Is the United States a divided house or wanting in presidency?

Some are born great (like Harry Potter). Others have greatness thrust upon them. It seems that President Obama is falling into the latter category. He probably knew something of this sort was coming when he ran for the Presidency. He might not have accounted for how much he would need to rise to meet the challenge. The title of the blog suggests a question which I am in no position to answer. So I’d rather illustrate why the question seems important.

I’ve seen politics in the UK and India but nowhere has it been as polarized as in the US; at least when it comes to serious things. That the tea party, with vocal supporters of default can actually exert considerable influence in the decision making is alarming. While its most likely that default will be averted in the eleventh hour, the very fact that it took that much of give and take to reach a consensus pushes me to ask the question I did. Democracies are strong because they involve people. Any policy made is the result of a consensus and hybridizes ideas of different parties. Yet when faced with obstinate parties and unwavering ideologies: the core of any consensus, “compromise” is lost. That is a divided house. It’s a place where people start caring more about their beliefs and ideologies. Not about the house and the nation.

On the other hand there is the President. He is the elected representative, indirectly chosen by the people to lead them. To prevent concentration of power he is subject to the legislators on Capitol Hill. At times, he has the luxury of exemplary support in both houses. Else he executes the policies of the Federal government by engaging with the hill. His personality, charisma and power are crucial to the enabling of consensus. Several American presidents’ present precedents on this matter, including Dwight Eisenhower (often poor relations with Congress) and Ronald Reagan (exhausted the Soviets). In this case however, President Obama clearly is not able to break deadlock. He might be able to cajole his own party to accept cuts in social policies. He cannot get the G.O.P house speaker, John Boehner to accept closure of tax loopholes, let alone rises. Boehner in turn is under pressure from the conservative right to concede not an inch of ground. The democrats too refuse to concede deep cuts in a bloated and inefficient social service. Clearly if every party is to have their way a default is inevitable. A default will be terrible. It will spark partial government shutdown, quickly depreciate the dollar, increase cost of borrowing, and bump up actual cost of living. It will jeopardize the American and Global economy. Eventually as the American people get affected Congress will undoubtedly act. It would then be too little too late.

What the president must remember is that while Congress will be to blame, it is a body of 535 people. Eventually, they are responsible to their constituent which consists of a couple of million; at most. The president on the other hand is an individual directly responsible to the nation; vested with enormous authority to act in its interest. Congress might be paralyzed by the powerful weakness of democracies: indecision. That is why the executive exists. It is time for the president to do something truly presidential, if he can.

Thanksgiving , a taste of the Indian and American: Perspectives on Indo American community

source:http:\\www.wikipedia.org

Tonight I am at my aunts in Chicago. It’s a place that I can call home within a thousand mile radius of the university. A few hours ago we had a very good meal of turkey, potato, sauce and pies. Right now I’m watching the New York jets demolish the Cincinnati Bengals, albeit with some sorrow. That’s not what I am going to write this blog over, I rarely write on games. Today I will write about family, food and what I see as the identity of people of Indian origin in America. The family I met was my own; relatives who’ve been here for a rather long time. Some are American citizens, other are well on their way to being one. Given this context some might consider the meeting to be akin to meeting outsiders, alien to my usual way of life. That is certainly not the case.

After 2 months of university life, surrounded by my friends and work, meeting indirect family (Not my parents) in such a situation can be discomfiting. I mean where is my real home here? India is too far away and so is the answer Chicago or Columbus? That answer will still need some debating. So when an uncle I have not met in like 8 years picks you up on the 5.5 hour long drive to Chicago. When you move from the two month familiar university campus to somewhere else in an unfamiliar country it can be frightening. Yet they are family. See the paradox? Regardless of my fear or inhibitions the evening did turn out to be fine. We had a very Indian celebration in the afternoon called Raksha bandhan. Like thanksgiving it celebrates the unity of family. The dinner as I said was resplendent. At its end I was left with a very delectable impression. South Asian Indians in America are not very different from their counterparts back in the old world. If anything what makes them different is superfluous and frivolous. I attribute them to cultural differences over pop and movies and maybe the skill with the English language. The real difference lies in how they integrate the best values of the American society while retaining the timeless values that come with being a good Indian. 

So today got me thinking about home and I decided to write a bit more about it. About what it is like back there and what makes Indian people despite their sordid condition, inheritors of a brighter future. India today, as the villages go, is poor hungry and populous. Child mortality and the development index in five states are as low as in Sub Saharan Africa. A simplistic reasoning would be that things from here can only go up. A more logical explanation would be that this harsh world creates a strong drive for improvement in its people. People often argue that Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums is also a tremendous school in entrepreneurship and resilience. So the engine of the Indian economy runs on the intense competition and the sheer bulk of a billion people. I go to college in America and the relative lack of competitiveness is very perceptible. Advantages present here however are tremendous, such as better infrastructures and superior experience based teaching.

So let me tie up the previous paragraph with the rest of the blog. People of Indian origin in the United States play a vital role for both India and the relationship between our two countries. With time and India’s rising status differences in American strategic interests over Indian ones might become irksome. It will be the responsibility to a large extent of the expatriate community to soothe the nerves. It will also be important for them to build bridges of understanding between the two cultures. One such understanding would be individual competition and strive to succeed (Rationalize the reality of outsourcing and compete to survive). American corporate success has been driven by its fierce competition. This competition among individuals died down soon enough in view of the economic boom that swept the country. This complacency is why fewer Americans went to college and the American economy lost the edge of its strong asset; its people. That is the same asset which for so long was India’s burden and that is now being put to good use. The global economy is changing and the isolation of individual competition from America is coming to a close. It will be more important now than ever for those who never stopped competing to seize opportunities and reinvigorate this trait back into the American ethos. Hard work is respected and always pays.

Grasping the notion of being American.

Affirmation-Savage Garden

I am a student of the Ohio State University in Columbus OH, Midwest region of the United States of America. I am a student in one of the largest university in this country. I am an international student in a foreign land. In this blog I will write about how I try to make, this New World my home.

There are no true ways to measure people. No arbitrary generalization or stereotype can serve as an absolute definition of a society, not the least in diverse America. So to get a feeling of this place I needed to understand my own feeling and analyze my experiences. So through my story at OSU, I try to bring out what my new home, truly means.

I am an engineering major and this makes most of my classes Science or Math based. Additionally as an honors student I end up meeting most of the smarter people in the college. The classes are liberal and the students self dependent. So, one stereotype of Americans as being fiercely individualistic is proved to an extent to be true. It is almost as if no one wants to know much about anyone else s business. This might be in a way good, but I fail to see how ever competition might arise if no one seeks out rivals. The best answer I can offer myself is that they compete with themselves and use averages or numbers as targets. Sounds weird but this is the norm of a new world.   

Then again the society is as dynamic as the American stock market and this justifies the saying, “only in America”. From college students pioneering research to underage binge drinkers who completely lose control, the college society is plagued and yet gifted by some of the most vicious and virtuous traits. This mess can only be characterized as sardonic or regretfully amusing by an outsider. The conflict is caused by less of an issue of lose morale and more of the need to keep an external prudish image. For all the fun they strive to have, college kids strive equally hard to maintain a crisp image that might be diametrically opposite to their character.  

Cultural differences to what I am used to is abundant. Relationships for starters are treated much more carefully and if I care to add ‘properly’. Unlike the laissez faire I was used to for most of my life, America where everything seems to go, also has some unsaid rules of its own. Learning the ropes have been hard, painful even and managing the complexities of relationships challenging. For what can be considered proper or even apt somewhere else in the world, can and is probably considered weird on this side of the planet. So as I feel my way through this intricate but gossamer web of society I hope to come out at worst with a bruised eye and a broken heart. Nothing too permanent I hope. At worst I could always do what the French do; Parley! 

Are we human?


Linken Park Shadow of the day
Little Drummer London Orchestra
Lullaby, Dear Juliet

Ekla Chalo Re- Bengali
London Symphony on rock


Top Gun anthem
Sawariya Hindi
Amazing Grace: Scot bagpipes 

Why study in the United States?

This question has become a cliche and so have the answers. The truth is that many people are irresistibly drawn to the US without grasping how the that helps them to achieve their end. The States is one amongst the many rich and developed English speaking nations. Why is it the preferred hub for students?

Earlier it was common to complete the undergrad in India and get the Masters done from the US. While with time the brain drain has decreased, with increased affluence and wealth a surprising new trend is emerging. In 2009 the rate of growth of international undergraduate students in the US surpassed that of graduate students. This is accentuated by a slow decline of students from India intending to get a masters but not undergrad courses.

Analysis

The prediction is of course closely related to the financial crisis. As the US job market takes a hit, students who intended to go to America to earn big bucks and live a good life move elsewhere. As that happens we find that new answers are being given to the old cliched question, "Why the USA?".

Answers like, "For great research opportunities" or "to become better entrepreneurs" or even "to get a global exposure" are on the rise and this is a good sign; both for the USA and India. Different students have different aims and outlooks. One is to earn good money and get stability. Others might prefer to lead an easy and fun life within means. Finally there are those who are inclined towards creativity and entrepreneurship . We are seeing a resurgence of the second and third category of students.

I think I belong to the third class and I will support their cause in my blog. A country as large and economically connected as the United States of America cannot go under. In fact this void of economic stability provides a chance for new opportunities. Research done now can create products which will gain enormous market value as the economy recharges itself. The third breed of students are essentially pioneers. Rather than simply follow an established system, they should try to better it.

There are few places in the world where technical education is so closely tied with industry demands. The United States' hands on or practically oriented education is compatible to the needs of the incoming students. This ensures that ideas are created and find a hope of sustenance as long as they provide a use. The success of an idea is the success of the student. Isn't it?

Situation Afghanistan

THIS IS A REPORT MADE BY THE SOUTH ASIAN ANALYSIS GROUP

The US has maintained its relentless Drone (pilotless plane) strikes on the suspected hide-outs and vehicular movements of the Afghan and Pakistani Talibans (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan—TTP) in the North and South Waziristan areas of Pakistan. According to an estimate of the British Broadcasting Corporation mentioned in a report on its web site on June 11, 2010, there have been about 70 Drone strikes since the beginning of this year resulting in more than 200 fatalities. The BBC estimate does not mention how many of these fatalities were of the leaders and other cadres of the two Talibans and how many were of civilians.

Reports from reliable sources in the area indicate that while there have been civilian fatalities they are not as large as made out to be by anti-US elements in the Af-Pak area. Many of the civilians killed would not come under the category of “innocents” in the sense that they had nothing to do with the Talibans. While many of them might not have been activists of the Talibans, they were providing them logistic help at the time they got killed. If one excludes their number, the number of innocent civilians killed due to poor intelligence or wrong targeting is quite small, the sources say.



US claims of having killed a number of senior and middle-level leaders of the Talibans and Al Qaeda are not exaggerated. Some of its claims have been subsequently corroborated by independent sources and even admitted by these organizations themselves. While the US has thus reason to be gratified by the success rate of its Drone strikes, it should be seriously worried by the failure of these strikes to have an impact on the ground situation, either in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

4. The loss of many leaders of the older vintage has not demoralized the Talibans. They have been able to find new leaders as motivated and as capable as the old. There has been no dent on the flow of new volunteers to join the ranks of the Talibans and there has been no weakening of capability and of the ability to take the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistani security forces even in the non-tribal areas by surprise.

This became evident earlier this week when the Afghan Taliban managed to kill seven Americans, two Australians and one French soldier on June 7 followed by the deaths of three more NATO troops the next day. The deaths of 10 NATO soldiers made June 7 the deadliest day for foreign troops in Afghanistan since 14 Americans, including 11 US soldiers, died in two helicopter crashes on October 26, 2009. This has been further followed by the deaths of four more NATO troops on June 9 when their helicopter was brought down by suspected Taliban fire.



The same day ( June 9 ), upto 12 gunmen suspected to be from the Pakistani Taliban attacked a convoy of private trucks carrying logistic supplies for the NATO troops in Afghanistan from the Karachi port. The attack took place at Tarnol, 10 kms from Islamabad on the road to Peshawar. Seven persons believed to be drivers and cleaners of the private trucks in the convoy were killed and 70 lorries transporting fuel and other non-classified material were destroyed. The terrorists launched the attack when the trucks carrying the supplies had stopped for rest and refueling.

In January, the Pakistani Taliban had twice attacked trucks carrying supplies for the NATO near Karachi and now they have attacked a convoy at a place close to Islamabad without being prevented by the Pakistani security forces. Their ability to organize successful strikes----- though still sporadic---- in the non-tribal areas shows that the claimed successes of the Pakistan Army in re-establishing control over areas under the sway of the TTP in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan have not dented the capability of the TTP to divert its operations to the non-tribal areas. While the Afghan Taliban continues to seek territorial dominance, the Pakistani Taliban no longer does so. Instead, it has sought to maintain its tactical mobility and flexibility and ability to provide back-up support to the operations of the Afghan Taliban. The two Talibans are working in tandem effectively.

According to a spokesperson of the US Transportation Command in Washington DC, about 60 per cent of the supplies----food, fuel and some equipment--- is still moved from Karachi by road, 30 per cent by train across Russia and the Central Asian Republics and the remaining 20 per cent consisting of ammunition and other classified items is flown by air directly to Afghanistan. The spokesperson claimed that attacks such as the one near Islamabad----though serious---- have not had any significant impact on the NATO’s ability to replenish itself.



The revamped US strategy in the Ad-Pak area consisting essentially of attempts at ground dominance in the Afghan territory and stepped-up Drone strikes in the Pakistani territory is nowhere near bringing about a turning point in the US battle against the Afghan Taliban. The efforts of President Hamid Karzai to identify and wean away the inadequately motivated elements in the Afghan Taliban through offers of money, perks and a share of power under his continuing leadership are not making headway despite reported secret contacts with claimed Taliban elements in places such as the Maldives and the recent jirga, which was a spectacular event, but nothing more. There have been no substantive political results and there are unlikely to be any.

The ideological solidarity in the two Talibans remains strong. Their bases of support in the Pashtun communities on both sides are intact. Mr.Karzai has no significant support from the Pakistani Pashtun community except from the followers of the Awami National Party now in power in the province of Khyber Pakhtoonkwa ( the old North-West Frontier Province). His support in the Afghan Pashtun community is more, but not sufficient to slow down the flow of volunteers to the Afghan Taliban. The Afghan Taliban, headed by Mulla Mohammad Omar, has been able to draw volunteers from the Pashtun communities in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. The recent successes of the two Talibans show that their ability to plan and carry out operations at a time and place of their choice remains strong.

The US is far from prevailing over the Afghan Taliban and being able to bring about a turning point on the ground which would facilitate a down-sizing of the US presence in time for it to make a favourable impact on Mr.Barack Obama’s bid for re-election in 2012. It looks as if the final outcome in the Af-Pak area will be determined by who has the better battle stamina and staying power. The stamina and staying power of the US-led NATO forces do not seem to be strong enough to bring about a turning point favourable to them. The success of the Indian policy in Afghanistan would depend on the final success of the US-led NATO forces and the Afghan National Army on the ground. That success is not yet in sight. Is it time to have a second look at India’s policy? What should be India’s objective in the present circumstances? Continuing to expand India’s role in the hope that the NATO and the ANA would finally prevail? Consolidating its present role without further expanding it till the ground situation starts improving----if at all it does? Is there scope for a compatibility between the interests and roles of India and Pakistan in Afghanistan? Should India diversify its contacts in the Pashtun communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan? What role can the generally India-friendly ANP play in this regard? These are questions which need serious examination by our policy-makers.

India’s Afghan policy has passed through three phases. Between 1947 and September 1996, when the Taliban captured power in Kabul, it was Pashtun-centric. Between September 1996 and the defeat of the Taliban by the US in 2001-end, it became Tajik-centric with India, Russia and Iran jointly supporting the Northern Alliance. Since the assumption of power by Mr.Karzai in Kabul, India has been re-cultivating the Pashtuns of Afghanistan while seeking to keep intact the goodwill earned by it among the non-Pashtuns. The six years of rule by the National Democratic Alliance Government under Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee saw an erosion of the goodwill of the Pakistani Pashtun community loyal to the ANP towards India. The present Government of Dr.Manmohan Singh has not attempted to re-establish our traditional contacts with sections of the Pakistani Pashtun community. Our traditional friends in the Pashtun community have not played an adequate role in the evolution of our Afghan policy. Our policy is influenced more by strategic calculations than by historic affinities. It is time for a course correction

Crossroad in Afghanistan

Afghanistan.

When I think about it, it amazes me to see how many trees have been cut to print articles about this country. In the last thirty years, many thousands have died fighting against occupiers, for faith and honor. You could say that their last thirty years of history was writ in blood. This has left a deep and lasting psychological impact on the people. Post resuscitation of their country, Afghanis expected the dream of Ahmed Shah Massoud to become a reality. That failed and a strong democratic nation could not be established.



Out of this darkness the Afghani people and especially children have developed apathy to values perceived to be American, namely liberty, democracy and free economy. This will be the source of future problems. The issue in Afghanistan is not intrinsic to the country. Its more like a parasite. The country was a fertile ground for jihadist activities due to the war mongering developed amongst its people. Now as ordinary afghans grow increasingly tired of violence the fight is being led by foreign fighters. They neither care for Afghanistan or its people. The Taliban especially see the warlords as temporary allies on the road back to power. This is probably the greatest strength of the Afghan government.




The threat to the stability of the Afghan democracy stems from two primary sources. One is the resurgent Taliban and the other being the warlords.
Both can be quelled if the Afghan government in Kabul is viewed positively by the people. This would require extremely good governance. The values of democracy, namely freedom and liberty must be enjoyed by most if not all. Economy can be revived by spending on infrastructure and cottage industries. Afghanistan needs to create a middle class. This strategy will be especially suitable against the Taliban which depends largely on supporters from the lower society of the country.
Paradoxically the warlords threaten the integrity of the country through their immense wealth and connections in the high rungs of power. Money gives them the ability to higher men and contacts within the government give them the right to rule their estates. A suitable countermeasure would be to involve different people. What Afghanistan needs desperately now are leaders. Right now political power is concentrated at Kabul. Regional leaders and warlords need to be brought into the parliament by election. This is not unlike the integration of post independence India.




Maybe Afghanistan has more to learn from India than Pakistan. Maybe the United States would be better advised to let the Afghani people chose their ally and make their decisions for the fate of their country.