The Ottoman Empire is dead, for crying out loud!

The last Muslim Empire officially died in 1922. It has been 86 years since any pretension of significant Muslim influence was snuffed-out after the ‘First World War’. The Muslim world refuses to let-go the phony glory and start once again to work hard and build something for themselves and their children. Oil and jihad will not keep you relevant in the world for long! The Ottoman Empire was no doubt a great empire from the 13th century right up to the 17th century. The world has moved on since then. The British Empire rose and died in the 20th century. Now it is the American Empire that rules the world! Come on guys let us grow up and move-on.

This sense of ill-conceived Muslim superiority is not just confined to the Sunni world, even the Persians have their own glorified perceptions. Neither have done anything worthwhile in the past 300 years or more. Today the Muslim world is probably just above the African continent in terms of education and scientific development. I have for long recommended a more inclusive role for Iran in global affairs. Listening to some non-resident Iranians on Charlie Rose Show last Tuesday, I am beginning to reconsider by opinion! Charlie had a conversation about Iran with Azar Nafisi, Hooman Majd and Vali Nasr on February 17, 2009. All the three guests displayed a total lack of comprehension about their country of birth that I for one was left angry and dismayed. What has Iran got to offer except oil and terror?

Hooman Majd on U.S. – Iran relations and the nuclear issue

‘Dalal Street’ – The Wall Street of India…

‘Dalal Street’ is home to the ‘Bombay Stock Exchange’, the nerve-center of India’s financial market. Kalyan Bose, head of corporate affairs at BSE, says, “When the media reports on the capital market, it is referred to as Dalal Street. The name is synonymous with Indian capital markets. The street witnessed the growth of the Indian capital market. When you write the history of the country’s stock markets, you cannot leave out the words ‘Dalal Street’. Dalal Street is not a foreign name that needs to be changed. It is an Indian name.” Such are the sentiments of people connected with the ‘Wall Street of India’, others are hell-bent in destroying this legacy.

In the mid 1850s, a group of 22 stockbrokers started business under a banyan tree opposite the Town Hall, each investing rupee 1. These stockbrokers called themselves ‘The Native Share and Stockbrokers Association’ which came to be recognized as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1875. It is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Asia. The Bombay Stock Exchange shifted to the ‘Broker’s Hall’ in 1899. It moved again, after the First World War, to an old building near the ‘Town hall’ in Bombay, where Horniman Circle is now situated. The current real-estate was acquired in 1928 and a modern 28 story building was constructed and occupied in 1980. This has become the permanent location of BSE and the building is called the ‘Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers’, built by Larsen & Toubro.

The Bombay Stock Exchange is the largest of 22 exchanges in India, with over 6,000 listed companies. It is also the fifth largest exchange in the world, with market capitalization of $466 billion. The Bombay Stock Exchange uses the BSE Sensex, an index of 30 large, developed BSE stocks. This index gives a measure of the overall performance of the Bombay Stock Exchange and is closely followed around the world. Bombay Stock Exchange is considered to have played a very important role in the development of the country’s capital markets. Perhaps, there would not be any leading corporate company in India which has not sourced BSE’s services in resource mobilization. Reliance Industries limited is a classic example.

India must develop a Blue-Water Navy…

India has always been vulnerable from the sea. With three sides facing the water, India has a very large coast-line. The navy is not only meant to guard the mainland but also to project a forward policy. Defense of the country is not the only reason for affording this very expensive force. India is completely dependent on foreign oil for it’s energy needs. Besides building a strategic oil reserve, India must be able to secure a free flow of Oil and Gas from the Gulf and other parts of the world. A third and growing reason is the need for humanitarian efforts in the Bay of Bengal and beyond. India must also develop the lift capacity to move men and material. In the years to come, India would be expected to deploy 5000 or more troops and equipment to distant lands. The best way to organize the sea-power is to build complete fleets with aircraft carriers, accompanied with a group of submarines.

The history of Indian Navy started on September 5, 1612 when the first set of war ships from England arrived in India to form the “Honourable East India Company’s Marine”. This was the period when India was being ruled by Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The naval fleet was stationed at the Gulf of Cambay, Gujarat, India. In 1686 the navy was moved to Bombay and was renamed “Bombay Marine”. For the next 144 years, Bombay Marine retained it’s name and served the East India Company against the Dutch, the French and the Portuguese. With growing British involvement around the world, the role of the Bombay Marine also changed and expanded. The name was therefore changed to “Her Majesty’s Indian Navy” in 1830. The navy took part in the “1824 Burma War” and then again in “1840 China War”.

In 1892, the name of the Indian navy was once again changed to “Royal Indian Marine”. This naval force in India consisted of 50 vessels divided into two divisions. The Eastern Division was based in Calcutta, while the Western Division was based in Bombay. During the First World War, the Royal Indian Marine saw some action, mainly patrolling, moving troops and equipment to the Middle East and Africa. The Royal Indian Marine was re-organized into the ‘Royal Indian Navy’ in 1934. It was primarily an English enterprise with Indians serving only in lower-level positions. During the Second World War, Royal Indian Navy had only 8 warships, 114 British officers and 1732 sailors. Seventy percent of the sailors were Muslims and were recruited from Punjab and Konkan district of the Bombay Presidency.

The Royal Indian Navy underwent a major expansion during the Second World War. The Garden Reach Workshop in Calcutta built the ‘Basset Class Trawlers’ that entered service in 1941. The Bangor class fleet minesweeper was built in India and entered service in 1943. By the end of the war, the Royal Indian Navy had 117 war ships and 30,000 personnel. After the independence in August 1947, the Royal Indian Navy was anything but royal. Only 32 aging vessels with 11,000 personnel were left behind. These ships were suitable for only the coastal patrol. Understandably, the prefix ‘Royal’ was dropped on January 26, 1950 and the ‘Indian Navy’ was born and its vessels were named Indian Naval Ships (INS). In the initial stages, the Indian Navy acquired all the ships from Britain and other European suppliers. But by mid 60s, Soviet Union had replaced them as India’s principal naval supplier.

The first involvement of the Indian Navy in any conflict came during the Liberation of Goa in 1961 with the success of ‘Operation Vijay’ against the Portuguese. But India’s fiscal constraints prevented any ambitious plans for naval expansion. However, the British helped develop the Mazagon Dock shipyard in Bombay to produce the Leander-class frigates in collaboration with Vickers & Yarrow of Britain. During the 80s, Indian naval power grew significantly. The naval facilities at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were upgraded.

What is America’s Foreign Policy?

The Foreign Policy of the United States has become skewed since September 11, 2001. You ask either Presidential candidate about the US foreign policy and he would talk about Iraq, Afghanistan and now Iran and the emerging threat to the world. If you happen to ask McCain about his foreign policy vision, he would add the Israel-Palestine conflict and maybe trade with China. Conversely, if you happen to ask Obama the same question, he would mention Pakistan and Kenya to show his better credentials. The worst thing about the whole conversation is the knowledge of the person who is asking the questions in the first place. How did we reach here?

United States of America has followed an isolationist foreign policy for most of it’s existence. The first major international entanglement occurred during the First World War. America joined the Allied Powers to defeat the Central Powers but refused to Join the League Of Nations after the Treaty of Versailles. This engagement was driven because of America’s self interest rather than any moral obligations. The United States was facing the threats from German U-boats to it’s maritime trade and was therefore driven to protect it’s vital national interests. Once an uneasy peace was negotiated in Europe, Americans went back to its isolationist posture.

There has been no real debate about America’s lack of international participation during the period between the First and the Second World Wars. This isolationist attitude, in my opinion, resulted in the rise of Nazism, Fascism and Communism in Europe and Russia. The British Empire was not in a position to handle the events in Europe and beyond. There was a power vacuum at the international level and Hitler filled that space with tragic consequences. I believe this resulted in creating the environment for the Second World War. With this, America was back at the table.

The election of 1932 and the takeover of the United States Presidency on March 4, 1933 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt brought the American isolation to an end. Roosevelt, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Navy was no nativist. He was not only familiar with South America but also acutely aware of the growing European dilemma. The US congress tried everything to continue with it’s paranoia with international affairs, but Roosevelt was educated enough to reject that and built foreign alliances. These initiatives served him well during World War II.

Globalization my ass…

What is Globalization? Thomas L. Friedman has a definition for it and so does Noam Chomsky. In simple words, it is supposed to be International Integration in all forms. But ask the 3.4 million refugees of Zimbabwe, millions of Tibetans and followers of Dalai Lama, or the ruffed-up Monks of Burma (Myanmar). They would find this question a very bad joke. I do not apologize for the decade-old success of Brazil, China, India or Russia. On the contrary, more power to all these countries and more. But to call this Globalization is a stretch. At best one can agree to identify this recent global phenomena as ‘International Economic Integration’.

What was the purpose of creating the “United Nations”, a term coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt (US President) in January of 1942? The stated aims of the United Nations were to prevent any future war, safeguard human rights around the world, establish some form of international law, promote social and economic justice, improve the living standards of people in all the countries and to fight deadly diseases. Have we achieved any of that? If yes, how much? It will be 63 years since UN was formed.

The United Nations was officially created  on October 24, 1945. Representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the United Nations Charter. It replaced the League of Nations, created in 1919, after the First World War. The UN Charter was ratified by China, France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States. These five countries became permanent members of the UN Security Council, each with a veto power on any UN resolution. Today, there are 192 member states, representing almost every recognized independent country in the world. Unfortunately, the UN Security Council represents less than 30% of the world population. There is no representation from the continents of South America and Africa or for that matter any part of Muslim world or the Indian sub-continent.