable to all
institutions on the lines of recently set brics bank.this will help the world
in not to ignore the voice of minority whether that minority be in economic
sphere or in political weight.it should be kept in mind that barometer of
progress of world is development of its minorities.
Second
suggestion is the cooperation among asian nations which is now needed more than
ever.the view of asian leaders come out very clearly in this respect when
Chinese president in 2003 visit to india made a famous statement-“b of business
matters much more than b of border”.cooperation between nations if happen to be
at real politik level ,then the results will be tremendously positive.for
example combination of Chinese hardware computer industry with Indian software
computer technology can make asia a global power in this area.such avenues in
cooperation need to be explored as early as possible.
Third
suggestion is the people to people contact among nations and this should also
include the movement of labour from one country to other.in other words,globalization
should be in every respect and not only fo benefit of some countries.in other
words of diplomacy,it’s the track 2 diplomacy which is now needed more than
ever to look at the rise of all rather any continent.
Having said that,though there are certain areas where asia is putting
itself strongly like political unity and stability,economic development is by
way of a large middle class market or huge demographic dividend,cooperation in
international affairs like many agreements and negotiations yet in many fields
like military power or technology or social cohesiveness or the centre of
attraction of intelligence ,it’s the usa which is leading the guard.there can
be push towards former by setting up of strong international bodies with
equality at its core and by forging cooperation among asian nations along with
anhaancing people to people contact in world affairs.
Rise of asia and fall of America is though a reality ,but its importance
will be truly recognized only when it will have in its ambit the wellbeing of
all including the neglected ones till now.making available an opportunity to
improve upon is the only thing that matters in the progress of this world as a
whole.this single concept was beautifully articulated by former president of
india shri apj kalaam when he said that-
“look at the sky.the
hole universe is friendly to us and aspire to give the best to those who dream and
work.”
The world though
now needs the rise of asia but not the fall of America .its hopefulthat a time
will come when there will be iimplementation of ground realities in the conduct
of world affairs nd that ground reality if implemented,will lead to a
progressive and peaceful world whose index will be a little girl coming out of
a school of an underdeveloped hinterland with a smile on her face and mind
sharper than yesterday.
