Traditionally the strength of a nation has always been determined by hard factors like the military, economic productivity and influence in the diplomatic circle. But as explained by professor Joseph Nay in 2004 and there after further emancipated by the US foreign policies, it no longer is limited to these traditional parameters.
In fact even in terms of personnel relationship or interaction between groups of people, power is defined by the ability to influence decisions. This ability to influence decisions in today’s world largely depends on the public opinion.
In the post internet revolution world, the most important weapon is public opinion. For domestic politics the paramount importance of this aspect was realized long ago but lately it has proved that public opinion and the image of a people and the nation on the international arena is also equally important.
Two decades ago America was very influential in the world politics. The spirit of that nation was a role model for a large portion of the world. That is not the case today. Half of the world hates America and Americans, those innocent Americans; majority of whom don’t even go to vote for the government whose policies have turned them into the target of such hatred. It’s an anomaly that the country self proclaimed as the savior of democracy and freedom in the world is in such a bad state. This is clearly explained as a depreciation of the country’s “soft power”.
This soft power can be understood as a positive attractiveness or dependability of a nation. It is about the “world opinion” or recognition of the country as a credible member of the global village by the whole world which is not limited merely to the governments of other countries but directly transcends to the common people.
It is the soft or intangible aspect of the development of a nation. Reputation can not be built overnight. It is a culturally and historically rooted continuous process taking place automatically in the interaction between cultures. It is very difficult to measure any dramatic change in the soft power at a particular moment but if observed over a time frame a definite impact can be seen, much like the graying of hair on a person or the appearance of wrinkles on the face.
In the process of growing up, as we all are aware, wrinkles or grey hairs appear naturally and also symbolise wisdom earned through experience but there are also some sudden scars which remain on the face forever, blatantly reminding of some unfortunate event of the past.
The process of the development of a nation is an interaction of its people with the world culturally, socially and politically. It has to be given purpose and direction by drawing on tradition as well as experiment, innovation and willingness to evaluate both traditional and new ideas objectively. In terms of Nepal, let us analyze critically the various factors which over the years have developed the image of the nation. This continuous process is affected by various factors which can be looked upon broadly into two categories, the positive aspects and the negative aspects. Let us see some of the shortcomings that we need to improve in the near future.
Nepal traditionally is known as a nation of world’s greatest fighters. The Gorkha soldiers became part of the British and the Indian Army after the Anglo Nepal war of 1815 and have been renowned for their bravery worldwide.
In spite of the land being the source of world’s greatest fighters, internal violence was unheard of in Nepal till the last decade of the twentieth century. With the start of the armed rebellion by the Maoists, there followed a decade of unparalleled violence. This decade long time frame of violence has changed the way the world looked at Nepal.
Internally, this era was a turbulent time of mutual distrust and multinuclear conflicts. A direct impact of this violence and fully according to the strategic policy of the Maoists was the disruption of the tourism industry and the sector of foreign investment which in turn crippled the economy.
Violence, apart from this direct effect, has an indirect effect on the social psychology. It, once broken, sets in the society as an atavism, which however curbed for the time being, always tries to reappear in one form or the other. The signs of this has already started emerging.
The international image of a nation is defined by the stand it takes on international issues. Nepal has to make its official policy clear on various issues that are dominant in the international political scenario today.
It is unfortunate that the present government and the Maoists, which have come to power by mostly abusing the so called capitalist and imperialist interests of India and America, are now silent on the issues of global importance. The leaders individually have been talking but the official silence of the state and the ruling party further extends on matters of relationship with the immediate neighbours, China and India.
It has become a norm for both the countries to put forward mutually contradictory claims about the land of Nepal being used against their security interests. Although the prime minister has said time and again, that he believes in equidistant relationships with both the countries, no further official answers are given to the claims. This silence has to be broken to establish the nation among its neighbours first.
Other issues of global importance in today’s world and are most likely to dominate the international affairs early 21st century are the issues of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. The government must make its policies clear on these issues.
It is a great anomaly that the US government still has the Maoists in the terrorist list. The US still maintains an embassy in Nepal, meaning it is still maintaining diplomatic relationship with a country governed by terrorists. And, surprisingly the government is silent on this.
Similarly, for future, the government must make its policy clear on the issues of nuclear power. Although for immediate future, this issue is not of any importance, the official stands on these issues will help nations to think clearly on how to build the relationships with us.
Let us look back into the past records of our diplomacy. The picture that emerges is not very promising for any self respecting citizen. The relation ship with most of the nations has been that of the donor and the receiver, due to the poor economy of the nation.
This unfortunate story seems irreversible for near future, though the donations can be in many forms. This compulsion of the government to largely have to depend on foreign aids for developmental works has rendered question on the sovereignty of the government and ultimately of the nation.
The response of the government on the case of the people of Nepali origin in Bhutan is one of the many examples to prove how weak we are as a nation. The problem still remains unsettled with so many people having to stay away from their home in refugee camps in Nepal.
Another incident that has remained pierced in the hearts of all Nepalese is the slaughter of twelve Nepali workers in Iraq by the terrorists. At the moment it is sufficient to state that as a nation our history portrays a very weak image.
As these grey areas pop up very easily in the image of the nation, one has to look as much harder to find the bright spots. One of the advantages we have over many other nations is our non involvement in any of the conflicts. This means that we can reach out to the world with a new sense of confidence and freshness without any prejudices.
It is widely accepted that the biggest challenge for the leaders today is to build the reputation of the nation in front of the world. It surely needs a revolution but the revolution should aim at rejuvenating the pride and dignity of every citizen of the nation. It should aim at establishing the belief that we are a part of the greater humanity as equals.
I would like to end quoting Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, “A revolution quintessential is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of the nation’s development.
A revolution which merely aims at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success without the revolution of the spirit; the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order will continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration.
It is not enough merely to call for freedom democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths to resist corrupting influence of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear.”
Jai Nepal.
Read more: http://dinkar.instablogs.com/entry/nepal-soft-power-and-international-relationships/#ixzz0omMhL88n
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Imagined Truths and Real Politics: The Problem with Perceived Identities.
Many questions of philosophical as well political importance have emerged on to the intellectual surface due to the recent developments in the country. The Maoist General Strike, the dramatic opposition to it, the end of the strike and the loud ‘end note’ by the Maoist Supremo have made the first week of May of high consequences for the nation, more so for the intelligentsia.
When I link the spontaneous show of solidarity by the people against the strike with other contemporary events in the world, I remember the recent events in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Kyrgyzstan. Reporting on the Thai protests, P S Suryanarayana (Frontline 8-21may) concludes, “the non-ideological notion of people power is coming back in vogue.” He says further that the idea of ‘people power’ is not of any uniform standard as people have come together spontaneously for different causes at all these places. None the less, an idea emerging in some significant pockets across East Asia is quite unmistakable: that the traditional centers of power must be accountable to the people at large.
Was the protest against the strike by Maoists a state sponsored ante or was it an exhibit of ‘People Power’ in consonance with the recent events in other parts of the world? There can be no denial that some elements of other political parties surely have tried to take advantage of the sudden uprising by people, but negating the whole event as one political gambit by opponents is not only a mistake for the Maoists, it is also unfortunate for the people of the nation. However, the Maoist leadership knows the truth and hence the questions to be raised from the incident are not about the origins and intentions of the display of People Power but about the kind of politics that is being resorted to for individual gains of the parties.
Three things are noteworthy in the address by Prachanda to the ‘people’s gathering’ at the khula manch. First, the arrogance in the tone and the words. Second, the approach in explaining the reasons for calling off the strike. Third, the intentions of playing politics of identity. These three things have different connotations and implications in the politics of the country. They also have a differing magnitude of immediate as well as long term effect.
The arrogance expressed by him towards the intelligentsia, professionals and journalists was perceived by the cadres of Maoists as a go ahead for the violence against the well to do Kathmandu based ‘clean people’; which manifested into the attacks on journalists the very next day. Such encroachment attempt on the press freedom, whether well directed by the hierarchy or spontaneous incitement due to an irresponsible address by the leader, is a dangerous development. After all, the press in general is the only means through which the sentiment of the people can be truly and timely expressed in a democracy. I say timely because the elections, the other powerful means, can work only once in a long interval of time (generally four to five years in most of the democracies). That too, once exercised, very few systems have the procedure for retracting the decisions before the next elections, even if the majority of the people intend to do so.
The social networking websites in the internet, like Facebook, are as active as the real world ‘Roads’ in all aspects of lives. They are vibrant with people sharing their ideas, protesting and protesting the protests. However, if one tries to navigate through the pages of the ‘Web-proletariats’ in facebook, it is not hard to feel the arrogance in their demeanor. One such link in facebook got a very severe criticism for a Pro-Maoist and devoted appreciation of the address by Prachanda. It said, “Schizophrenics do not accept the truth of the real world and get entangled in the illusions created by their diseased mind away from the society. The Maoists should get rid of the political schizophrenia. The truth understood by everyone is that people can never be defeated. They will never accept dictatorship and authoritarianism.” The reaction of the web proletariat comrade was like this, “Whoever you are, do you have the guts to come out and say such things in open?”
The Maoists still want to thrive on the politics of ideological fundamentalism and extremism. It is clear from the ‘piece of mind’ of the leadership that the notion of class struggle still remains central to their ideology. They still want to believe that there exists a class struggle, one side represented by the people of the villages who came to Kathmandu in tens of thousands and the other side being represented by the people of the cities. This is an effort to play the politics of delusion. Who were the people who came out on the road for peace? Professionals, poors, students, businessmen? Trying to make a class distinction between those ‘People’ and the ones who came from the villages is an attempt to make a mockery of history. The students who come to study in Kathmandu come from various villages all over the country, the same places from where the ‘other class’ of people came from. Who according to the Maoists, came to ask for their rights and the justification of the historical injustices. In our times, when the very country of Mao has already adopted more than twenty years ago that ‘some should be allowed to get rich first’ and ‘getting rich is glorious’, the Maoists are trying to create a divide based on class struggle of the poor and the rich.
Such perceived notions of dissimilar singular identity are atavistically harmful for the society. Such notion is not limited to the class only. It further tries to permeate into the belief system of caste, tribes, ethnicities and nationalities. What such perceptions of singular identity tend to ignore is that an individual has multiple identities and hence concentric centers of loyalties with varying degrees of preferences and priorities. Hence, a villager is not only a villager but also a farmer (who has to sow maize in time!), a religious Hindu, a Gurung, a male and a democrat at the same time with varying degrees of involvement.
We know, and our politicians know very well, that the conceptions of identity influence our thoughts and actions in many different ways. Thus conflicting claims of disparate identities involving different groups are advocated and proliferated to create political and social causes. It is and has always been the duty of the intelligentsia to de-plume such notions and clear the mist. As Jean-Paul Sarte has said in Portrait of the Anti-Semite, “The Jew is a man whom other people look upon as a Jew. …it is the anti-semite who makes the jew.”
When I link the spontaneous show of solidarity by the people against the strike with other contemporary events in the world, I remember the recent events in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Kyrgyzstan. Reporting on the Thai protests, P S Suryanarayana (Frontline 8-21may) concludes, “the non-ideological notion of people power is coming back in vogue.” He says further that the idea of ‘people power’ is not of any uniform standard as people have come together spontaneously for different causes at all these places. None the less, an idea emerging in some significant pockets across East Asia is quite unmistakable: that the traditional centers of power must be accountable to the people at large.
Was the protest against the strike by Maoists a state sponsored ante or was it an exhibit of ‘People Power’ in consonance with the recent events in other parts of the world? There can be no denial that some elements of other political parties surely have tried to take advantage of the sudden uprising by people, but negating the whole event as one political gambit by opponents is not only a mistake for the Maoists, it is also unfortunate for the people of the nation. However, the Maoist leadership knows the truth and hence the questions to be raised from the incident are not about the origins and intentions of the display of People Power but about the kind of politics that is being resorted to for individual gains of the parties.
Three things are noteworthy in the address by Prachanda to the ‘people’s gathering’ at the khula manch. First, the arrogance in the tone and the words. Second, the approach in explaining the reasons for calling off the strike. Third, the intentions of playing politics of identity. These three things have different connotations and implications in the politics of the country. They also have a differing magnitude of immediate as well as long term effect.
The arrogance expressed by him towards the intelligentsia, professionals and journalists was perceived by the cadres of Maoists as a go ahead for the violence against the well to do Kathmandu based ‘clean people’; which manifested into the attacks on journalists the very next day. Such encroachment attempt on the press freedom, whether well directed by the hierarchy or spontaneous incitement due to an irresponsible address by the leader, is a dangerous development. After all, the press in general is the only means through which the sentiment of the people can be truly and timely expressed in a democracy. I say timely because the elections, the other powerful means, can work only once in a long interval of time (generally four to five years in most of the democracies). That too, once exercised, very few systems have the procedure for retracting the decisions before the next elections, even if the majority of the people intend to do so.
The social networking websites in the internet, like Facebook, are as active as the real world ‘Roads’ in all aspects of lives. They are vibrant with people sharing their ideas, protesting and protesting the protests. However, if one tries to navigate through the pages of the ‘Web-proletariats’ in facebook, it is not hard to feel the arrogance in their demeanor. One such link in facebook got a very severe criticism for a Pro-Maoist and devoted appreciation of the address by Prachanda. It said, “Schizophrenics do not accept the truth of the real world and get entangled in the illusions created by their diseased mind away from the society. The Maoists should get rid of the political schizophrenia. The truth understood by everyone is that people can never be defeated. They will never accept dictatorship and authoritarianism.” The reaction of the web proletariat comrade was like this, “Whoever you are, do you have the guts to come out and say such things in open?”
The Maoists still want to thrive on the politics of ideological fundamentalism and extremism. It is clear from the ‘piece of mind’ of the leadership that the notion of class struggle still remains central to their ideology. They still want to believe that there exists a class struggle, one side represented by the people of the villages who came to Kathmandu in tens of thousands and the other side being represented by the people of the cities. This is an effort to play the politics of delusion. Who were the people who came out on the road for peace? Professionals, poors, students, businessmen? Trying to make a class distinction between those ‘People’ and the ones who came from the villages is an attempt to make a mockery of history. The students who come to study in Kathmandu come from various villages all over the country, the same places from where the ‘other class’ of people came from. Who according to the Maoists, came to ask for their rights and the justification of the historical injustices. In our times, when the very country of Mao has already adopted more than twenty years ago that ‘some should be allowed to get rich first’ and ‘getting rich is glorious’, the Maoists are trying to create a divide based on class struggle of the poor and the rich.
Such perceived notions of dissimilar singular identity are atavistically harmful for the society. Such notion is not limited to the class only. It further tries to permeate into the belief system of caste, tribes, ethnicities and nationalities. What such perceptions of singular identity tend to ignore is that an individual has multiple identities and hence concentric centers of loyalties with varying degrees of preferences and priorities. Hence, a villager is not only a villager but also a farmer (who has to sow maize in time!), a religious Hindu, a Gurung, a male and a democrat at the same time with varying degrees of involvement.
We know, and our politicians know very well, that the conceptions of identity influence our thoughts and actions in many different ways. Thus conflicting claims of disparate identities involving different groups are advocated and proliferated to create political and social causes. It is and has always been the duty of the intelligentsia to de-plume such notions and clear the mist. As Jean-Paul Sarte has said in Portrait of the Anti-Semite, “The Jew is a man whom other people look upon as a Jew. …it is the anti-semite who makes the jew.”
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