According to The World Bank’s International Comparison Programme, People’s Republic of China overtook the size of the American economy by GDP (PPP) towards the end of 2014. [15]
India is out of league to alone be a legitimate competitor to China, unless we go back to the early 70s. It is very clear that Indian foreign policy does not go in-sync with the communist China’s ideologies. This implies that the grounds for Indo-china partnership are lower considering the Chinese habit of betrayal to India as evident from the ignition of 1962 Indo-China war that started soon after the Panchsheel Agreement (signed by India on Chinese terms) completed. As rightly articulated by Dr Shashi Tharoor, “India continues to be an inspiration for many a African country who would look at India and say, “yes, it’s a mess just like us!” On the other hand, the Chinese developmental model is a hybrid influence for a lot of developing economies. The idea of the state and the market, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and a pragmatic approach builds the contemporary China, with a massive modern-day infrastructure that is growing tremendously. Now with the ongoing modernisation in the Chinese Navy, its folks from the Yellow River civilisation should be proud of their country! The Chinese architects draw a line on their map and formulate their projects deciding where they want to build roads and railways, irrespective of who owns the land. India is a democratic country where judicial activism keeps rising. Democracy has its own pros and cons especially in the context of the Indian economy, whose stakeholders combine its over 1.32 Billion citizens. [1] who preach numerous religions, speak hundreds of languages, hail from diverse cultures and many remain deprived of basic necessities. Indian ethnography is much more complex and assorted than the Chinese.
So, such an attempt in India will witness large scale protests from the leftists, film stars and activists going on hunger strikes, hampering of daily personal and professional activities and so on.
Japan started loosing its influence in world affairs after the end of the second world war in 1945. However, it ceases to inspire from the nature much more than China who would otherwise outshine the rest, if we talk about its Panda diplomacy. The high-tech Japanese bullet trains derive its outline from the birds. Beak of a Penguin, nose of a Kingfisher and wings of an Owl. This is the design of a typical Japanese bullet train. On the other hand, the Chinese infrastructure projects enables the co-existence if its global influence, planned naval bases in Pakistan and East Africa. Well this is the sort of backdrop that India is merely trying to emerge from colonialist or rather continental mind-set towards a maritime one. The US can and now India has to confront the growing dynamics in the Indian Ocean region. This is where Australia comes into the picture. Australia hols as a vital strategic location but remains afraid of Chinese influence on its universities. The weakness of the existing security order and strategic economics is something that needs to be understood. The economic interdependence is shifting to economic dependence on the Chinese economy. India remains an open sceptic as it sees china’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative primarily as a strategic and not a commercial project. India appreciates the US with a resident status in the Indian ocean. As the challenge here for India, Australia, Japan, United States and others is to figure out how to stop Indian Ocean from becoming the next South china sea. [2] The Chinese developmental model along with its idea of pragmatism, that kind of thinking which is very Chinese in a certain kind of way because as the western thinking is binary and the Chinese thinking is hybrid… this kind of thinking is influencing man a developing country in the world. So that’s an example of china’s soft power.
For working together countering China, many important elements should play the role of catalyst here. India and US need to have simpler bilateral relations and the former would wholeheartedly welcome better relations between Moscow and Washington. Beijing sees it as India’s infuriating stunt to let The Dalai Lama live freely on Indian soil. China took its panda back from the US which is seen as its response to the meeting between The Dalai Lama and the former US President Obama. China and Japan have not been on the same side historically, since their first recorded battle in 663 AD. As reported by NowThis World why China hates Japan, “According to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, during the Nanking Massacre the Japanese soldiers raped at least 20,000 Chinese women. A highly publicized murder spree between two Japanese soldiers to see who could be the first to kill a hundred Chinese citizens by sword, was surpassed by the both on the same night to great fanfare at home. The rape of Nanking is why a large percentage of the Chinese public still hates the Japanese.” [3]
Since over a millennium, both the countries claim the same uninhabited islands which the Chinese call Diaoyo Islands and the Japanese call Senkaku Islands. This adds a pinch of salt to the existing Japan-China relationship. India and Japan have been loyal friends since ages and share a profound cultural bond that is deliberately promoted by New Delhi and Tokyo.
A joint initiative of India and Japan that the world sees as a counter to china’s OBOR which keeps Beijing, Xinjiang, and other strategic locations of China as the powerhouse. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the board meeting of the African Development Bank in May 2017, [4] emphasized how the Asia-Africa Growth corridor focuses on both the continents’ sustainable development goals and does not bring Japan or India to the centre of power. In 2004, the navies of Japan, India, USA and Australia joined hands together to provide humanitarian assistance in the Tsunami-hit South Asia. This shows us the inability of China and a tighter cooperation between the former four economies, as evident from the Malabar Exercise in 2007. This quadrilateral joint naval exercise was done between the navies of these four democracies (India, Japan, USA and Australia) with an objective to ‘promote inter-operability and coordination among these four navies.’ [5] [6]
In 2017, Japanese foreign ministry under the aegis of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (it is worth mentioning here) who shares quite a proximate relationship with Indian Prime Minister Modi proposed the idea of revisiting QUAD. “On the sidelines of the East Asian Summit at Manila, diplomats from India, Australia, US and Japan sat together for first time to work out the modalities for co-operation and work out a strategy to take on an assertive China.” [7]
Post- Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Australia understands and appreciates its relationship with India and Japan more cohesively and has been able to come on board as an efficient but still not a reliable QUAD ally. India’s foreign secretary S. Jaishankar suitably pointed out that other nations too are now resonating India’s objections to china’s OBOR.[8]
The election of President Donald Trump into the White House does not resist the changing balance of global economic power from the west to east, especially with China. Such transformation should not be a problem unless the intentions remain as pure as the snow and the devolved interests are at least accepted. However, China fails on both the fronts. China’s growing influence brings the “Quadrilateral” together and forces the Quad to operate as an entity for mutual benefits and peaceful co-existence and not only do the job of a think tank. The difficulty is rapidly rising to contain the potential superpower. With the inclusion of President Xi Jinping’s thoughts in the communist party’s constitution [9], the president becomes the most powerful communist leader of his time and probably enjoys the same degree of power as the former Chinese premier Mao Zedong. The only visible difference apart from the face is that President Xi Jinping’s cultural revolution of Tibet happens inadvertently and the human rights violation increases.
To encompass the Chinese influence in the world and world affairs, China’s neo-colonialism should be targeted. This was rightly done by the journalists from west who arrived somewhat earlier before the Beijing Olympics 2008 officially began. Everyone coming around the world full of admiration for the way the Chinese constructed the infrastructure, the reception facility and the games village. Meanwhile these journalists wrote about the repression and lack of human rights. So, the Chinese quickly announced that they have designated some spots where anybody could stand up and say whatever they want to against the government. But to do so, they had to apply for a permit. Following this code, every single person who applied for a permit got arrested and this move devised instead of becoming an exercise of promoting soft power.[10] [11] Soft power can’t be run on one hand and a politically repressive system on the other. Including the hundreds of Confucius centres across the world, this becomes an opportunity for Quad to destabilise the fundamental flaw and contain the soft power of china before it tries to become a cultural paragon for the world.
The Quadrilateral has many potential target points including the economic capabilities and manufacturing or assembling units of multinational corporations whose parent company is in India, Australia or USA. Japan has proved to be a loyal friend to India and a rival to China. We need a strong action plan to stop China’s habit of expansionism unless we don’t want to oppose the gigantic China. Over 1.2 billion native Chinese speakers and its ever increasing language must be stopped from being spread. Its veto at the United Nations and its holdings of billions of US dollars in form of papers and bonds might force US to think twice before joining hands against China. Yin Yang is quite logical Chinese philosophy that is spreading as powerful as the Japanese Reiki.
So yes, the Quadrilateral of India, Japan, Australia and USA is capable of containing China until it resembles “Unity is strength”. Kautilya’s Mandal theory is very much applicable here provided the undone is not taken for granted by any and the unsaid is not assumed by all. [12] [13]
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines Populism as ‘a political program or movement that champions the common person, usually by favourable contrast with an elite. In its most democratic form, populism seeks to defend the interest and maximize the power of ordinary citizens, through reform rather than revolution.’ [14]
Right wing populism appeals the frustrations of the people. Politicians adapt populist behaviour for their benefits and leaders do it for the stakeholders in their snug. Germany became a scapegoat in the end of the second world war and Adolf Hitler evolved as one of the greatest populists of his time. In several European countries, the right-wing parties have taken the reins of the government. This also includes Switzerland, Norway and Latvia. Brexit is a result of majority of British citizens thinking that a membership into the European Union is essentially not helping the country or the citizens except the elite few. This means that the right-wing populism is becoming influential in the western countries. The reason is either way it uses the “others” card. Xenophobic parties such as French National Front and Alternative for Germany, received unprecedented support.
The western world comprising of the 35 high-income economies includes many a Christian dominated states such as Canada, USA, Australia and the European Union Economies. The proximity of violence in Iraq and Syria is resulting in mass migration in its neighbouring countries. The elite class of the European Union started facing xenophobia in the summer of 2015, when the Europe started experiencing its largest influx since the second world war, ranging in millions. Being a right-wing populist leader herself and purely on humanitarian grounds, German chancellor Angela Merkel opened the gates of Germany for the Syrian refugees. [18] The foundation of this exodus were laid clearly with the Arab spring. ISIS’s goal to build a totalitarian Islamic state became an organized and well-harboured war crimes including mass executions, torture on large scale and repeated deadly attacks on Syrian civilians. All of these led to massive influx of Syrians into EU where neither the UNHCR nor the weaker economies were ready or capable to look after huge incoming population, respectively. [19] [20]
According to Political Research Associates, “The Patriot movement is a form of “right-wing populism,” a reaction to progressive social change by a group that sees itself as losing power, and challenges elites as well as minorities, both of which they see as unproductive, parasitic elements of society.” [16] President Donald Trump appealed to the sentiments of the working class by popularizing the slogan “Make America Great Again” in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. On June 6, 2017 President Trump tweeted: “we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries”. [17] He said he won’t allow millions of Syrian refugees into America, as these people could be the members of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He ensured that the memories of 26/11 are revived in the American voters and that’s exactly how he becomes politically correct. An Islamic minority is neither dangerous nor new on this planet. But the President ignited fear among the Americans for their safety, forcing them to ponder up on the (pseudo) disaster if he loses. More than Trump’s triumph, this is the victory of an ideology. The ideology of right-wing populism is fetching significance because the “others” get excluded by becoming contributors in the American politics. The “security” card warmed the populist sentiments and moved in favour of their right-wing populist president Trump.
Ardently reported by NowThis World, “Now, many countries in the western world are looking up to the right wing ideology as their economy struggles. Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland have deep financial issues mainly related to insolvency or entitlement policies. The promoters of this kind of populism have been spending large quantum of their financial resources on business and other relevant elements. A criminal organization accused of money laundering, trafficking and murdering, that is leaned towards the right-populism, comes to power in Greece” [21]
This implies that Euro scepticism has largely contributed in the rise of right-wing populism in the Europe. The very thought in one’s mind that doubts the ‘need’ for the existence of European Union is an alarming signal. However, the shift of portrayal from revolution to lawmaking-pattern is a very positive aspect. The progressive taxation system is the gift of this populist-right wing ideology to the world. The emerging right-wing populism is very well seen by many as a threat to liberal democracies but in a broader aspect it slays pseudo-secularism. It’s a revolt for those who have actually been deprived of their rights that led to the civil war in the United States led by Martin Luther king Jr. till his assassination in April 1968. His radical revolution resulted in equitability and in turn an ideological win. So we can actually say that the liberalism is loosing its influence simultaneously making way for its rejuvenated counterparts. The rise and increasing influence of right-wing populism is not god or bad but the broader question here is why. The reasons are evident and as mentioned above. Talking about the Canadian economy where the political influence of Indian diaspora is gradually rising, a newer version of threat might be seen for the Asians.
Logically speaking whatever appeals to us and for those who think by themselves, the better and not always the convenient is adopted. The interpretation of “better for whom” remains open and it surely has endless perspectives. But radicalism and adoption of new ideas has been the oldest habit of this world. So the rising right-wing populism is not a surprize for any of us. Rather it personifies the economic curves that show us the falls and rises of economies. Many in the west claim to have won the cold war between USA and the Soviet Union. Well if holding that claim true, the liberal democratic ideology that won against capitalism and communism… is bound to evolve or devolve like any other idea.
No, the Iran – Saudi Arabia conflict is not just driven by sectarian division. Islam is a peaceful religion. Despite of much deeper cultural difference, Hindus and Muslims have never physically fought with such madness in a democratic India.
So we must understand that jingoism on the name of patriotism is taking over rationality. The strings are much deeper than its covers. Following the example of Soviet Union and the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are involved in many a proxy war as they have fought many indirect wars by supporting the opposite sides igniting profound divides. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the first world war, there emerged numerous radical tribes in Saudi Arabia blindly and absurdly fighting for power. Ultimately, an inner tribe form Saudi Arabia: Al-Saud seized almost the entire land of Saudi Arabia and got its official recognition in 1932 as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [23] In 1938, massive oil reserves were discovered in Saudi Arabia which made the Monarch rich and enhanced him to initiate and eventually complete lots of infrastructure projects including transportation networks in a desert country.
On the other hand, Iran was emerging but not at the pace of Saudi. Iran was invaded twice by the British and the Russians since the eighteenth century. A US backed coup gave Iran its new monarch – Reza Shah who was endorsed the responsibility of promoting westernisation in Iran. Iran still remained an Islamic majority who largely felt throttled, leading to an internal violent imbalance. In 1979, the Iranian revolution horrified or rather alarmed the government of Saudi Arabia of a potential similar uprising in their country. However, the majority sect in these two countries is different – Saudi Arabia has a ‘Sunni’ mainstream and Iran being a ‘Shia’ majority. But that is not the matter of concern. Realism hit the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s worries very soon. The revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini (the Supreme Leader of Iran) started spreading its stems. According to a 1980 report [22] by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Iran government helped mostly the potential rebellious Shia groups to revolt against their respective government in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Now many wars were on their way ahead including Saudi Arabia fighting with Iran.
In the same year (1980), led by President Saddam Hussein, Iraq invaded Iran to get access to its oil reserves. However, it would soon have lost the war unless Saudi Arabia hadn’t have come to its assistance, of course with direct and clear interest to hold back the Iranians. Claiming over a million lives, this war lasted till 1988. Iran made Saudi Arabia the scapegoat for the eight –year long war. In 2003, Saudi’s key aid United States of America invaded Iraq without any formal consultation or approval of neither Saudi Arabia nor Iran. This practically made Iraq a state without a government, inadvertently laying the path for what would be known as ISIS. Seeing no barriers, the Sunni and Shia militant extremists seeded the opportunity to gain power. The former extremists were supported through arms, ammunitions, and other such resources by the Saudi government and the latter by Iran. Hence Iraq became the hub for a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. This eventually led to the historic Arab spring revolution in 2010 and this binged throughout the middle east by 2011. This was the beginning of the end!
Further, in strings filling montages of proxies, Saudi Arabia and Iran got involved in Morocco, Bahrain, Lebanon, Libya Turkey, and Yemen (Saudi military vs Houthi rebels). As a response to the Yemen conflict, the Iranian military is fighting parallel with Hezbollah and President of Syria Bashar Al – Assad; against the Saudi backed Sunni groups. Hence these wars and their warfare has now become very complex. Violent extremist people and vulnerable place have made life of civilians a big mess. These fanatics are responsible for creating a faux famine in Yemen.
These ongoing wars and unrest have put the relations of both – Saudi Arabia and Iran in peril and their economies are largely surviving on their deep oil fields. However, scapegoating each-other continues to be a notorious habit of both the countries. Their cold war (popularly referred as the second cold war) is turning out to be much violent than the first one between Soviet Union and USA. Adding to this absurdity is the sectarian violence driven by crazy yet illegitimate hunger for power.
Well, hundreds of thousand have died fighting for these countries and such dedicated people is an asset for any country. However, this dedication seems more as a habit inculcated in both- Iranian and Saudi mind-set. For them, a war among themselves (though through proxy warfare) remain a deep inclined fact and an outshining habit. Exercising its influence over the region and because of its motto: “we shall have a problem with anything Iran does or anything that is pro-Iran” (and vice versa), sometime in June 2017 Saudi Arabia demanded a miniscule gulf state Qatar to cut its developing ties with Iran at the same time shutting down Al-Jazeera.
This is probably the why they are still at war butchering thousands every year, as the power of habit is extraordinary! According to Charles Duhigg in his much acclaimed book – The Power of Habit, ‘it is difficult to stop a habit, unless you provide them with an alternative”.
India is out of league to alone be a legitimate competitor to China, unless we go back to the early 70s. It is very clear that Indian foreign policy does not go in-sync with the communist China’s ideologies. This implies that the grounds for Indo-china partnership are lower considering the Chinese habit of betrayal to India as evident from the ignition of 1962 Indo-China war that started soon after the Panchsheel Agreement (signed by India on Chinese terms) completed. As rightly articulated by Dr Shashi Tharoor, “India continues to be an inspiration for many a African country who would look at India and say, “yes, it’s a mess just like us!” On the other hand, the Chinese developmental model is a hybrid influence for a lot of developing economies. The idea of the state and the market, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and a pragmatic approach builds the contemporary China, with a massive modern-day infrastructure that is growing tremendously. Now with the ongoing modernisation in the Chinese Navy, its folks from the Yellow River civilisation should be proud of their country! The Chinese architects draw a line on their map and formulate their projects deciding where they want to build roads and railways, irrespective of who owns the land. India is a democratic country where judicial activism keeps rising. Democracy has its own pros and cons especially in the context of the Indian economy, whose stakeholders combine its over 1.32 Billion citizens. [1] who preach numerous religions, speak hundreds of languages, hail from diverse cultures and many remain deprived of basic necessities. Indian ethnography is much more complex and assorted than the Chinese.
So, such an attempt in India will witness large scale protests from the leftists, film stars and activists going on hunger strikes, hampering of daily personal and professional activities and so on.
Japan started loosing its influence in world affairs after the end of the second world war in 1945. However, it ceases to inspire from the nature much more than China who would otherwise outshine the rest, if we talk about its Panda diplomacy. The high-tech Japanese bullet trains derive its outline from the birds. Beak of a Penguin, nose of a Kingfisher and wings of an Owl. This is the design of a typical Japanese bullet train. On the other hand, the Chinese infrastructure projects enables the co-existence if its global influence, planned naval bases in Pakistan and East Africa. Well this is the sort of backdrop that India is merely trying to emerge from colonialist or rather continental mind-set towards a maritime one. The US can and now India has to confront the growing dynamics in the Indian Ocean region. This is where Australia comes into the picture. Australia hols as a vital strategic location but remains afraid of Chinese influence on its universities. The weakness of the existing security order and strategic economics is something that needs to be understood. The economic interdependence is shifting to economic dependence on the Chinese economy. India remains an open sceptic as it sees china’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative primarily as a strategic and not a commercial project. India appreciates the US with a resident status in the Indian ocean. As the challenge here for India, Australia, Japan, United States and others is to figure out how to stop Indian Ocean from becoming the next South china sea. [2] The Chinese developmental model along with its idea of pragmatism, that kind of thinking which is very Chinese in a certain kind of way because as the western thinking is binary and the Chinese thinking is hybrid… this kind of thinking is influencing man a developing country in the world. So that’s an example of china’s soft power.
For working together countering China, many important elements should play the role of catalyst here. India and US need to have simpler bilateral relations and the former would wholeheartedly welcome better relations between Moscow and Washington. Beijing sees it as India’s infuriating stunt to let The Dalai Lama live freely on Indian soil. China took its panda back from the US which is seen as its response to the meeting between The Dalai Lama and the former US President Obama. China and Japan have not been on the same side historically, since their first recorded battle in 663 AD. As reported by NowThis World why China hates Japan, “According to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, during the Nanking Massacre the Japanese soldiers raped at least 20,000 Chinese women. A highly publicized murder spree between two Japanese soldiers to see who could be the first to kill a hundred Chinese citizens by sword, was surpassed by the both on the same night to great fanfare at home. The rape of Nanking is why a large percentage of the Chinese public still hates the Japanese.” [3]
Since over a millennium, both the countries claim the same uninhabited islands which the Chinese call Diaoyo Islands and the Japanese call Senkaku Islands. This adds a pinch of salt to the existing Japan-China relationship. India and Japan have been loyal friends since ages and share a profound cultural bond that is deliberately promoted by New Delhi and Tokyo.
A joint initiative of India and Japan that the world sees as a counter to china’s OBOR which keeps Beijing, Xinjiang, and other strategic locations of China as the powerhouse. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the board meeting of the African Development Bank in May 2017, [4] emphasized how the Asia-Africa Growth corridor focuses on both the continents’ sustainable development goals and does not bring Japan or India to the centre of power. In 2004, the navies of Japan, India, USA and Australia joined hands together to provide humanitarian assistance in the Tsunami-hit South Asia. This shows us the inability of China and a tighter cooperation between the former four economies, as evident from the Malabar Exercise in 2007. This quadrilateral joint naval exercise was done between the navies of these four democracies (India, Japan, USA and Australia) with an objective to ‘promote inter-operability and coordination among these four navies.’ [5] [6]
In 2017, Japanese foreign ministry under the aegis of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (it is worth mentioning here) who shares quite a proximate relationship with Indian Prime Minister Modi proposed the idea of revisiting QUAD. “On the sidelines of the East Asian Summit at Manila, diplomats from India, Australia, US and Japan sat together for first time to work out the modalities for co-operation and work out a strategy to take on an assertive China.” [7]
Post- Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Australia understands and appreciates its relationship with India and Japan more cohesively and has been able to come on board as an efficient but still not a reliable QUAD ally. India’s foreign secretary S. Jaishankar suitably pointed out that other nations too are now resonating India’s objections to china’s OBOR.[8]
The election of President Donald Trump into the White House does not resist the changing balance of global economic power from the west to east, especially with China. Such transformation should not be a problem unless the intentions remain as pure as the snow and the devolved interests are at least accepted. However, China fails on both the fronts. China’s growing influence brings the “Quadrilateral” together and forces the Quad to operate as an entity for mutual benefits and peaceful co-existence and not only do the job of a think tank. The difficulty is rapidly rising to contain the potential superpower. With the inclusion of President Xi Jinping’s thoughts in the communist party’s constitution [9], the president becomes the most powerful communist leader of his time and probably enjoys the same degree of power as the former Chinese premier Mao Zedong. The only visible difference apart from the face is that President Xi Jinping’s cultural revolution of Tibet happens inadvertently and the human rights violation increases.
To encompass the Chinese influence in the world and world affairs, China’s neo-colonialism should be targeted. This was rightly done by the journalists from west who arrived somewhat earlier before the Beijing Olympics 2008 officially began. Everyone coming around the world full of admiration for the way the Chinese constructed the infrastructure, the reception facility and the games village. Meanwhile these journalists wrote about the repression and lack of human rights. So, the Chinese quickly announced that they have designated some spots where anybody could stand up and say whatever they want to against the government. But to do so, they had to apply for a permit. Following this code, every single person who applied for a permit got arrested and this move devised instead of becoming an exercise of promoting soft power.[10] [11] Soft power can’t be run on one hand and a politically repressive system on the other. Including the hundreds of Confucius centres across the world, this becomes an opportunity for Quad to destabilise the fundamental flaw and contain the soft power of china before it tries to become a cultural paragon for the world.
The Quadrilateral has many potential target points including the economic capabilities and manufacturing or assembling units of multinational corporations whose parent company is in India, Australia or USA. Japan has proved to be a loyal friend to India and a rival to China. We need a strong action plan to stop China’s habit of expansionism unless we don’t want to oppose the gigantic China. Over 1.2 billion native Chinese speakers and its ever increasing language must be stopped from being spread. Its veto at the United Nations and its holdings of billions of US dollars in form of papers and bonds might force US to think twice before joining hands against China. Yin Yang is quite logical Chinese philosophy that is spreading as powerful as the Japanese Reiki.
So yes, the Quadrilateral of India, Japan, Australia and USA is capable of containing China until it resembles “Unity is strength”. Kautilya’s Mandal theory is very much applicable here provided the undone is not taken for granted by any and the unsaid is not assumed by all. [12] [13]
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines Populism as ‘a political program or movement that champions the common person, usually by favourable contrast with an elite. In its most democratic form, populism seeks to defend the interest and maximize the power of ordinary citizens, through reform rather than revolution.’ [14]
Right wing populism appeals the frustrations of the people. Politicians adapt populist behaviour for their benefits and leaders do it for the stakeholders in their snug. Germany became a scapegoat in the end of the second world war and Adolf Hitler evolved as one of the greatest populists of his time. In several European countries, the right-wing parties have taken the reins of the government. This also includes Switzerland, Norway and Latvia. Brexit is a result of majority of British citizens thinking that a membership into the European Union is essentially not helping the country or the citizens except the elite few. This means that the right-wing populism is becoming influential in the western countries. The reason is either way it uses the “others” card. Xenophobic parties such as French National Front and Alternative for Germany, received unprecedented support.
The western world comprising of the 35 high-income economies includes many a Christian dominated states such as Canada, USA, Australia and the European Union Economies. The proximity of violence in Iraq and Syria is resulting in mass migration in its neighbouring countries. The elite class of the European Union started facing xenophobia in the summer of 2015, when the Europe started experiencing its largest influx since the second world war, ranging in millions. Being a right-wing populist leader herself and purely on humanitarian grounds, German chancellor Angela Merkel opened the gates of Germany for the Syrian refugees. [18] The foundation of this exodus were laid clearly with the Arab spring. ISIS’s goal to build a totalitarian Islamic state became an organized and well-harboured war crimes including mass executions, torture on large scale and repeated deadly attacks on Syrian civilians. All of these led to massive influx of Syrians into EU where neither the UNHCR nor the weaker economies were ready or capable to look after huge incoming population, respectively. [19] [20]
According to Political Research Associates, “The Patriot movement is a form of “right-wing populism,” a reaction to progressive social change by a group that sees itself as losing power, and challenges elites as well as minorities, both of which they see as unproductive, parasitic elements of society.” [16] President Donald Trump appealed to the sentiments of the working class by popularizing the slogan “Make America Great Again” in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. On June 6, 2017 President Trump tweeted: “we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries”. [17] He said he won’t allow millions of Syrian refugees into America, as these people could be the members of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He ensured that the memories of 26/11 are revived in the American voters and that’s exactly how he becomes politically correct. An Islamic minority is neither dangerous nor new on this planet. But the President ignited fear among the Americans for their safety, forcing them to ponder up on the (pseudo) disaster if he loses. More than Trump’s triumph, this is the victory of an ideology. The ideology of right-wing populism is fetching significance because the “others” get excluded by becoming contributors in the American politics. The “security” card warmed the populist sentiments and moved in favour of their right-wing populist president Trump.
Ardently reported by NowThis World, “Now, many countries in the western world are looking up to the right wing ideology as their economy struggles. Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland have deep financial issues mainly related to insolvency or entitlement policies. The promoters of this kind of populism have been spending large quantum of their financial resources on business and other relevant elements. A criminal organization accused of money laundering, trafficking and murdering, that is leaned towards the right-populism, comes to power in Greece” [21]
This implies that Euro scepticism has largely contributed in the rise of right-wing populism in the Europe. The very thought in one’s mind that doubts the ‘need’ for the existence of European Union is an alarming signal. However, the shift of portrayal from revolution to lawmaking-pattern is a very positive aspect. The progressive taxation system is the gift of this populist-right wing ideology to the world. The emerging right-wing populism is very well seen by many as a threat to liberal democracies but in a broader aspect it slays pseudo-secularism. It’s a revolt for those who have actually been deprived of their rights that led to the civil war in the United States led by Martin Luther king Jr. till his assassination in April 1968. His radical revolution resulted in equitability and in turn an ideological win. So we can actually say that the liberalism is loosing its influence simultaneously making way for its rejuvenated counterparts. The rise and increasing influence of right-wing populism is not god or bad but the broader question here is why. The reasons are evident and as mentioned above. Talking about the Canadian economy where the political influence of Indian diaspora is gradually rising, a newer version of threat might be seen for the Asians.
Logically speaking whatever appeals to us and for those who think by themselves, the better and not always the convenient is adopted. The interpretation of “better for whom” remains open and it surely has endless perspectives. But radicalism and adoption of new ideas has been the oldest habit of this world. So the rising right-wing populism is not a surprize for any of us. Rather it personifies the economic curves that show us the falls and rises of economies. Many in the west claim to have won the cold war between USA and the Soviet Union. Well if holding that claim true, the liberal democratic ideology that won against capitalism and communism… is bound to evolve or devolve like any other idea.
No, the Iran – Saudi Arabia conflict is not just driven by sectarian division. Islam is a peaceful religion. Despite of much deeper cultural difference, Hindus and Muslims have never physically fought with such madness in a democratic India.
So we must understand that jingoism on the name of patriotism is taking over rationality. The strings are much deeper than its covers. Following the example of Soviet Union and the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are involved in many a proxy war as they have fought many indirect wars by supporting the opposite sides igniting profound divides. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the first world war, there emerged numerous radical tribes in Saudi Arabia blindly and absurdly fighting for power. Ultimately, an inner tribe form Saudi Arabia: Al-Saud seized almost the entire land of Saudi Arabia and got its official recognition in 1932 as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [23] In 1938, massive oil reserves were discovered in Saudi Arabia which made the Monarch rich and enhanced him to initiate and eventually complete lots of infrastructure projects including transportation networks in a desert country.
On the other hand, Iran was emerging but not at the pace of Saudi. Iran was invaded twice by the British and the Russians since the eighteenth century. A US backed coup gave Iran its new monarch – Reza Shah who was endorsed the responsibility of promoting westernisation in Iran. Iran still remained an Islamic majority who largely felt throttled, leading to an internal violent imbalance. In 1979, the Iranian revolution horrified or rather alarmed the government of Saudi Arabia of a potential similar uprising in their country. However, the majority sect in these two countries is different – Saudi Arabia has a ‘Sunni’ mainstream and Iran being a ‘Shia’ majority. But that is not the matter of concern. Realism hit the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s worries very soon. The revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini (the Supreme Leader of Iran) started spreading its stems. According to a 1980 report [22] by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Iran government helped mostly the potential rebellious Shia groups to revolt against their respective government in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Now many wars were on their way ahead including Saudi Arabia fighting with Iran.
In the same year (1980), led by President Saddam Hussein, Iraq invaded Iran to get access to its oil reserves. However, it would soon have lost the war unless Saudi Arabia hadn’t have come to its assistance, of course with direct and clear interest to hold back the Iranians. Claiming over a million lives, this war lasted till 1988. Iran made Saudi Arabia the scapegoat for the eight –year long war. In 2003, Saudi’s key aid United States of America invaded Iraq without any formal consultation or approval of neither Saudi Arabia nor Iran. This practically made Iraq a state without a government, inadvertently laying the path for what would be known as ISIS. Seeing no barriers, the Sunni and Shia militant extremists seeded the opportunity to gain power. The former extremists were supported through arms, ammunitions, and other such resources by the Saudi government and the latter by Iran. Hence Iraq became the hub for a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. This eventually led to the historic Arab spring revolution in 2010 and this binged throughout the middle east by 2011. This was the beginning of the end!
Further, in strings filling montages of proxies, Saudi Arabia and Iran got involved in Morocco, Bahrain, Lebanon, Libya Turkey, and Yemen (Saudi military vs Houthi rebels). As a response to the Yemen conflict, the Iranian military is fighting parallel with Hezbollah and President of Syria Bashar Al – Assad; against the Saudi backed Sunni groups. Hence these wars and their warfare has now become very complex. Violent extremist people and vulnerable place have made life of civilians a big mess. These fanatics are responsible for creating a faux famine in Yemen.
These ongoing wars and unrest have put the relations of both – Saudi Arabia and Iran in peril and their economies are largely surviving on their deep oil fields. However, scapegoating each-other continues to be a notorious habit of both the countries. Their cold war (popularly referred as the second cold war) is turning out to be much violent than the first one between Soviet Union and USA. Adding to this absurdity is the sectarian violence driven by crazy yet illegitimate hunger for power.
Well, hundreds of thousand have died fighting for these countries and such dedicated people is an asset for any country. However, this dedication seems more as a habit inculcated in both- Iranian and Saudi mind-set. For them, a war among themselves (though through proxy warfare) remain a deep inclined fact and an outshining habit. Exercising its influence over the region and because of its motto: “we shall have a problem with anything Iran does or anything that is pro-Iran” (and vice versa), sometime in June 2017 Saudi Arabia demanded a miniscule gulf state Qatar to cut its developing ties with Iran at the same time shutting down Al-Jazeera.
This is probably the why they are still at war butchering thousands every year, as the power of habit is extraordinary! According to Charles Duhigg in his much acclaimed book – The Power of Habit, ‘it is difficult to stop a habit, unless you provide them with an alternative”.
References:
1. Population of India – http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/
2. EXPLOSIVE : How US, Japan, Australia and India will Checkmate China Together – https://youtu.be/Kn3tbB_iTWU
3. Why China hates Japan – https://youtu.be/xLN0IgCdKZw
4. 52nd Annual Meeting of African Development Bank – 2017, Gandhinagar (May 22-26, 2017) http://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/28474/52nd_Annual_Meeting_of_African_Development_Bank2017_Gandhinagar_May_2226_2017
5. Exercise Malabar – 2016 https://www.indiannavy.nic.in/content/exercise-malabar-2016
6. The Malabar Exercises: An Appraisal https://idsa.in/idsacomments/the-malabar-exercises_averma_180717
7. How ‘Quad’ hopes to contain China – http://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/india-us-japan-australia-china-quad-narendra-modi-donald-trump/story/263942.html
8. Dialogue needed to tackle Rohingya issue, not criticism: FS – http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/dialogue-needed-to-tackle-rohingya-issue-not-criticism-fs/487556.html
9. Xi Jinping Thought approved for Party Constitution – http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2017-10/24/content_33644524.htm
10. Going for the gold in Beijing – literally https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/aug/05/china.usa
11. Protests of China Make Olympic Torch Relay on Obstacle Course http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/world/europe/07torch.html
12. Kautilya Arthshastra and the Science of Management: Relevance for the contemporary society https://books.google.co.in/books?id=G67dC_wgK3MC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=mandal+theory+of+kautilya&source=bl&ots=9h-UqpySPY&sig=91rohsaRwCyhWXrMXUk1VErUmfU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiy34WgocXYAhVBrI8KHUyeDoEQ6AEIZDAK#v=onepage&q=mandal%20theory%20of%20kautilya&f=false
13. Kautilya’s Mandala Theory – http://rjhssonline.com/HTMLPaper.aspx?Journal=Research%20Journal%20of%20Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences;PID=2012-3-1-32
14. Populism – https://www.britannica.com/topic/populism
15. International Comparison Programme – http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/icp
16. What is Right – wing Populism? – http://www.politicalresearch.org/report/up-in-arms-a-guide-to-oregons-patriot-movement/up-in-arms-section-i/the-patriot-movement-historically-nationally/what-is-right-wing-populism/#sthash.S3TyGQqE.dpbs
17. Trump’s populist wing on the rise – http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/trumps-populist-wing-on-the-rise/index.html
18. With the worst history of xenophobia, Germany has taken in the most refugees of any European Country. The stakes of the experiment are high. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/10/europe-immigration-muslim-refugees-portraits/
19. 2015: The Year of Europe’s Refugee Crisis – http://tracks.unhcr.org/2015/12/2015-the-year-of-europes-refugee-crisis/
20. Migrant Crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911
21. Why Right-wing groups are on the rise in Europe – https://youtu.be/jaWGCaNj1Vw
22. CIA Report: – Iran: Exporting the Revolution – https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81B00401R000500100001-8.pdf
23. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division: Country Profile – Saudi Arabia https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/profiles/Saudi_Arabia.pdf
24. Why Saudi Arabia and Iran are better rivals – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42008809
25. International Policy Analysis: Right-Wing Populism and Authoritarian Nationalism in the U.S. and Europe – http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/13395.pdf
26. Examining the Rise of Right Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=honors_theses