West Uneasy About Shift in Balance of World Power

China's rise is forcing its neighbors to forge alliances to defend their interests, says this New York Times article. Good, and expected. Now comes the familiar US-centric view: A whirl of deal-making and diplomacy, from Tokyo to New Delhi, is giving the United States an opportunity to reassert itself in a region where its eclipse by China has been viewed as inevitable.
The Americans are seeing the nascent revival in intra-Asian politics as a way to reassert their power in the region. Come on, NYT. Stop behaving like the colonial British.
That age is over when you could sit in Washington and call the shots easily. Of course, you may still call the shots, but it is becoming difficult day after passing day.
This reminds me of an ancient astrological theory -- that political and economic superiority with move across the face of planet Earth over a period of time -- from the east/Asia to Europe, the New World, to East Asia and finally back to India.
I think right now what we are seeing is that power, both economic and political, is moving definitely from the New World to East Asia.
As Indians, we should prepare ourselves for this great opportunity and also be sure that China, with a political system that can be hijacked easily by a potential dictator, is not allowed a free run
in such a scenario.

Pakistan's classic game - dupe, and get paid

Another day, another report of Pakistani mischief in Afghanistan. Now the NYT says Pakistanis helped the Americans pick up a Taliban leader to scuttle peace talks he had been having with Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai without the ISI's blessings. And the Americans, it seems, fell for it lock, stock and barrel.

At least that latter part is not surprising, considering the Americans have let themselves be fooled by the wily Pakistanis for decades now.

And then there is a report from Somalia that Indian and Pakistani jihadis were killed there. While the part about Indian jihadis should be shocking, that reference should be to Pak-trained Kashmiri terrorists.
What is surprising to me is how deeply involved Pakistan is into all this -- all across the globa -- and how the world is swallowing the explanations that the country's army and government have been forking up time and again to hide their roles.

The world has donated them millions of dollars and they get this in return.

Hmm, may be that should not surprise either. The United States has been doling out billions to Pakistan for years, and what do they get in return? WTC attacks, sanctuary for Taliban ...

It seems like there is no solution to the Pakistani problem but to nuke that country. That is a very extreme solution, I would agree. But extreme situations need extreme solutions. And Pakistan is quickly becoming an extreme situation for the global community -- a gangrene on the world body-politic.

The Obama administration is holding on, hoping that constant engagement would help them bring Pakistanis to march the marked path. I now think that is at best a dream. The Pakistanis won't end their deceit and guile for anything. And why should they -- the more they do it, the more the world is willing to bankroll them.

True, the Pakistani people deserve sympathy and help. But most of that help will be diverted by the jihadist elements in their society and government to harm the very people who extended that help -- if past record is any indication.

Every calamity, political or natural, is just another way for these Islamist terrorists to get money from the world to push their agenda. It is like biting the hand that feeds.

The question now seems to be how much longer the world community is willing to let the Pakistanis continue with their mischief. There is no answer to this. Religious and geo-political considerations would mean the Pakistanis always will have backers, from China to Iran to Jordan.

The only solution will come when the Israelis decide enough is enough.

My own gut feel is if Pakistan is taken off the map, much of the world's terrorism will end. Of course, the world will have to pay a price. But that would be much better than allowing the Pakistanis to destroy world civilization itself.

IndiaPay to swipe Visa, MasterCard out of India!

Have you ever wondered how much money you contribute to the U.S. economy when you use your credit or debit cards? Visa and MasterCard have been minting money from India, thanks to the soaring use of plastic among Indians.

And now, the Economic Times reports that the Reserve Bank of India is working to dam some of those flows and keep some of that money inside India -- with IndiaPay, a state-backed payment platform.

China, as always, and Malaysia have already put in place such platforms.

Once IndiaPay goes on stream, a India's banks can pay a lot less as charges for such plastic transactions.

This is definitely good news; in a free-trade world the flow of money should come both ways.
And as with outsourcing, you can now expect the West to cry 'Wolf' over this too. Because, for them free trade is trade that benefits the West.