Upcoming Imperialism

A common theme that binds the growth story of all the nations that are on a developmental path is the cropping up of imperialism. The 20^th century poses the greatest and the most horrifying evidence of the premise but it’s not a singular example and all modern developed nations have a history of imperialism in some form or the other. Every century has its villains and victims, the actors change but the plot doesn’t deviate much.

While the 20^th century showcased its brutality in the form of major world wars and some other wars, the 21^st century does not seem to a have a very promising start either. The wars may not have played themselves out yet but that does not mean the lack of underlying tensions. Resources are strained and the economies wishing to expand are fighting off till the last piece is up for grabs.

In such a scenario, what does the upcoming world order hold for the retiring powers like America and Russia as well as the emergent ones like India and China? Will the next wave of imperialism be led by India and China, will the world be able to contain the mighty ambitions of these nations and if indeed the conflicts are spilled, what shaped will they take?

Here I am going to carry forward the question with India-China as the leading actors in this 21^st century chapter of this age old drama. The story begins with the obvious baseline with each country waking up from the shackles of darkness, and a promise to end humiliation that it has suffered (or is suffering). In the case of our present players the humiliation is the poverty and underdevelopment of the masses. For long has the typical Indian and Chinese been seen with the lens of a poor peasant toiling away without any significant gain in the standard of living.

Now while China has taken the lead and India lags in this department very badly, the two countries are not that different. China may have lifted a record number of people out of poverty but it is the largest population on the earth, making the task a never ending journey. India on the other hand is left behind in the promise but has been trying to catch up steadily post the economic liberalization of the 1990’s.

The past decade and in fact the majority of the 21^st century global political and economic discussion has centered on how India and China are growing up to occupy the larger portions in the bigger picture that is the new world order. Their journey this far has mostly been focused inwards with major thrust on improving domestic systems of production and governance. China chose the autocratic and communistic path with a razor sharp focus on the end goal while India chose the democratic and plural system with a mixed economy which made its vision and performance trajectory twisted and unpredictable like the snake in the Snakes game of Nokia.

But both differences aside, these approaches will soon exhaust their dominions and shortly afterwards influences abroad will be sought. The pieces of this game have already started to fall into place with both nations exercising influence first in the immediate neighborhood and then following it up at more distant lands. As with other aspects of this tale, China has a lead here as well but that has not stopped India from following the suite.

India and China are now competing (and in very rare cases co-operating) for resources in lesser developed parts of Asia as well as Africa. Even though there is nothing wrong in ensuring future supplies for the factories feeding the nation’s economy and thus ensuring its survival, what scares me as an Indian is the compulsion that our government has expressed at times for betraying our ideals in lieu of these material gains. The most glaring example being our (although reluctant) dealing with the military dictatorship in Myanmar.

I don’t mean to act like an idealist and disown the actions of my government as I am fully aware that we feeling left out of the emerging global race and in such cases idealism can sometime feel like a burden holding you back. But as a global citizen and an admirer of history, I realise that the starting point of world-gone-down-the-drain is when nations abandon their ideals in favor of short term benefits that may help in the fight against myopic fears.

The 20^th century world order created exceptions for Germany so that it could aid in the fight against communism, the 21^st century one may take some other pretext but if the growth and ambition of India and China are not kept in check (not by foreign powers but the citizens of both the nations) we may end by being a party to the horrors of our century. This sense of historical burden that lies on our shoulders can be fulfilled only if we make the development and progress of our nations a personal goal of every citizen. Moreover the ambitions of the nation can be tempered by the citizen only when the ambitions of the citizens are tempered as well. In this mission the spiritual histories and the philosophies of both the nations can be a great source of inspiration and enlightenment.

Jai Hind!