INTERNATIONAL SCENE
Dr. Ms. Santhishree D. Pandit
In the international arena several events
take place daily. Some of the events that made differences to the global
systems ill this quarter are
All these events have to be analysed from a
detailed and deeper perspective. West Asia has been a hot spot and vital to the
interests of any global power. It is politics of oil that has made this region
what it is. The attempt in recent years to get the Israelis and the Arabs to
the negotiating table has been a Herculean task. There have been serious
differences on the status of Jerusalem. Apart from the existing territorial
dispute religiousity complicates the resolution of the vexed question about the
future of Jerusalem. The city is Jewish in the centre and western suburbs and
in the eastern and its suburbs Arab. The fight is who will control the city
that houses the Mount of the Aqsa mosque, where the Jews believe was their
holiest of holy temples. It is a visit to this Mount by Israeli right leader
Ariel Sharon that enraged the Arabs. The suicidal attack on the naval ship off
the shore of Yemen that killed several American sailors has also been further
evidence of Islamic fundamentalism in West Asia. This was followed by the
killing of two Israeli soldiers by the Arabs that brought an instant reaction
from the Israeli military, which was swift and rather excessive.
The race of the White House has reached the
climax. Both candidates look lacklustre. After the charismatic Bill Clinton it
is difficult to choose between the two candidates. If the restriction for two
terms was not there perhaps Bill Clinton would have run successfully for a
third term. The race seems close alter the Democratic candidate Al Gore has
narrowed the margin of victory between himself and the Republican candidate
George Bush Jr. The Vice Presidential candidates are chosen with particular
care to woo certain influential constituencies. The Democratic candidate is
Joseph Liberman, a Jewish American, who has sought to reassure the party’s
traditional supporters among the African-American by reaffirming his faith in
the concept and practice of affirmative action for their benefit. It also
underscores the Democrats minority - friendly politics. The Republican
candidate, the formidable Dick Cheney has a lot of previous administrative
experience with the Reagan and
Bush Sr., administrations. The campaign has brought two facts - the
reinforcement of perceptions of the candidates and two, the notion that the
American voters are not only looking for substantive depth on issues, but also
on things such as “likeability” and “trustworthiness”. As for India, it makes
no difference which party or candidate wins. The US foreign policy works on its
national interests and at present India is an important geopolitical player. By
the time this issue comes out of the press the results will be known.
The Putin visit to India saw a reversal of
roles. During the Cold war it was the mighty Soviet Union that dictated terms.
After 1991 the break-up of the Soviet empire Russia made desperately a search
for friends with the failure to get West’s help Russia is looking
towards its traditional allies. India has realised that in a unipolar world,
Russia is no longer useful in regional equations and the US cannot be
antagonised. India needs military equipment. Hence it was a visit that suits
each others convenience. The Kursk nuclear submarine tragedy, which killed all
the sailors proves the danger of nuclear submarines. The message from the
latest Kursk tragedy is that nuclear submarine technology is far from being
fully grasped. In 1972 another Soviet submarine K-3 caught fire, a hundred
miles from a Norwegian island.
The Korean peace process, is concerned with
Taiwan and Indonesia and the future of trade liberalisation under the
WTO obviously dominated the informal discussions at the summit. The earlier
meeting at Bangkok in 1996 and London in 1998 has seen very little progress.
Since the London meeting the two continents have been facing internal crisis.
The preoccupation with human rights violations in East Asia has belied hopes of
a vibrant partnership. When the EU insisted on incorporating a commitment to
protect rights and freedom into the ASEM framework document, it has only to
be expected that the leaders of China, Singapore and Malaysia should insist on
specifying that there would be no interference in internal affairs. If trade
liberlisation, the fight against international crime and the digital divide are
the major concerns of the ASEM in the short term, the Seoul summit did little
to advance those causes except calling for a fresh round or multilateral
negotiations under WTO.
From the Indian perspective, where the SAARC
has been too limiting, the ASEAN can be an opportunity to involve South
Asia as well. But there has been no word about the expansion of ASEAN as
the East Asian members are dragging their feet for two reasons. Firstly they do not want to enlarge and
dilute the forum which is still to get a focus. Secondly it could become
unwieldy. Thirdly there is the Pakistan factor. If India is admitted, Pakistan
will also want to come in and its all weather friend and Big Brother China will
also will see to it that India’s entry is tagged on to it. It is up to
India to convince its eastern neighbours that it can add value and substance to
the ASEAN and ensure its induction by 2002. SAARC has been a non-starter due to
the differences between India and Pakistan.
The engagement with a rogue state like North
Korea has indeed been quite successful. A totalitarian regime that China
protected and gave it its nuclear secrets could not feed its population. But
North Korea cleverly used its nuclear status, which made a country like the USA
to negotiate with it. The US Secretary of State, Madline Albright had gone on a
hurriedly planned two-day visit to North Korean capital Pyongyang and met the
elusive leader Kim Jong II. The reason is its nuclear capability and its export
programme of selling weapons to Pakistan and Iran. Most of the Ghauri missiles
of Pakistan are from North Korean. The South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has
got a lot of support for his sunshine policy of engaging North Korea and won
the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Now coming to our neigbhourhood that is South
Asia. Sri Lanka went in for its parliamentary elections. No party got a clear
majority. The ruling party of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the People’s
Alliance was the single largest party. The Opposition United National Party
many of whose leaders were targeted by the LTTE has been pushed to the second
place. The death of Srimavo Bandarnaike, the first woman Prime Minister, ended
an era.
The Denmark vote against the single Euro
currency was a set back to the process of the European Union. The Kosovo
elections are a referendum. In recent elections the people of Yugoslovia
elected the opposition leader and clearly sent the message that they did not
like the President who brought them so much misery.