Hillary Clinton paid respect to ‘Asian Economies’

The Obama administration is off to a good start with its foreign policy initiatives. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s inaugural trip to Asia sent an important signal to the Asian community. This departure from the Anglo-American mind-set promises a new beginning to the ever-changing world. The policy has obvious Obama fingerprints but some insiders suggest that this trip was suggested by the outgoing administration! Whatever the case might be it could have far-reaching consequences. Secretary Clinton started the trip with Japan, followed by South Korea, then to Indonesia (Obama’s childhood residence) and finally concluded with an important visit to China. This initiative must be followed by trips to Russia and Europe.

There seems to be some discussion in this administration about lifting the sanctions on Burma (Myanmar), reversing a 20 year old policy. If this administration could open up to Burma, it would be considered a major step forward for the ’American Foreign Policy’! Sanctions have evidently not worked against the ruling ‘Military Junta’ and the people have suffered instead, since September 1988. If United States could overlook similar brutality and human rights violations in China and Pakistan, why not in Burma? This is simple hypocrisy and does not convince any fair minded country. Engaging Burma by encouraging trade and cultural exchange would certainly bring change and openness in that society. Cuba should also be included in the list!

Lee Hamilton and friends deserve a very long vacation…

Former Representative Lee Hamilton, now President of Woodrow Wilson International Center, had a conversation with Charlie Rose on January 26, 2009. They primarily discussed the new President Barack Obama and his foreign policy. If Lee Hamilton is giving any advice to President Obama we would see the return of Jimmy Carter in the White House! The Carters and the Hamiltons of America have invested tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan besides incalculable assets of the US State Department during the past 60 years. What do these less than bright leaders have to show for? A failed state and a safe haven for terror? On the flip side the erstwhile Soviet Union invested much less in India and they have an emerging democratic power on display. It is time the United States should acknowledge their failure and redefine their misguided foreign policy. To achieve a new and pragmatic direction in US-Pakistan relations, it is important for the Obama administration to urge Lee Hamilton and his types to take a long, or a very very long, vacation in the Himalayas. Just THINK about it!

During the conversation with Charlie Rose last night, Hamilton sprinkled his pearls of wisdom. He believes that United States should help Pakistan not only militarily but socially as well. My question to Hamilton Sahib would be, “What the hell have you been doing for the past 60 freaking years?” Hamilton also concludes that US must help India-Pakistan resolve the long-standing Kashmir dispute. Let me again ask the know-all Shri Hamilton, “What is the Kashmir dispute and what is the solution?” If Hamilton Sahib wants Kashmir to be an independent country, Osama bin Laden would be the legally elected President of Kashmir, just like Hamas in Gaza. Do you really want that Mr Hamilton? Afghanistan would then look like a paradise in comparison! Alternatively, the Indian Kashmir is handed over to Pakistan and it joins the PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir), would that make Lee Hamilton and his friends happy? Well, you need to go and see the condition of PoK first before you advocate an Armageddon. The PoK is controlled by 30 terrorist organizations, Lashkar-e-Taiba being one of them. Pakistan has absolutely no control over PoK and a united Kashmir would be as good as FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), would that make “Hamilton the Great” happy? Are there any other bright ideas that the American intelligentsia has for Kashmir? It is time India called the American bluff. The so-called Kashmir resolution could potentially create 9/11 an annual event in America!

Bill Buzenberg interviews Lee H. Hamilton

The people of Pakistan are victims too!

Ordinary people in Pakistan are as helpless as the free citizens of India. We can not get rid of our corrupt politicians similarly Pakistanis can not get rid of their obsessive military dictators. The armed forces of Pakistan have ruled their country ever since the partition of India. The military generals of Pakistan have done a fantastic job of their public relations with the United States, China and a large section of the Muslim world. With the rise of India as a regional economic power, many Pakistanis have started to understand their own dilemma. Middle-class Pakistanis want good relations with India but not at the cost of their nationalistic pride. Can you really blame them? The military junta in Pakistan is acutely aware of this ambivalence in Pakistani people and has exploited this for their own survival. The dumb Indian politician has helped these brutal dictators by playing into their hands. Just THINK about it!

Given the ‘catch-22′ situation, who is in a position to change the dynamics? The simple answer is ‘Corporate India’. This time the Lashkar-e-Toiba has made a fatal error of judgment. By literally invading Taj Mahal hotel, they have hurt India Inc, the only viable entity in India to force a change. The Indian industry is bound to push ‘Corporate America’ to work on their politicians for a decisive action. Despite the lofty pronouncements of the incoming American administration, USIBC (United States India Business Council) would lobby hard to punish the terrorists inside Pakistan. Only the United States of America has the means to strike inside Pakistan and take out Lashkar-e-Toiba and Dawood Ibrahim. This would mean direct conflict with the Pakistani Military and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) in the short run but peace and progress in the long run. Do you think President-elect Obama has the stomach for that? This is going to be the new ‘Iraq’ for the Obama administration!

Paul Volcker as the Secretary of the Treasury?

Nobody should be surprised and few would oppose the selection of Paul Volcker as the next Secretary of the Treasury in an ‘Obama Administration’. The more important question is, would he accept and if yes, for how long? I personally do not see any harm in Paul Volcker taking charge of the treasury for a year or two. The more important question is, then what? President Barack Obama would need a long term economic policy and for that he would need a younger and bolder economist and not some kid from the banking sector. The United States is facing very serious structural problems in its economy. The fundamentals of the American economy are not good and have not been good for some time now. Even more important problem is the broken ‘Global Economic Architecture’ that has wobbled the current international markets. The US needs a knowledgeable, serious and thoughtful economist to conceive and fashion a new economic order for America and the world.

Paul Adolph Volcker was born on September 5, 1927 in Cape May, New Jersey, USA. He grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School. Volcker completed his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1949. He earned his masters in political economy from Harvard University in 1951. Paul Volcker ended his educational pilgrimage at the London School of Economics in 1951-52 as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Fellow. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1952 as an economist. Volcker moved to the private sector in 1957 and joined Chase Manhattan Bank but returned to US Treasury Department in 1962. Chase Manhattan called him back as vice president and director of planning in 1965. During the ‘Nixon Administration’, Paul Volcker once again came back to Treasury as under-secretary from 1969 to 1974. He was partly responsible for the decision to suspend gold convertibility in 1971 that resulted in the collapse of the Bretton Woods System. President Jimmy Carter brought Paul Volcker as the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve in August 1979 to control the rate of inflation.

Charlie Rose – Paul Volcker

Chuck Hagel for State is my strong recommendation!

During the past one week, we are hearing the names of Senator John Kerry, Former Senator Sam Nunn and former US Ambassador to UN Richard Holbrooke as possible choices for the next US Secretary of State in the forthcoming Obama Administration. This could be a second major mistake by President-elect Barack Obama after the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as the next Chief of Staff. These are all the same people who were found incompetent during President Bill Clinton’s administration. John Kerry is an incumbent Senator and an important member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He could Chair this Committee if Senator Christopher Dodd was to defer on his behalf. Sam Nunn has always been his own man and could be a potential trouble-maker. Richard Holbrooke is the better one amongst the three but talks too much. This is the time America needs a Secretary of State who is willing to listen to the world opinion rather than keep giving his own advice. Chuck Hagel is the only one who is a good listener despite being highly informed on foreign affairs. He is also a strong Barack Obama supporter.

Charles Timothy Hagel was born on October 4, 1946 in North Platte, Nebraska. He graduated from St. Bonaventure High School in Columbus, Nebraska. He also completed a diploma from Brown Institute for Radio & Television in 1966. He served in the Vietnam War from 1967-1968 as a Sergeant in the US Army. Hagel is a decorated war veteran. He attended the University of Nebraska of Omaha in 1972. Hagel served as deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration in Reagan’s fist year in office. He left the government in 1982 and co-founded Vanguard Cellular, a mobile phone manufacturer and became a multi-millionaire. Republican Chuck Hagel ran for the US Senate against Ben Nelson, who was the sitting governor of Nebraska. Hagel won a ‘stunning upset’ in the election, receiving 56% of the vote. Six years later in 2002, Hagel overwhelmingly won re-election with over 83% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any statewide race in Nebraska history. Hagel is a member of four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Rules and Administration. He plans to retire from the Senate at the end of his present term.

Chuck Hagel comments on Iraq resolution: 01.24.07