Europe in the slow lane
A Mawaz Dhaka
The constitutional tangles in EU are not surprising. These imperialists who lorded over vast colonies for centuries taste the intimations of insecurity syndromes (of lower standard of living). This negative situation has made the United States more sensitive, and it is bungling its foreign affairs policies. There is an apt Bangla expression: hai, hai, amader ki hobey! (O Lord, what will happen to us).Possessiveness is a human trait, and it circulates in eddy currents. In times of stress, foes become friends and sit together, as Germany and France are doing today, on how to save EU from equaliser situation. No options: you have to face it! While attention is being diverted to the tantrums of the Western powers, Saarc (South Asia, teeming with billions) is subtly undergoing background under-currents -- with subtle foreign interventions, of course. Advani's friendly bang in Pakistan, and the interaction of the people of 'two' Kashmirs are deliberate underground policies by third parties trying to turn vast Saarc into another European Union, without visas and transit documents. This is seamless insensibility of the groovy kind, as for half a century the traditional litigants are being coerced into compromising positions with carrots and sticks (first F-16s to one nation, then F-18s to the other). The nuclear scare is dummy, as not a single atom bomb has been exploded after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Taliban myth is a reality, but it is being interpreted in a different way by the Western mind. The East and the West will never meet-- for economic reason, not religious. Japan and Europe are today in the slow lane, and facing sunset years. There are other smaller nations also (S Korea, and Taiwan, with all the eggs in one beaket -- USA). Corruption in Korea is endemic, with half a dozen big corporations running the whole country. The factories in the EU are becoming economically not viable, with high wages, which now cannot be afforded. India and China have the major role beginning right now, as these two nations have to cater to more than two billion people for the next one hundred years, if not more. EU and USA simply cannot compete and control. But India's foreign policy call for microscopic analysis. It is too inward looking, and not neighbour-friendly. It goes against India's future prosperity and friendly image. Which Saarc member is depending on friendly India? None. Not a complimentary remark. Bangladesh is not in the running, with complete absence of political consensus at the national level. It is big, indirect sabotage, not apparent to the lay voters. The political parties are cutting the branches on which they are sitting. The right to suicide? No comment.
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