As the year 2011 slowly cements its place into history, this is an attempt on the part of this writer to analyze some of the most important moments and events of this tumultuous year.
A year of protests and revolutions
This has been a year of protests and revolutions. This year will probably be considered as the “year of misfortune and tumult” by establishments all over the World. People all over the World have risen up against their establishments. The question is why so many people have been so much angry against their establishments at the same time? Is it all because of the spread of social networks? Or is it the overbearing economic inequality that has enabled these protests? Or is it the early success of the protestors in Tunisia and Egypt that gave hope to the protestors in European capitals or the occupiers in the United States? One thing is certain here. The people who have been protesting on the streets whether they are in New York or Cairo do not trust those who are in power.
What is curious is that the distrust of the authorities on the part of their populations is somewhat of a universal nature. Whether it is the occupiers in the Wall Street or those protesting in Libya or those rioting on the streets of London, Athens and Rome have a striking similarity. None of them trust their establishments whether they are democratic or authoritarian in nature. Should all these be attributed to the economic disparities that are widely prevalent in both Europe, large parts of West, East and Southern Asia as well as in America?
Most of these protests that we have seen are from the urbanized populations. Although it does not mean that the rural populations have been happy with their establishments but what is clear here is that the urbanized people in most Western and Arab capitals have lost faith in the systems that nurture these economic inequalities.
Now historically people come on the street and protest in a spontaneous way like they have been doing throughout this year for two reasons. First of all, people would come to the streets when they have lost hope that the establishment, whether it is authoritarian or democratic in nature, can improve their condition. Secondly and this is the probably the most important reason of all , if the populations are assured that by going on to the streets and protesting will help them overthrow their establishments and change their futures , surely they will do so.
One pattern is also very much clear from these popular movements. Those movements who have specific goals and objectives and those movements which are carried out by decisive and organized parties, have got better chances to succeed. This is clear from the examples of Ennahda in Tunisia and Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. The reason behind this is that any popular movement which challenges a long-entrenched establishment is bound to generate chaos and instability in the process. Those movements, who are most organized and decisive and in clear mind about their goals, are the ones who have got better chances to succeed than others with questionable organization skills and lack of clear goals.
This is probably the reason that the occupy movements in the USA and those in Europe have not yielded much success so far compared to what the popular movements have achieved in North Africa.
Rise of the technocrats
The ongoing fiscal uncertainties that continue to darken the European horizon have also brought into light a clear pattern. Countries like Greece and Italy have seen tremendous public opposition to the economic austerity policies which were carried out by their popularly-elected governments at the encouragement of their powerful donors in international finance communities.
Now after the popularly-elected governments failed to implement the austerity packages as demanded from the European Union hierarchies, we saw popularly elected governments in both Greece and Italy resign under pressure and these governments being replaced by non-elected bureaucrats, who have been termed derisively as “technocrats” and “eurocrats”.
These are the governments which do not need to fear the ballot boxes. They are not accountable to the public wish.
This brings a serious question into place. What Greece and Italy show us is that in crisis situations, decisive and firm leaderships are more preferable to the establishments than the chaos and indecisiveness of democratic elections.
This is true since crisis situations sometimes demand unpopular decisions. Sometimes it is not safe to place those unpopular decisions at the mercy of popular will through the ballot boxes. After all not all men vote knowing exactly for what and why he is voting.
Now that does not bode well for democracy. If Europe, the cradle of democracy, while facing a crisis, decides to terminate popular mandates, in favor of authority, then surely no one can blame those in power in China and Russia, for taking similar steps.
Another important question that comes here is that are democracies as we know them are always “of the people, for the people, by the people”? Does all are really equal in a democratic set-up when it comes to influence and decision making? Say for example an urban unemployed young man and a banking tycoon are theoretically in the same league since both of them have got similar rights of vote but are they really equal in terms of influencing the system? The banking tycoon through his financial resources has got better chances to influence decision making at the highest level that the unemployed urban young man can never hope to do. The Banker also can influence the political decisions through lobbying and other efforts which are more or less allowed to him by modern Western democracies. Does that mean that democracies are naturally conducive to equality?
This is a question that needs serious thought, introspections and discussions. This is probably the biggest question that established democracies around the World will have to face in 2012. At this moment, they do not have any ready answers to this question.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Why all personal tragedies in India become numbers in the end ?
Prakash was like any other middle-class Indian. He was a young man in his early thirties. After completing his MBA from a prestigious management institute, he bagged a job in one of the biggest multi-national corporations. Happily married to his beautiful, young wife, he was the only earning member of his family. Recently the work pressure at his office was taking tall in his health, so he decided to visit a nearby Hospital. Doctors advised him, to put up a few days in a hospital. Since he could afford it, he went into one of the highly-paying hospitals in the city. His family was relieved that that now Prakash was in care of one of the best hospitals in the city. Suddenly just one day after they had admitted Prakash into the hospital, they received an official phone call from the hospital. There was a dramatic fire incident at the hospital and Prakash was one of those dead who died because of lack of breathing air.
Preethi was like any other middle-class Indian housewife. She loved her husband and their little girl of two. She loved to cook and often boasted about her cooking prowess to her neighbors. She loved watching those reality shows and soap operas. One day while playing with her little daughter, she met a small accident. The doctors, after some tests, assured her husband and the rest of the family, that it was just another small fracture at her feet. Some days rest and some treatment will cure her. The family admitted her in one of the most-costly hospitals in the city. Just one night after Preethi was admitted; her husband received a phone call from her around midnight. “Come quickly, there is a major fire here, I am unable to breathe” – those were the final words from Preethi before the call got disconnected. When her husband reached the hospital, he found her Preethi but she was lifeless at that time.
Malli was one of the three children from a small Kerala village. Her father was a small farmer and her mother was a house-maid. Both her elder brothers decided to move to the Gulf for jobs. One of them was a driver of a big oil-tycoon Sheikh in Kuwait city and another was working as a hotel waiter at an Italian restaurant in Bahrain. Malli herself after completing her formal education completed the nursing course and then got a nursing job in a big hospital in one of the metros. She was happy with her life when she was able to send a portion of her meager salary to her family back home. One night there was a huge fire in her ward, she did her best to rescue as many people as she could but the effects smoke and poisonous smoke ensured that Malli herself could not be saved.
Now all these three people, Prakash, Preethi and Malli were like any one of us. Their personal tragedies as tragic as they are will have a common ending. They will be on the headlines of the newspapers, commented upon excessively in the television channels and chatted around social network forums , political parties will try to score points over each other and then after some days and if they lucky may be for a week later they will turn into numbers.
When a personal tragedy just becomes another number, it losses the tragedy part of it. The personal loss becomes just another incident and the tragic end of the person behind that fades into oblivion. Numbers and facts do not deal with the amount of emotions involved or the severity of these tremendous personal losses. When we read about the tragedies of a girl like Malli or a youth like Prakash, we can relate ourselves with those tragedies because we know at the back of our minds that similar things can happen to us or may have already happened to our relatives, friends or some very close ones. When we read in the newspaper or Internet in a headline such as “89 people dies in fire accident”, we do not relate ourselves to it. It just remains what it is. It is a tragic fact but to most of us in the end it is only another piece of arithmetic.
That is the ultimate end that happens to all the tragedies. They turn into numbers. In India, there is no end to personal and collective tragedies. We die in hundreds and thousands through train accidents, communal riots, caste violence, fire incidents , consuming tainted alcohol , industrial accidents , committing suicide after the death of some famous political or film celebrity or after India losses to the arch-rivals in Cricket and myriad other ways.
But after all one thing is common in all these deaths. After sometimes, when the media and other instruments of the respectable civil society, are sure that they can extract more attention out of these personal tragedies, they very conveniently turn their focuses on some other tragedies. After all in a country like ours there is no dearth of tragedies.
Take few examples. How many amongst us can remember the names of those farmers who committed suicide last month since they were unable to pay their rising debts? How many of us can remember the names of those victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy? How many amongst us can remember the names of the Chasnala colliery disaster victims? As I write this, I can see a picture in a very famous Bengali language newspaper. I can see the dead bodies of people who died just days back after consuming tainted alcohol in the state being piled and stacked upon a cycle van as if they are heaps of garbage, needed to be disposed of. How many of their names and stories will we ever come to know?
May be the reason behind this apathy in India is that we are so numerous and disorganized as a people that we do not value much beyond our own lives. That could be one reason that when we hear tragedies like these we just do not care enough about these incidents.
Or may be in India we are too much prone to violence and death that we have resigned ourselves to the view that these tragedies are in fact a normal course of life. We see so many instances of violence and death all around us that we are immune to these horrific personal tragedies beyond a certain level. Or have we become just too individualistic to care about the deaths like these? I guess it is a combination of all these factors.
Every time such a tragedy occurs, we will condemn those who we think are behind all these, demand their punishments and then just as those events occurred we will go to the hibernation mood. After all, in India our toleration of tragedies such as those of Bhopal and Chasnala are legendary. So it will ensure that the fundamental causes behind those tragedies will never come to an end. Our tolerance will ensure that.
So after these tragic events, we will burn candles and promise “never again” and then go on to the perpetual hibernation until the next tragedy gives us the opportunity to burn candles and promise.
The names of the persons I have used in this article i.e. those of Prakash, Preethi and Malli, may or may not have any resemblance to reality. I used those names in the belief that uttering them for at least once more will ensure that at least some personal tragedies will be viewed as what they are i.e. real , terrible human losses and not mere numbers.
Preethi was like any other middle-class Indian housewife. She loved her husband and their little girl of two. She loved to cook and often boasted about her cooking prowess to her neighbors. She loved watching those reality shows and soap operas. One day while playing with her little daughter, she met a small accident. The doctors, after some tests, assured her husband and the rest of the family, that it was just another small fracture at her feet. Some days rest and some treatment will cure her. The family admitted her in one of the most-costly hospitals in the city. Just one night after Preethi was admitted; her husband received a phone call from her around midnight. “Come quickly, there is a major fire here, I am unable to breathe” – those were the final words from Preethi before the call got disconnected. When her husband reached the hospital, he found her Preethi but she was lifeless at that time.
Malli was one of the three children from a small Kerala village. Her father was a small farmer and her mother was a house-maid. Both her elder brothers decided to move to the Gulf for jobs. One of them was a driver of a big oil-tycoon Sheikh in Kuwait city and another was working as a hotel waiter at an Italian restaurant in Bahrain. Malli herself after completing her formal education completed the nursing course and then got a nursing job in a big hospital in one of the metros. She was happy with her life when she was able to send a portion of her meager salary to her family back home. One night there was a huge fire in her ward, she did her best to rescue as many people as she could but the effects smoke and poisonous smoke ensured that Malli herself could not be saved.
Now all these three people, Prakash, Preethi and Malli were like any one of us. Their personal tragedies as tragic as they are will have a common ending. They will be on the headlines of the newspapers, commented upon excessively in the television channels and chatted around social network forums , political parties will try to score points over each other and then after some days and if they lucky may be for a week later they will turn into numbers.
When a personal tragedy just becomes another number, it losses the tragedy part of it. The personal loss becomes just another incident and the tragic end of the person behind that fades into oblivion. Numbers and facts do not deal with the amount of emotions involved or the severity of these tremendous personal losses. When we read about the tragedies of a girl like Malli or a youth like Prakash, we can relate ourselves with those tragedies because we know at the back of our minds that similar things can happen to us or may have already happened to our relatives, friends or some very close ones. When we read in the newspaper or Internet in a headline such as “89 people dies in fire accident”, we do not relate ourselves to it. It just remains what it is. It is a tragic fact but to most of us in the end it is only another piece of arithmetic.
That is the ultimate end that happens to all the tragedies. They turn into numbers. In India, there is no end to personal and collective tragedies. We die in hundreds and thousands through train accidents, communal riots, caste violence, fire incidents , consuming tainted alcohol , industrial accidents , committing suicide after the death of some famous political or film celebrity or after India losses to the arch-rivals in Cricket and myriad other ways.
But after all one thing is common in all these deaths. After sometimes, when the media and other instruments of the respectable civil society, are sure that they can extract more attention out of these personal tragedies, they very conveniently turn their focuses on some other tragedies. After all in a country like ours there is no dearth of tragedies.
Take few examples. How many amongst us can remember the names of those farmers who committed suicide last month since they were unable to pay their rising debts? How many of us can remember the names of those victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy? How many amongst us can remember the names of the Chasnala colliery disaster victims? As I write this, I can see a picture in a very famous Bengali language newspaper. I can see the dead bodies of people who died just days back after consuming tainted alcohol in the state being piled and stacked upon a cycle van as if they are heaps of garbage, needed to be disposed of. How many of their names and stories will we ever come to know?
May be the reason behind this apathy in India is that we are so numerous and disorganized as a people that we do not value much beyond our own lives. That could be one reason that when we hear tragedies like these we just do not care enough about these incidents.
Or may be in India we are too much prone to violence and death that we have resigned ourselves to the view that these tragedies are in fact a normal course of life. We see so many instances of violence and death all around us that we are immune to these horrific personal tragedies beyond a certain level. Or have we become just too individualistic to care about the deaths like these? I guess it is a combination of all these factors.
Every time such a tragedy occurs, we will condemn those who we think are behind all these, demand their punishments and then just as those events occurred we will go to the hibernation mood. After all, in India our toleration of tragedies such as those of Bhopal and Chasnala are legendary. So it will ensure that the fundamental causes behind those tragedies will never come to an end. Our tolerance will ensure that.
So after these tragic events, we will burn candles and promise “never again” and then go on to the perpetual hibernation until the next tragedy gives us the opportunity to burn candles and promise.
The names of the persons I have used in this article i.e. those of Prakash, Preethi and Malli, may or may not have any resemblance to reality. I used those names in the belief that uttering them for at least once more will ensure that at least some personal tragedies will be viewed as what they are i.e. real , terrible human losses and not mere numbers.
Friday, December 16, 2011
A clash of two victimisms
As the popular movements continue to sweep the whole Arab World, the familiar rivalry continues between Israel and Iran.
This is not that arrived yesterday. When Israel first came into being, Israeli leader David Ben Gurion, in order to offset the Arab opposition and rejection of Israel, emphasized closer ties with major non-Arab peoples in the region. These included having generally good ties with Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia.
Both Iran and Turkey were under largely pro-Western regimes i.e. Turkey under the Kemalist elite and Iran under the jack boot of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Both regimes largely accommodated all major Western interests in the region. Keeping a distance away from Kremlin, being nice to Israel and particularly in the case of Iran the terms of vassalage meant selling cheap oil to its Western clients.
Yet it was the Iranians who were the first to opt out of this arrangement. When the Iranians booted out the Shah regime from power, it not only inaugurated a new political element in the region but ensured something very interesting in the region.
The Islamic republic of Iran wanted the acknowledgement of the West of its sovereignty.
It wanted to continue to sell her oil to the West but in its own terms. It also did not want to do anything with Israel which the Iranians considered to be oppressive and usurper of the rights of indigenous Palestinians.
Thus began the rivalry between Iran and Israel.
Two peoples, two unique victimhoods
Iran and Israel may have been at each other’s throats for last few decades yet these two nations’ current political systems have tremendous similarities between them in terms of their respective purposes and coming into beings.
Israel was born out of the crematoriums of the holocaust. The Zionist ideology was born out of a sense of fear of the European Jews who thought they will be assimilated into the culture of the Goyim West. It was the ideology of a people who long considered themselves victimized in perpetuity for who they were … “the chosen people of G_D” The struggle for Israel is thereby the struggle of a people who considers themselves eternal victims of the jealousy and hatred of others for their election by G_D.
The Islamic republic of Iran also considers itself a victim. Iranians consider themselves the victims of the greed of a materialistic Western civilization which wants to exploit Iran’s material resources on terms which are strictly unfavorable to Iran. The Islamic revolutionaries also consider believe the Iranian culture to be a victim of the promiscuous and permissive culture of the West.
History supports the views of Iranian Islamic revolutionaries. When Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the Oil industry and kicked out the British oil interests, the first Iranian leader to do so, he was unceremoniously sacked in a coup inspired and financed by the USA and UK.
What followed was 26 years of brutal suppression of the Iranian people’s wish to be free and sovereign under the Shah regime, imposed and encouraged by the West. The Shah regime allowed Iranian women to show off their bodies to whoever they would like to, but took away the rights of the Iranian people to be free.
However the most important inspiration of the Islamic republic is the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at Karbala , a millennium ago. From that time, the followers of Imam Hussein take inspiration from the fact that Imam Hussein refused to bow down to the dictates of the tyrannical and illegitimate ruler Yezid.
The followers of Hussein from that very day consider death more preferable than bowing to the dictates of what they consider arrogant and tyrants.
The Islamic republic also considers itself another Hussein fighting for its sovereignty and that of other unfortunate people like the Palestinians against the arrogant and tyrannical West.
The Islamic republic knows the consequences of its non-compliance to the current international system brings in economic sanctions, cyber attacks like that of Stuxnet variety, sabotage of its infrastructure and even assassinations of some its best scientists.
Still it remains unafraid. Iran considers its right to have a nuclear program as befitting a sovereign people and is willing to fight for that right which the current international system wants to take away from it.
This is probably the reason the Iranians did not use chemical weapons against their Iraqi enemies despite having that option. Iran believed it was fighting another Yezid in Saddam who was using those very same Chemical weapons against Iran, supplied by the West. Iran considered Chemical weapons against the conventions of war and decided not to use it despite losing thousands to those weapons.
Similarly, the Iranian supreme leader continues to veto the option of building of the nuclear bombs despite having the option to do so when almost every security analyst in the World including some Israelis think they will be justified to do so.
The world awaits another Karbala.
This is not that arrived yesterday. When Israel first came into being, Israeli leader David Ben Gurion, in order to offset the Arab opposition and rejection of Israel, emphasized closer ties with major non-Arab peoples in the region. These included having generally good ties with Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia.
Both Iran and Turkey were under largely pro-Western regimes i.e. Turkey under the Kemalist elite and Iran under the jack boot of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Both regimes largely accommodated all major Western interests in the region. Keeping a distance away from Kremlin, being nice to Israel and particularly in the case of Iran the terms of vassalage meant selling cheap oil to its Western clients.
Yet it was the Iranians who were the first to opt out of this arrangement. When the Iranians booted out the Shah regime from power, it not only inaugurated a new political element in the region but ensured something very interesting in the region.
The Islamic republic of Iran wanted the acknowledgement of the West of its sovereignty.
It wanted to continue to sell her oil to the West but in its own terms. It also did not want to do anything with Israel which the Iranians considered to be oppressive and usurper of the rights of indigenous Palestinians.
Thus began the rivalry between Iran and Israel.
Two peoples, two unique victimhoods
Iran and Israel may have been at each other’s throats for last few decades yet these two nations’ current political systems have tremendous similarities between them in terms of their respective purposes and coming into beings.
Israel was born out of the crematoriums of the holocaust. The Zionist ideology was born out of a sense of fear of the European Jews who thought they will be assimilated into the culture of the Goyim West. It was the ideology of a people who long considered themselves victimized in perpetuity for who they were … “the chosen people of G_D” The struggle for Israel is thereby the struggle of a people who considers themselves eternal victims of the jealousy and hatred of others for their election by G_D.
The Islamic republic of Iran also considers itself a victim. Iranians consider themselves the victims of the greed of a materialistic Western civilization which wants to exploit Iran’s material resources on terms which are strictly unfavorable to Iran. The Islamic revolutionaries also consider believe the Iranian culture to be a victim of the promiscuous and permissive culture of the West.
History supports the views of Iranian Islamic revolutionaries. When Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the Oil industry and kicked out the British oil interests, the first Iranian leader to do so, he was unceremoniously sacked in a coup inspired and financed by the USA and UK.
What followed was 26 years of brutal suppression of the Iranian people’s wish to be free and sovereign under the Shah regime, imposed and encouraged by the West. The Shah regime allowed Iranian women to show off their bodies to whoever they would like to, but took away the rights of the Iranian people to be free.
However the most important inspiration of the Islamic republic is the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at Karbala , a millennium ago. From that time, the followers of Imam Hussein take inspiration from the fact that Imam Hussein refused to bow down to the dictates of the tyrannical and illegitimate ruler Yezid.
The followers of Hussein from that very day consider death more preferable than bowing to the dictates of what they consider arrogant and tyrants.
The Islamic republic also considers itself another Hussein fighting for its sovereignty and that of other unfortunate people like the Palestinians against the arrogant and tyrannical West.
The Islamic republic knows the consequences of its non-compliance to the current international system brings in economic sanctions, cyber attacks like that of Stuxnet variety, sabotage of its infrastructure and even assassinations of some its best scientists.
Still it remains unafraid. Iran considers its right to have a nuclear program as befitting a sovereign people and is willing to fight for that right which the current international system wants to take away from it.
This is probably the reason the Iranians did not use chemical weapons against their Iraqi enemies despite having that option. Iran believed it was fighting another Yezid in Saddam who was using those very same Chemical weapons against Iran, supplied by the West. Iran considered Chemical weapons against the conventions of war and decided not to use it despite losing thousands to those weapons.
Similarly, the Iranian supreme leader continues to veto the option of building of the nuclear bombs despite having the option to do so when almost every security analyst in the World including some Israelis think they will be justified to do so.
The world awaits another Karbala.
Strategic Vision 2020-Turkey
Introduction
The prominent role Turkey has played during the ongoing events in the Arab world is a long-awaited natural fulfillment of its historical responsibilities in the region. To solidify and expand its role and influences, the current leadership of Turkey needs to define its strategic objectives for the next decade from now on.
Here are the below objectives I believe Turkey should set for itself for the next decade.
Achieving a strong and sustainable economic foundation for the next decade
Historically, the most important pre-requisite for achieving international respectability and influence is to have a strong and sustainable economic foundation. A strong economy also ensures a strong and sustainable resource allocation towards military and strategic usages. This is exactly the way the European powers took towards international glory and great power status in the 19-th century, the United States took in the 20-th century and China has been taking in our times. Turkey has been on a strong path of growth in the recent years; easily achieving unforeseen growth rates that it has never seen previously. It needs to maintain this momentum throughout the coming decade and if possible to expand more. Here are some of the steps I believe the Turkish leadership should look to work to sustain its strong economic momentum in recent years.
1. Establishment of a common-market zone in the region:
One of the issues that may impact Turkey’s economic foundation in future could be its trade and other deficits. One of the most proven ways to control those deficits is to increase exports. The post-revolution countries in the West Asian and North African region are the natural markets for Turkish products and services. The current Turkish leadership has been working towards this for some time now by initiating a common-market and open-border mechanism with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Now this same mechanism could be created for the post-revolutionary countries in the region like Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq and Libya once the revolutionary dust settles in these countries. Turkey should work with Iran to include Tehran also in this set-up for better regional integration. A similar kind of relationship could be worked upon with the central Asian as well as Balkan countries considering the historical fraternal ties that Turkey enjoys with these countries in the region. These countries in question would need a lot of enhancement and improvement in terms of their infrastructure. Turkey can offer great help to these countries in this regard. A free trade mechanism would help Turkish companies to fulfill these demands of the regional countries. This common market as a principle should enable a free flow of goods and services across the borders of the member countries as well as offering an opportunity
2. Exploiting the energy potential of the Eastern Mediterranean sea:
Achieving energy independence is also very important for turkey for establishing the strong economic base. The Eastern Mediterranean provides Turkey an excellent opportunity for exploiting its potentials. The Eastern Mediterranean area according to a recent US geological survey estimates may well contain 120 tcf (approximate) amount of natural gas. The countries which are in the region are Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Cypriots. Israel and Greek Cypriots are already planning a collaboration effort in this regard for the exploration of the natural resources in the area. Lebanon and Turkish Cypriots are also looking for assistance in helping out them for possible exploration opportunities in the region. Turkey should look to help these countries in this regard. Regarding the situation with the possible collaboration between Greek Cypriots and Israel in exploiting the natural resources of the area; let us consider the fact that Greece, the traditional patron of the Greek Cypriots is going through a terrible economic situation and is in desperate need of financial help to avoid bankruptcy. Turkey can think about collaboration with a country for example China to offer Athens its much needed financial help in exchange of Athens using its good offices with Greek Cypriots to allow Turkey and China to collaborate in exploration of natural gas in marine territory under the control of Athens and Nicosia. From the perspective of Greece as well as the Greek Cypriots, the option of collaboration with two of the fastest growing economies in the World should be a better proposition that dealing with an increasingly isolated Israel. The recent economic collaboration treaty between Turkey and Egypt is a step in the right direction. The ultimate objective of Turkish policy in the Mediterranean should be to create a common-market approach with the like-minded nations in the area for securing the continuous exploitation and transportation of the vital natural resources in the area.
Establishing a more democratic and representative order in the Arab World
The current situation in West Asia and the wider region represent a conflict between two competing philosophies. On one side there is Israel and her Western backers led by the USA and supported by the monarchical regimes in the Gulf. The main objective of these regimes is to stall the march of freedom i.e. to ensure the status-quo which has been in effect since the end of 1967-war between Israel and the Arab states. On the other hand there are these nascent movements as can be seen in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and elsewhere calling for a change in the situation. These movements call for more popular participation in the political affairs of the countries as well as a dignified and just resolution to the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Considering the current Turkish leadership has strongly supported these nascent political movements for freedom and change in the Arab world, it is fitting for Turkey to consolidate, organize and help the freedom movements in the Arab world reach their objectives. These are the approaches Turkey should follow in my view during the next decade.
1. Presenting a justifiable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – Thanks to the inflexible approach of the Israeli side and the unimpressive American mediation efforts the internationally approved two-state solution looks increasingly bleak. If the Palestinian bid for statehood fails in the current UN general session then there will be only one justifiable solution left for all the concerned parties in the region i.e. an one-state solution whereby all the inhabitants of the region i.e. Jews , Christians and Muslims can live with peace and prosperity in one single democratic state. There is already a camp among both the Palestinians as well as non-Zionist Jews like those belonging to Neturei Karta who does support a democratic one-state solution for all the peoples in the holy land. Even Israeli rightwing politicians such as Reuven Rivlin have supported similar position in past.It will do Turkey a lot of favor in terms of world public opinion to support a future movement for a possible democratic and inclusive one-state solution to the problem.
2. Supporting potential movements of freedom in the status–quo states of the region: Turkey should start encouraging and organizing popular movements in the countries of the region which call for greater political participation in the political affairs of the countries of region. Supporting pro-democracy groups in places like Bahrain would help Turkish pro-democracy and pro-freedom credentials in the wider Muslim world.
3. A regional approach: Turkey should try to establish strong economic and strategic relationships with the SCO or Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries and especially Russia and China. Having a strong relationship with those countries would allow Turkey a lot of maneuverability in terms of its existing strategic equations with the NATO-allied countries in general and the USA, UK and France in particular. Turkey needs this maneuverability considering that it’s interests in the Arab world will not always be at the same length with that of its NATO partners in all the times as we have seen in case of Iranian nuclear question as well as the Israeli-Palestinian issues.
In case of crisis situations like the one we have seen in Libya; Turkey should work to create a regional body to enforce law and order as well as finding out a just and politically acceptable solution to the crisis situations like the one in Libya. This regional body should include prominent countries in the region like Turkey, Egypt, Iran etc and it could also consider involving organizations like OIC, SCO and AU in the handling of crisis situations in the region. Without any regional approaches initiated to conflict prevention and conflict resolution we can see further interventions from actors outside the region like in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya with tragic consequences for everyone in the region.
4. A new approach towards the EU: Turkey needs to have a revised approach towards the EU. Instead of adopting its policies vis a vis Europe as a whole block, Turkey should consider forging relationships with individual EU countries based upon its interests and concerns. Historically, there have been only three major power players in the European hemisphere i.e. UK, France and Germany. Now alike their historical past, the countries in question do have divergence of interests in a lot of issues as we have seen in the recent events in Libya. Turkey needs to adopt its policies in keeping this fact in mind. There is another strong reason behind adopting policies with individual EU countries. Considering the current difficult economic scenarios it will be interesting to observe whether the EU is able to maintain its integrity and continued existence as a continent-wide block. If the EU is not able to maintain its integrity in the future, then Turkey would need to weigh its options based upon its interests.
Conclusion
The Arab spring has presented a set of unique opportunities for Turkey to lead a new order in the region with new hopes and expectations. If the Turkish leadership decides to encourage and strengthen these new approaches of collaboration and integration as is currently prevalent in the region; undoubtedly a more prosperous and independent order will come into being in the region.
The prominent role Turkey has played during the ongoing events in the Arab world is a long-awaited natural fulfillment of its historical responsibilities in the region. To solidify and expand its role and influences, the current leadership of Turkey needs to define its strategic objectives for the next decade from now on.
Here are the below objectives I believe Turkey should set for itself for the next decade.
Achieving a strong and sustainable economic foundation for the next decade
Historically, the most important pre-requisite for achieving international respectability and influence is to have a strong and sustainable economic foundation. A strong economy also ensures a strong and sustainable resource allocation towards military and strategic usages. This is exactly the way the European powers took towards international glory and great power status in the 19-th century, the United States took in the 20-th century and China has been taking in our times. Turkey has been on a strong path of growth in the recent years; easily achieving unforeseen growth rates that it has never seen previously. It needs to maintain this momentum throughout the coming decade and if possible to expand more. Here are some of the steps I believe the Turkish leadership should look to work to sustain its strong economic momentum in recent years.
1. Establishment of a common-market zone in the region:
One of the issues that may impact Turkey’s economic foundation in future could be its trade and other deficits. One of the most proven ways to control those deficits is to increase exports. The post-revolution countries in the West Asian and North African region are the natural markets for Turkish products and services. The current Turkish leadership has been working towards this for some time now by initiating a common-market and open-border mechanism with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Now this same mechanism could be created for the post-revolutionary countries in the region like Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq and Libya once the revolutionary dust settles in these countries. Turkey should work with Iran to include Tehran also in this set-up for better regional integration. A similar kind of relationship could be worked upon with the central Asian as well as Balkan countries considering the historical fraternal ties that Turkey enjoys with these countries in the region. These countries in question would need a lot of enhancement and improvement in terms of their infrastructure. Turkey can offer great help to these countries in this regard. A free trade mechanism would help Turkish companies to fulfill these demands of the regional countries. This common market as a principle should enable a free flow of goods and services across the borders of the member countries as well as offering an opportunity
2. Exploiting the energy potential of the Eastern Mediterranean sea:
Achieving energy independence is also very important for turkey for establishing the strong economic base. The Eastern Mediterranean provides Turkey an excellent opportunity for exploiting its potentials. The Eastern Mediterranean area according to a recent US geological survey estimates may well contain 120 tcf (approximate) amount of natural gas. The countries which are in the region are Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Cypriots. Israel and Greek Cypriots are already planning a collaboration effort in this regard for the exploration of the natural resources in the area. Lebanon and Turkish Cypriots are also looking for assistance in helping out them for possible exploration opportunities in the region. Turkey should look to help these countries in this regard. Regarding the situation with the possible collaboration between Greek Cypriots and Israel in exploiting the natural resources of the area; let us consider the fact that Greece, the traditional patron of the Greek Cypriots is going through a terrible economic situation and is in desperate need of financial help to avoid bankruptcy. Turkey can think about collaboration with a country for example China to offer Athens its much needed financial help in exchange of Athens using its good offices with Greek Cypriots to allow Turkey and China to collaborate in exploration of natural gas in marine territory under the control of Athens and Nicosia. From the perspective of Greece as well as the Greek Cypriots, the option of collaboration with two of the fastest growing economies in the World should be a better proposition that dealing with an increasingly isolated Israel. The recent economic collaboration treaty between Turkey and Egypt is a step in the right direction. The ultimate objective of Turkish policy in the Mediterranean should be to create a common-market approach with the like-minded nations in the area for securing the continuous exploitation and transportation of the vital natural resources in the area.
Establishing a more democratic and representative order in the Arab World
The current situation in West Asia and the wider region represent a conflict between two competing philosophies. On one side there is Israel and her Western backers led by the USA and supported by the monarchical regimes in the Gulf. The main objective of these regimes is to stall the march of freedom i.e. to ensure the status-quo which has been in effect since the end of 1967-war between Israel and the Arab states. On the other hand there are these nascent movements as can be seen in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and elsewhere calling for a change in the situation. These movements call for more popular participation in the political affairs of the countries as well as a dignified and just resolution to the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Considering the current Turkish leadership has strongly supported these nascent political movements for freedom and change in the Arab world, it is fitting for Turkey to consolidate, organize and help the freedom movements in the Arab world reach their objectives. These are the approaches Turkey should follow in my view during the next decade.
1. Presenting a justifiable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – Thanks to the inflexible approach of the Israeli side and the unimpressive American mediation efforts the internationally approved two-state solution looks increasingly bleak. If the Palestinian bid for statehood fails in the current UN general session then there will be only one justifiable solution left for all the concerned parties in the region i.e. an one-state solution whereby all the inhabitants of the region i.e. Jews , Christians and Muslims can live with peace and prosperity in one single democratic state. There is already a camp among both the Palestinians as well as non-Zionist Jews like those belonging to Neturei Karta who does support a democratic one-state solution for all the peoples in the holy land. Even Israeli rightwing politicians such as Reuven Rivlin have supported similar position in past.It will do Turkey a lot of favor in terms of world public opinion to support a future movement for a possible democratic and inclusive one-state solution to the problem.
2. Supporting potential movements of freedom in the status–quo states of the region: Turkey should start encouraging and organizing popular movements in the countries of the region which call for greater political participation in the political affairs of the countries of region. Supporting pro-democracy groups in places like Bahrain would help Turkish pro-democracy and pro-freedom credentials in the wider Muslim world.
3. A regional approach: Turkey should try to establish strong economic and strategic relationships with the SCO or Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries and especially Russia and China. Having a strong relationship with those countries would allow Turkey a lot of maneuverability in terms of its existing strategic equations with the NATO-allied countries in general and the USA, UK and France in particular. Turkey needs this maneuverability considering that it’s interests in the Arab world will not always be at the same length with that of its NATO partners in all the times as we have seen in case of Iranian nuclear question as well as the Israeli-Palestinian issues.
In case of crisis situations like the one we have seen in Libya; Turkey should work to create a regional body to enforce law and order as well as finding out a just and politically acceptable solution to the crisis situations like the one in Libya. This regional body should include prominent countries in the region like Turkey, Egypt, Iran etc and it could also consider involving organizations like OIC, SCO and AU in the handling of crisis situations in the region. Without any regional approaches initiated to conflict prevention and conflict resolution we can see further interventions from actors outside the region like in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya with tragic consequences for everyone in the region.
4. A new approach towards the EU: Turkey needs to have a revised approach towards the EU. Instead of adopting its policies vis a vis Europe as a whole block, Turkey should consider forging relationships with individual EU countries based upon its interests and concerns. Historically, there have been only three major power players in the European hemisphere i.e. UK, France and Germany. Now alike their historical past, the countries in question do have divergence of interests in a lot of issues as we have seen in the recent events in Libya. Turkey needs to adopt its policies in keeping this fact in mind. There is another strong reason behind adopting policies with individual EU countries. Considering the current difficult economic scenarios it will be interesting to observe whether the EU is able to maintain its integrity and continued existence as a continent-wide block. If the EU is not able to maintain its integrity in the future, then Turkey would need to weigh its options based upon its interests.
Conclusion
The Arab spring has presented a set of unique opportunities for Turkey to lead a new order in the region with new hopes and expectations. If the Turkish leadership decides to encourage and strengthen these new approaches of collaboration and integration as is currently prevalent in the region; undoubtedly a more prosperous and independent order will come into being in the region.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Lessons to learn from the tragedy at AMRI
After hearing the tragic news of what happened at AMRI today, I too have been shocked and sad at the carnage that took many valuable lives of patients. But after all the shock and grieve, we need to come to our senses and need to learn some useful lessons from this episode.
My emotions on this tragedy are of shock, horror and most alarmingly, I have a sense of fear that this points to something diabolically wrong with us as a people.
As usual I am shocked on the incident considering the pain of those who trusted the hospital authorities before admitting their loved ones and expected those patients would be taken care of well.
As a resident of Kolkata, I know how hard it is for common people in Kolkata to admit some relative to a hospital like that of AMRI. The reason behind that is that it is extremely difficult for common people to pay those exponentially amount of bills of a hospital like AMRI. Until and unless, it is absolute emergency, people do not find it conducive to admit patients simply because of the ever increasing hospital tariffs. Yet people admit their loved ones, simply because AMRI is a high brand-name when it comes to Hospitals in Kolkata.
To explain how high the bills could become let me give one example. I remember one of my friends admitting his mother in one of those big brand-name hospitals some years back after she was badly burnt in a fire related accident at her home. The doctors diagnosed that she was around 30 per cent burnt. The doctors initially charged around Rs. 6 Lakhs for her treatment for the total duration of one month. They promised that she would be cured well within that period. But even before the one month period had expired, my friend and his relatives were communicated a bill amount of around Rs 30 Lakhs for the patient’s treatment in that time. She, according to her own doctors, was not even properly cured at the time.
Now when you admit some close relative with those very high costs involved, you expect them to be taken care of properly. One assures himself or herself that best treatment and care that his or her hard earned money can buy. Now if this kind of a situation arrives suddenly where after admitting your seriously ill loved one the previous night, you watch with disbelief in the morning that the very hospital has turned into an inferno, and in the evening found out that your relative is no more thanks to the fire, well I do not have any other ways to express that mood. It is of sheer horror.
But what is more alarming to me is the attitude on the part of some people; that leads to those incidents.
My dear readers we talk a lot about corruption in our economy and politics but what about corruption in the morals of our society that causes these kinds of tragedies.
To explain to my dear readers what I mean let me give an example. In one of these highly costly hospitals in Kolkata, a friend of mine had admitted his father. The poor old man’s situation was critical and he needed to be put on with a life support system. After some days, the hospital authorities had declared the patient dead and released the body after obtaining a very heavy bill amount.
Now my friend somehow thought everything was not right about this incident. Fortunately for him, he happened to know someone working closely with the doctors. From him, he got an inside news, his father had passed away some days back before the hospital authorities had actually declared his father dead.
But the doctors, after some very strong pressure from the high level hospital authorities had decided to keep the dead body under life support system just to inflate the bill as much as they can.
Now to me, this was not only horrific or shocking but this represents a clear cut moral issue.
The hospital authorities treat the critical medical cases as businessmen treat business opportunities for profit and as a consequence they are willing to squeeze as much as they can from it.
I remember asking a very high level marketing guy who was working with one of these big brand hospitals, why the tariffs were so high there. He said, the hospital authorities, need to charge that much only to ensure their brand value. The logic involved here is that if the people think they are paying hugely for their treatment, then they will think that is the best treatment they are getting in return.
This to me clearly suggests the moral problem that I am trying to explain here. When patients become money making machines for hospital authorities then surely they will do everything possible in their ways to squeeze the profits out.
That is why, doctors are put under pressure to come up with ever inflating bills and that is why fire-prevention systems are not properly maintained as these may not be very profitable for the hospital owners for various reasons.
The gesture to compensate each of the victims with Rs 5 Lakhs by the respective hospital authority in question is that much cause of alarm for me. It not only highlights an attitude on the part of the authorities that money can buy everything including people’s emotions but it also suggests that no corrective measures will probably taken to prevent these kinds of situations hereafter.
This moral breakdown whereby individual patients are considered another piece of transaction is more of concern to me. And that will not change until we change as a people.
My emotions on this tragedy are of shock, horror and most alarmingly, I have a sense of fear that this points to something diabolically wrong with us as a people.
As usual I am shocked on the incident considering the pain of those who trusted the hospital authorities before admitting their loved ones and expected those patients would be taken care of well.
As a resident of Kolkata, I know how hard it is for common people in Kolkata to admit some relative to a hospital like that of AMRI. The reason behind that is that it is extremely difficult for common people to pay those exponentially amount of bills of a hospital like AMRI. Until and unless, it is absolute emergency, people do not find it conducive to admit patients simply because of the ever increasing hospital tariffs. Yet people admit their loved ones, simply because AMRI is a high brand-name when it comes to Hospitals in Kolkata.
To explain how high the bills could become let me give one example. I remember one of my friends admitting his mother in one of those big brand-name hospitals some years back after she was badly burnt in a fire related accident at her home. The doctors diagnosed that she was around 30 per cent burnt. The doctors initially charged around Rs. 6 Lakhs for her treatment for the total duration of one month. They promised that she would be cured well within that period. But even before the one month period had expired, my friend and his relatives were communicated a bill amount of around Rs 30 Lakhs for the patient’s treatment in that time. She, according to her own doctors, was not even properly cured at the time.
Now when you admit some close relative with those very high costs involved, you expect them to be taken care of properly. One assures himself or herself that best treatment and care that his or her hard earned money can buy. Now if this kind of a situation arrives suddenly where after admitting your seriously ill loved one the previous night, you watch with disbelief in the morning that the very hospital has turned into an inferno, and in the evening found out that your relative is no more thanks to the fire, well I do not have any other ways to express that mood. It is of sheer horror.
But what is more alarming to me is the attitude on the part of some people; that leads to those incidents.
My dear readers we talk a lot about corruption in our economy and politics but what about corruption in the morals of our society that causes these kinds of tragedies.
To explain to my dear readers what I mean let me give an example. In one of these highly costly hospitals in Kolkata, a friend of mine had admitted his father. The poor old man’s situation was critical and he needed to be put on with a life support system. After some days, the hospital authorities had declared the patient dead and released the body after obtaining a very heavy bill amount.
Now my friend somehow thought everything was not right about this incident. Fortunately for him, he happened to know someone working closely with the doctors. From him, he got an inside news, his father had passed away some days back before the hospital authorities had actually declared his father dead.
But the doctors, after some very strong pressure from the high level hospital authorities had decided to keep the dead body under life support system just to inflate the bill as much as they can.
Now to me, this was not only horrific or shocking but this represents a clear cut moral issue.
The hospital authorities treat the critical medical cases as businessmen treat business opportunities for profit and as a consequence they are willing to squeeze as much as they can from it.
I remember asking a very high level marketing guy who was working with one of these big brand hospitals, why the tariffs were so high there. He said, the hospital authorities, need to charge that much only to ensure their brand value. The logic involved here is that if the people think they are paying hugely for their treatment, then they will think that is the best treatment they are getting in return.
This to me clearly suggests the moral problem that I am trying to explain here. When patients become money making machines for hospital authorities then surely they will do everything possible in their ways to squeeze the profits out.
That is why, doctors are put under pressure to come up with ever inflating bills and that is why fire-prevention systems are not properly maintained as these may not be very profitable for the hospital owners for various reasons.
The gesture to compensate each of the victims with Rs 5 Lakhs by the respective hospital authority in question is that much cause of alarm for me. It not only highlights an attitude on the part of the authorities that money can buy everything including people’s emotions but it also suggests that no corrective measures will probably taken to prevent these kinds of situations hereafter.
This moral breakdown whereby individual patients are considered another piece of transaction is more of concern to me. And that will not change until we change as a people.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A fair solution to the European debt crisis from Philip the fair
It was a time of early autumn in Europe. The year was 1307. The time was around mid night. A European king was pacing back and forth in his personal-chamber. The soft and fading light of the lamp was enough only for the King to continue his tireless walk. The night was a beautiful one and even in his tensed mind he was longing to be united with one of his wives even if it was possible as a relief from his worries. But his thoughts kept him awake.
Philip the fair, King of France, was thinking about a possible solution to find enough funds to ensure he could continue to fight his enemies. After fighting for years, not only his coffers were almost empty but he owed a lot of money to the main financer of the day, the templar Knights.
King Philip had tried other methods to gather the funds. He had kicked out the Jews from his Kingdom and seized their properties. He over taxed his nobles. He even offered the Knights templar to unite with a group of Knights favorable to him and join together in a larger group with him at the top, only to be rejected by the Knights.
What was most problematic for him was being in neck deep in debts. He owed so much to the templar Knights that not even he, one of the most powerful monarchs in Christendom could think about repaying them in his lifetime.
He could not do much against the templar Knights since they were protected under the Pope’s authority. “Ohh … papacy, those old monks from that abomination called Rome, ruling the whole World through the turning of their rosaries. Why should a sovereign King send his best men to fight and die on behalf of those old men? So that those old men would continue to demand more tributes from the Monarchs who must as a result burden his nobles and barons with more taxes? Is that the reason those old men continue to blackmail the sovereign monarchs with hell till eternity?” He continued to be agitated as he continued to think on those lines.
He never liked either those templar Knights or those half-baked, old popes. He had refused to fight the enemies of pope before. He even had went as far as publicly burning the bull of one of the popes some years back.
Thankfully he had played his hands right. He was sure that no other monarch would come to the aid of that pope Bonafice whose bull he burnt in public , once he attacked him , since no one was ready to shed their bloods for a conspiring , delusional old man like that Pope Bonafice VIII.
He acted on what his instinct was and he was right. When his men kidnapped the pope Bonafice VIII and locked him up, no significant European Monarch send armies to fight him.
How empty was the last look of that Bonafice VII, that old haggard who had the temerity to excommunicate him, Philippe le Bel. That old monk, had threatened that he will burn in hellfire till eternity yet that representative of God on earth could not protect himself to be kidnapped and locked away, like a child.
That last look of that pope reminded him of himself, once when he was young; he had fallen inside a well while riding a new white stead. He was thinking about riding through those lush, green fields for conquering Jerusalem and suddenly he heard a large thud and the next moment he could only remember, he was inside that well. No lights, there. Knee deep in water he could not think about anything for seconds. He never knew before what it meant to be knee deep in cold water. Thank heavens, his riding aides were behind.
He chuckled and clenched his fist upwards as if he was gesturing to the Almighty about how he treated that pope Bonafice, God’s representative on earth. He thought he had returned a favor to that Monarch up in the heavens.
He knew he needed to do something about those templar Knights if he wanted the money for fighting his wars. His legal advisors had been advising him to do something exactly on that regard. How right was he to select as his advisors real legal experts and not those old monks whom Rome was always willing to impose upon him. “Choose from those who know about the subject best, my son. Never mind about those old men that Rome will send to spy on you.” He remembered the last words of his father. “And, never ever think twice before taking a decision that you think is right”.
These advisors were the ones who advised him to support that ambitious French Bishop Bertrand de Got as pope when everyone else was asking him to support the Italian pretender. They assured that in his way, a Frenchman would reign over the holy sea, and he would reign over that Frenchman. In short, he would reign over the papacy, the dream of every monarch in Europe.
That is why he was thinking so hard at this lovely night, when every noble of his realm enjoying their mistresses. In the end, he wiped his forehead, and massaged his blonde beard. He had thought about it long and hard and it was the time to take a decision. “Loumierre”, he shouted as he came out of his room. The head of his palace guards came rushing to him, “Your command is equal to the command of Christ to us, My Lord”. “Ask Guy to come to me. I have a letter to send to the holy sea.”
That was one of the moments that would change the history of Europe. Philip the fare, King of France, neck deep in debts to the templar Knights who happened to be the biggest bankers and financiers in the Western World at the time, would ensure that his creditors would cease to exist.
King Philip the fare, in his letter, accused the templar Knights of heresy which included accusations of rejecting the divinity of Jesus and taking part in satanic worshipping rituals. The pope who owed his throne to that of Philip, had to remove the protection of papacy that had saved the templar Knights from the wrath of many sovereigns in Europe in the past.
Within days the Templar Knights will be arrested, tortured, forced to accept the charges against them and later being burnt at the stakes. All their properties and lands and title deeds which they had accumulated throughout decades would be confiscated. This will happen not only in France but later all over Europe. Within decades, a prestigious and rich order like the templar Knights will largely be swept into the dust grains of history.
Now looking at the current financial troubles in Europe, one wonders whether a troubled leader may rekindle the spirit of Philip the fare, if he wants so desperately to get out of his debts.
Philip the fair, King of France, was thinking about a possible solution to find enough funds to ensure he could continue to fight his enemies. After fighting for years, not only his coffers were almost empty but he owed a lot of money to the main financer of the day, the templar Knights.
King Philip had tried other methods to gather the funds. He had kicked out the Jews from his Kingdom and seized their properties. He over taxed his nobles. He even offered the Knights templar to unite with a group of Knights favorable to him and join together in a larger group with him at the top, only to be rejected by the Knights.
What was most problematic for him was being in neck deep in debts. He owed so much to the templar Knights that not even he, one of the most powerful monarchs in Christendom could think about repaying them in his lifetime.
He could not do much against the templar Knights since they were protected under the Pope’s authority. “Ohh … papacy, those old monks from that abomination called Rome, ruling the whole World through the turning of their rosaries. Why should a sovereign King send his best men to fight and die on behalf of those old men? So that those old men would continue to demand more tributes from the Monarchs who must as a result burden his nobles and barons with more taxes? Is that the reason those old men continue to blackmail the sovereign monarchs with hell till eternity?” He continued to be agitated as he continued to think on those lines.
He never liked either those templar Knights or those half-baked, old popes. He had refused to fight the enemies of pope before. He even had went as far as publicly burning the bull of one of the popes some years back.
Thankfully he had played his hands right. He was sure that no other monarch would come to the aid of that pope Bonafice whose bull he burnt in public , once he attacked him , since no one was ready to shed their bloods for a conspiring , delusional old man like that Pope Bonafice VIII.
He acted on what his instinct was and he was right. When his men kidnapped the pope Bonafice VIII and locked him up, no significant European Monarch send armies to fight him.
How empty was the last look of that Bonafice VII, that old haggard who had the temerity to excommunicate him, Philippe le Bel. That old monk, had threatened that he will burn in hellfire till eternity yet that representative of God on earth could not protect himself to be kidnapped and locked away, like a child.
That last look of that pope reminded him of himself, once when he was young; he had fallen inside a well while riding a new white stead. He was thinking about riding through those lush, green fields for conquering Jerusalem and suddenly he heard a large thud and the next moment he could only remember, he was inside that well. No lights, there. Knee deep in water he could not think about anything for seconds. He never knew before what it meant to be knee deep in cold water. Thank heavens, his riding aides were behind.
He chuckled and clenched his fist upwards as if he was gesturing to the Almighty about how he treated that pope Bonafice, God’s representative on earth. He thought he had returned a favor to that Monarch up in the heavens.
He knew he needed to do something about those templar Knights if he wanted the money for fighting his wars. His legal advisors had been advising him to do something exactly on that regard. How right was he to select as his advisors real legal experts and not those old monks whom Rome was always willing to impose upon him. “Choose from those who know about the subject best, my son. Never mind about those old men that Rome will send to spy on you.” He remembered the last words of his father. “And, never ever think twice before taking a decision that you think is right”.
These advisors were the ones who advised him to support that ambitious French Bishop Bertrand de Got as pope when everyone else was asking him to support the Italian pretender. They assured that in his way, a Frenchman would reign over the holy sea, and he would reign over that Frenchman. In short, he would reign over the papacy, the dream of every monarch in Europe.
That is why he was thinking so hard at this lovely night, when every noble of his realm enjoying their mistresses. In the end, he wiped his forehead, and massaged his blonde beard. He had thought about it long and hard and it was the time to take a decision. “Loumierre”, he shouted as he came out of his room. The head of his palace guards came rushing to him, “Your command is equal to the command of Christ to us, My Lord”. “Ask Guy to come to me. I have a letter to send to the holy sea.”
That was one of the moments that would change the history of Europe. Philip the fare, King of France, neck deep in debts to the templar Knights who happened to be the biggest bankers and financiers in the Western World at the time, would ensure that his creditors would cease to exist.
King Philip the fare, in his letter, accused the templar Knights of heresy which included accusations of rejecting the divinity of Jesus and taking part in satanic worshipping rituals. The pope who owed his throne to that of Philip, had to remove the protection of papacy that had saved the templar Knights from the wrath of many sovereigns in Europe in the past.
Within days the Templar Knights will be arrested, tortured, forced to accept the charges against them and later being burnt at the stakes. All their properties and lands and title deeds which they had accumulated throughout decades would be confiscated. This will happen not only in France but later all over Europe. Within decades, a prestigious and rich order like the templar Knights will largely be swept into the dust grains of history.
Now looking at the current financial troubles in Europe, one wonders whether a troubled leader may rekindle the spirit of Philip the fare, if he wants so desperately to get out of his debts.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
A clash of two victimisms
As the popular movements continue to sweep the whole Arab World, the familiar rivalry continues between Israel and Iran.
This is not that arrived yesterday. When Israel first came into being, Israeli leader David Ben Gurion, in order to offset the Arab opposition and rejection of Israel, emphasized closer ties with major non-Arab peoples in the region. These included having generally good ties with Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia.
Both Iran and Turkey were under largely pro-Western regimes i.e. Turkey under the Kemalist elite and Iran under the jack boot of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Both regimes largely accommodated all major Western interests in the region. Keeping a distance away from Kremlin, being nice to Israel and particularly in the case of Iran the terms of vassalage meant selling cheap oil to its Western clients.
Yet it was the Iranians who were the first to opt out of this arrangement. When the Iranians booted out the Shah regime from power, it not only inaugurated a new political element in the region but ensured something very interesting in the region.
The Islamic republic of Iran wanted the acknowledgement of the West of its sovereignty.
It wanted to continue to sell her oil to the West but in its own terms. It also did not want to do anything with Israel which the Iranians considered to be oppressive and usurper of the rights of indigenous Palestinians.
Thus began the rivalry between Iran and Israel.
Two peoples, two unique victimhoods
Iran and Israel may have been at each other’s throats for last few decades yet these two nations’ current political systems have tremendous similarities between them in terms of their respective purposes and coming into beings.
Israel was born out of the crematoriums of the holocaust. The Zionist ideology was born out of a sense of fear of the European Jews who thought they will be assimilated into the culture of the Goyim West. It was the ideology of a people who long considered themselves victimized in perpetuity for who they were … “the chosen people of G_D” The struggle for Israel is thereby the struggle of a people who considers themselves eternal victims of the jealousy and hatred of others for their election by G_D.
The Islamic republic of Iran also considers itself a victim. Iranians consider themselves the victims of the greed of a materialistic Western civilization which wants to exploit Iran’s material resources on terms which are strictly unfavorable to Iran. The Islamic revolutionaries also consider believe the Iranian culture to be a victim of the promiscuous and permissive culture of the West.
History supports the views of Iranian Islamic revolutionaries. When Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the Oil industry and kicked out the British oil interests, the first Iranian leader to do so, he was unceremoniously sacked in a coup inspired and financed by the USA and UK.
What followed was 26 years of brutal suppression of the Iranian people’s wish to be free and sovereign under the Shah regime, imposed and encouraged by the West. The Shah regime allowed Iranian women to show off their bodies to whoever they would like to, but took away the rights of the Iranian people to be free.
However the most important inspiration of the Islamic republic is the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at Karbala , a millennium ago. From that time, the followers of Imam Hussein take inspiration from the fact that Imam Hussein refused to bow down to the dictates of the tyrannical and illegitimate ruler Yezid.
The followers of Hussein from that very day consider death more preferable than bowing to the dictates of what they consider arrogant and tyrants.
The Islamic republic also considers itself another Hussein fighting for its sovereignty and that of other unfortunate people like the Palestinians against the arrogant and tyrannical West.
The Islamic republic knows the consequences of its non-compliance to the current international system brings in economic sanctions, cyber attacks like that of Stuxnet variety, sabotage of its infrastructure and even assassinations of some its best scientists.
Still it remains unafraid. Iran considers its right to have a nuclear program as befitting a sovereign people and is willing to fight for that right which the current international system wants to take away from it.
This is probably the reason the Iranians did not use chemical weapons against their Iraqi enemies despite having that option. Iran believed it was fighting another Yezid in Saddam who was using those very same Chemical weapons against Iran, supplied by the West. Iran considered Chemical weapons against the conventions of war and decided not to use it despite losing thousands to those weapons.
Similarly, the Iranian supreme leader continues to veto the option of building of the nuclear bombs despite having the option to do so when almost every security analyst in the World including some Israelis think they will be justified to do so.
The world awaits another Karbala.
This is not that arrived yesterday. When Israel first came into being, Israeli leader David Ben Gurion, in order to offset the Arab opposition and rejection of Israel, emphasized closer ties with major non-Arab peoples in the region. These included having generally good ties with Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia.
Both Iran and Turkey were under largely pro-Western regimes i.e. Turkey under the Kemalist elite and Iran under the jack boot of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Both regimes largely accommodated all major Western interests in the region. Keeping a distance away from Kremlin, being nice to Israel and particularly in the case of Iran the terms of vassalage meant selling cheap oil to its Western clients.
Yet it was the Iranians who were the first to opt out of this arrangement. When the Iranians booted out the Shah regime from power, it not only inaugurated a new political element in the region but ensured something very interesting in the region.
The Islamic republic of Iran wanted the acknowledgement of the West of its sovereignty.
It wanted to continue to sell her oil to the West but in its own terms. It also did not want to do anything with Israel which the Iranians considered to be oppressive and usurper of the rights of indigenous Palestinians.
Thus began the rivalry between Iran and Israel.
Two peoples, two unique victimhoods
Iran and Israel may have been at each other’s throats for last few decades yet these two nations’ current political systems have tremendous similarities between them in terms of their respective purposes and coming into beings.
Israel was born out of the crematoriums of the holocaust. The Zionist ideology was born out of a sense of fear of the European Jews who thought they will be assimilated into the culture of the Goyim West. It was the ideology of a people who long considered themselves victimized in perpetuity for who they were … “the chosen people of G_D” The struggle for Israel is thereby the struggle of a people who considers themselves eternal victims of the jealousy and hatred of others for their election by G_D.
The Islamic republic of Iran also considers itself a victim. Iranians consider themselves the victims of the greed of a materialistic Western civilization which wants to exploit Iran’s material resources on terms which are strictly unfavorable to Iran. The Islamic revolutionaries also consider believe the Iranian culture to be a victim of the promiscuous and permissive culture of the West.
History supports the views of Iranian Islamic revolutionaries. When Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the Oil industry and kicked out the British oil interests, the first Iranian leader to do so, he was unceremoniously sacked in a coup inspired and financed by the USA and UK.
What followed was 26 years of brutal suppression of the Iranian people’s wish to be free and sovereign under the Shah regime, imposed and encouraged by the West. The Shah regime allowed Iranian women to show off their bodies to whoever they would like to, but took away the rights of the Iranian people to be free.
However the most important inspiration of the Islamic republic is the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at Karbala , a millennium ago. From that time, the followers of Imam Hussein take inspiration from the fact that Imam Hussein refused to bow down to the dictates of the tyrannical and illegitimate ruler Yezid.
The followers of Hussein from that very day consider death more preferable than bowing to the dictates of what they consider arrogant and tyrants.
The Islamic republic also considers itself another Hussein fighting for its sovereignty and that of other unfortunate people like the Palestinians against the arrogant and tyrannical West.
The Islamic republic knows the consequences of its non-compliance to the current international system brings in economic sanctions, cyber attacks like that of Stuxnet variety, sabotage of its infrastructure and even assassinations of some its best scientists.
Still it remains unafraid. Iran considers its right to have a nuclear program as befitting a sovereign people and is willing to fight for that right which the current international system wants to take away from it.
This is probably the reason the Iranians did not use chemical weapons against their Iraqi enemies despite having that option. Iran believed it was fighting another Yezid in Saddam who was using those very same Chemical weapons against Iran, supplied by the West. Iran considered Chemical weapons against the conventions of war and decided not to use it despite losing thousands to those weapons.
Similarly, the Iranian supreme leader continues to veto the option of building of the nuclear bombs despite having the option to do so when almost every security analyst in the World including some Israelis think they will be justified to do so.
The world awaits another Karbala.
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