Ramachandra Guha speaks on India should not be a Superpower

[ejazr]

Presented by International Development Research Centre and co-hosted by UBC and the Canada-India Foundation, there has been much talk of a coming Asian century, to be dominated by the economic strength and political assertion of China and India. This talk will critically scrutinize the claims made on behalf of India, and in particular the belief, held by some Westerners and perhaps by many Indians, that India is a coming superpower. It will acknowledge the durability, against the odds, of India's national unity and of its democracy. It will appreciate the recent surge in economic growth. At the same time, it will provide a critical analysis of the deep fault-lines within Indian society, politics, economics, and culture, to conclude that the talk of India's imminent rise to superstardom is highly premature. Ramachandra Guha is a historian and biographer based in Bangalore. Now a full-time writer, he has previously taught at the universities of Yale and Stanford, held the Arné Naess Chair at the University of Oslo, and been the Indo-American Community Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
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An interesting talk of which my take would be that these are 10 Challenges that India must overcome to become a Superpower.

 

[ajtr]

lol Ramchandra guha and Arundhati Roy made for each other.....................:happy_2:

In 2000, Guha penned an essay critiquing an article[1] written by writer and activist Arundhati Roy opposing the Narmada Dam. Roy espoused the cause of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a cause Guha is also a supporter of. However, he questioned her expertise in the relevant field and argued that her activities and writings undermined rather than helped the cause.[2] Roy responded in an interview, saying that Guha was cricket historian who had missed the boat.

http://www.enotes.com/topic/Ramachandra_Guha

 

[ajtr]

LSE invites Ramchandra Guha to serve as the Phillippe Roman Professor of history and international affairs
The London School Of Economics (LSE) has invited noted historian Ramachandra Guha to serve as the Phillippe Roman Professor of history and international affairs. He will be the first Indian to hold one of the world's most prestigious professorships. For excerpts on his book on India titled "Remaking India"

From cricket historian to history and international affairs.quite a jump.

http://www.ibef.org/download/newsletter_18October_10.htm

 

[ejazr]

Guha is a centrist/realist in most of his views, Roy is on the other hand a utopian leftist extremist. As your quote shows, he was critical of Roy's work on Maoists.

His main area of expertise is history and sociology. Circket was a side interest.


For those who didnt listen to the entire video, the 10 challeges he listed were

(1) The serious challenge of left wing/maoist insurgency
(2) The currently recessive but ever present danger of right wing religious extremism
(3) The decline and corruption of the democratic insititutions, particularly the change of politcal parties into family firms
(4) The degradation of public insitutions
(5) Growing gap between rich and poor
(6) The rapid pace of environmental degradation
(7) The apathy of the media (in talking about serious problems facing India)
(8) Politcal defragamentaion and the policy confusion it gives rise to
(9) Unrecociled boderland (aka the sepratistism in the north and NE)
(10) Unstable neighbourhood


The main conclusion is from 1:00:00 to 1:05:00

 

[S.A.T.A]

Nations become reluctant super powers.The fundamental factor that drives nations on to the path of great power is very primeval,self interest and self preservation is the touchstone upon which all international policies will be judges,regardless of the questions on merit,morality and ethics.When Rome engaged Carthage in the disastrous Punic wars,it was self preservation that drove both the civilization to war,when Macedonians marched on Persia,it was the same principle at play.Europe's maritime superpowers took to the blue waters as the last resort of self preservation(when the doors of Mediterranean closed on them).....

If India emerges as a super power it will not be a result of some grand design and planning ,but will follow India's determination to protect and promote her self interest.However before Indian takes another step forward,it will have to decide what is this "Interest" that which it must protect,preserve and promote.India must first the settle irrevocably the multiple internal discourse regarding her ideology and identity and only then can it frame a national strategy over expanding interests.India's national discourse is now mired in confusion and our national/international policies result from this confusion,the rest of the world perceives this confusion in our national policy as our reluctance or lack of capacity to assume super power ambitions.

When India mentored the world we were a self assured nation and had no confusion regarding our national self,we must become that before we go any further.