Is the ‘Washington Consensus’ really over?

Gordon Brown said at the end of the G20 summit in London: “The old Washington consensus is over. Today we have reached a new consensus that we take global action together to deal with the problems we face, that we will do what is necessary to restore growth and jobs that we will take essential action to rebuild confidence and trust in our financial system and to prevent a crisis such as this ever happening again.” Really? Is it going to be replaced by a ‘European Consensus’ or a ‘Chinese Consensus’? When the European Union becomes one country including the United Kingdom, only then they should talk of changing the ‘Washington Consensus’. The bigger question is whether China or Japan would accept a European Consensus!

What has really changed since the last G20 summit in September 2009 in Washington DC? The ‘decider’ has been replaced by the ‘huggers’ as the Obamas went hugging the Queen and the commoners. Other than that we see the same old communiqué and the same old speeches after the day long colorful event. Nothing is going to change for any individual country or the world as a whole. The only visible change that you see is the significant increase of IMF funding from $250 billion to $750 billion. The other visible change was a little contrived swagger of a US president. Obama appeared little defensive in a post summit conference. He advised India to resume dialog with Pakistan as soon as America starts talking to Osama!

President Barack Obama was correct when he observed that America remains the largest economy in the world by a very significant margin. It is also the most potent military force in the history of the world. He was also accurate when he proclaimed that United States is the biggest producer of goods and services and the popular culture. Obama was wrong to claim a free and vibrant press in his country. We know how free and how vibrant the American press is these days. President Obama and his America has to learn some day that the world is not happy with American Foreign Policy and that if US wants any significant cooperation from any other country, it must start listening rather than dictating and imposing its views on others!

Nobody messes around with China…

Have you ever heard of a terrorist attack on mainland China? When was the last time a Chinese airliner was hijacked? Or for that matter, why is the Taliban or Al-Qaida not interested in China? After all, Chinese are in everyone’s face around the world. They have their fingers in every pie, be it the Middle-East, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America or even South America. With so much visibility all over the world, how come no body is mad enough to carry-out a terrorist attack against them. Are the terrorists scared of China or do they consider Chinese to be their friends?

Come to think about it, since 9/11, America hasn’t had any terrorist attack either. Probably George W Bush got it right. He went after them with an obsession that forced the likes of Osama bin Laden into a hole. Osama has not come out of his hole (cave) since 2003. Al-Qaida and Taliban can make all the threats they want, but the fact of the matter is that they got scared. There have been no attacks on the United States or it’s national interests anywhere in the world since September 11, 2001. God only knows what will happen when George Bush leaves office.

India on the other hand is like a ‘Pinata’ for the terrorists. There is not a single terrorist outfit in the world that has not hit India sometime or the other. The response from India is a statement of condemnation. Not only the terrorists but China and Pakistan, both consider India to be some kind of a joke. China grabbed India’s land and the 1962 war followed. India got such a beating that even today the thought of another confrontation sends chill down India’s spine. For the last couple of years, Chinese troops come for a walk on the Indian side of the border, every single day. What do we do? We send them letters of condemnation. They laugh in our face. Pakistan has sponsored an insurgency against India since 1947. What is India’s response? A formal Protest! Do you think it is time for L K Advani to take over?