One-party authoritarian regimes silencing mass populations and incarcerating critics or unwelcome voices are now a norm in the West. Are we seeing the rise of self-proclaimed democracies that are decidedly anti-democratic?
India's ambitious Deepwater Greenfield Port at Vadhavan is set to revolutionize global trade routes and strengthen national security. How will it impact trade, security and geopolitics.
I am at the Sattology International Literature Festival this weekend. It is a unique festival that has curious minds that
When the US Ambassador threatened India's "Strategic Autonomy" policy over India's friendship with Russia - much more than meets the eye was at stake. Let us unpack how the Ukraine war has fundamentally changed the US and the world. And why are we here anyway?
Long ago, in the ancient land of Bharat, there lived a fierce and ambitious demon named Bhasmasur.
Bhasmasur was not content with his ordinary existence. Driven by an insatiable thirst for power, he embarked on a severe penance to please Lord Shiva, the god of destruction and transformation. Bhasmasur’s devotion was so intense that it drew the attention of Shiva, who appeared before him.
"Arise, Bhasmasur," Shiva said. "Your penance has pleased me. Ask for any boon, and it shall be granted."
Without hesitation, Bhasmasur asked, "O Lord Shiva, grant me the power to turn anyone I touch on the head into ashes."
Though troubled by the request, Shiva was bound by his word and granted the boon.
Empowered with this deadly ability, Bhasmasur's arrogance knew no bounds.
He began to wreak havoc, challenging gods and humans alike. Drunk with power, he decided to test his newfound ability on none other than Lord Shiva himself. As Bhasmasur advanced menacingly towards Shiva, the god realized the gravity of the situation and fled, seeking refuge.
Shiva's plight reached Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, who devised a plan to outwit the reckless demon.
Taking the form of the enchanting Mohini, a celestial beauty, Vishnu approached Bhasmasur.
Bhasmasur, captivated by Mohini's charm, was smitten instantly. "O fairest maiden, who are you?" he asked, his desire evident.
Mohini smiled and replied, "I am Mohini, a dancer from the heavens. But who are you, mighty demon, that even the gods tremble before you?"
Puffed with pride, Bhasmasur narrated his exploits and the boon granted by Shiva. Mohini feigned admiration and said, "Such power deserves to be displayed with grace. Show me your dance, O great one, and I shall be yours."
Flattered, Bhasmasur agreed. Mohini began to dance, her movements fluid and mesmerizing. Bhasmasur, trying to impress her, mirrored her every move. She twirled, he twirled; she spun, he spun.
Finally, Mohini placed her hand on her own head in a graceful pose.
Lost in the rhythm and eager to imitate, Bhasmasur did the same. The moment his hand touched his head, he was turned into ashes, falling victim to his own boon.
Thus ended the reign of terror of Bhasmasur.
Bhasmasurs are powerful beings. Sometimes, the smart ones turn them against themselves.
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Strategic autonomy refers to a nation's ability to pursue its interests and foreign policy without external constraints.
India's mantra has been of "Strategic Autonomy" in the Modi era.
What has it meant?
In their grand idea of equivalence, some analysts suggest that it is merely a continuation of Nehru's "Non-Alignment" policy.
But there were differences. Major differences!
Let us clearly understand these differences.
When political ideology thinks a hare running at top speed is for the same reason that a leopard is, then there is something fundamentally wrong with your worldview.
When Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the latter's residence - Novo-Ogaryovo, near Moscow, the world sat up and watched.
Many commentators in the West could barely hide their disapproval. A mild word.
Ostensibly, US Ambassador, Eric Garcetti spoke at a conclave focused on the India-US defense partnership in New Delhi.
There, he discussed the importance of the US and India working closely together in times of conflict, stating that there is no such thing as strategic autonomy in such situations. He highlighted the need for mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries, especially in the face of common security threats.
While the diplomatic ones in the US would have us believe that the remarks were "business-as-usual", analysts in India believe it was a scantily-veiled threat.
Some in the US also believe it was a threat. But as is their wont and their ideological persuasion that looks at the world from the lens of American Exceptionalism, they define the reasons and the morality of it differently.
So, such players notched it up to the frustration within the US.
Frustration stemming from India not toeing the US line. How tough are colonial habits to wear off!
"There’s a threatening undertone in Garcetti’s remark."
— Derek J. Grossman (@DerekJGrossman) July 12, 2024
--@KanwalSibal
Yes, there is. The US is becoming frustrated with India. And rightfully so.https://t.co/DpeOTJ0vud
You see, every time the United States and their "allies" talk up the morality angle while painting someone as a villain in the run-up to a war, the infamous memories of the "incubator babies" of the first Iraq war and the WMDs of the second Iraq War come rushing in.
You have to ask the obvious "elephant in the room" question.
The United States is by far the greatest military power in the world. By far!
How is it that the US and its allies have lost all the major wars since the World War II?
Two of them so humiliatingly that the US had to run away lest they be caught. Vietnam and Afghanistan.
How do you square that?
We have analyzed the war-making mystery and the cabal orchestrating it here.
Desh Kapoor
How do they orchestrate this in a democracy?
Through widespread Propaganda.
They create a power structure where they bring the "credibility" of the think tanks and their biased and sponsored views as "truth" to the mainstream media and push that on the unsuspecting public.
The American public actually believes the media and its arguments to be the categorical truth.
See how this whole process works from the results of this study.
"in articles related to U.S. military involvement in Ukraine media outlets have cited think tanks with financial backing from the defense industry 85 percent of the time, or seven times as often as think tanks that do not accept funding from Pentagon contractors."
The image is intriguing!
The subversion of the American polity and public did not just remain limited to peddling propaganda.
But it went further to the point of peddling their propaganda while silencing everyone else's voice.
You see, not everyone will buy the officially curated Kool-aid and will eventually start to question the madness. When that happens, the propaganda can crumble.
That undermining of the propaganda is unacceptable for these war champions.
That is precisely what happened.
The report by the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government shared how the Russian bogie card was being played all through by the players in government, industry, and intelligence.
Was "interference in elections" that big a deal as these players had made it out?
The House Committee found that the hysteria by these players was over-rated and not founded on logic and facts!
We, at Drishtikone, have analyzed the working of the Censorship Industrial Complex in December 2023.
Desh Kapoor
Former CIA analyst Martin Gurri shared how the party in government (Democrats) worked with the intelligence institutions and tech companies to censor the American public completely.
Such a scenario and bastardization of democracy has been witnessed many times before. Roosevelt did it during the world war. Bush Jr. tried it during the Iraq war. But no one could do it with as overwhelming a force as the Biden administration has been able to unleash!
The childish Russian bogie that the Democrats+Media+Intelligence kept playing in 2020 is being whipped up all over again for 2024 as well!
Quite honestly, the folks outside the US would look at this and wonder the spectacular nonsense that Americans are fed and made to believe on the back of American Exceptionalism.
Meanwhile, the fight for the sanctity of the First Amendment is on. And in the latest two cases, the Supreme Court in the US has failed to protect the free speech rights of American citizens.
The cases of O’Handley v. Weber and Murthy v. Missouri have played a pivotal role in highlighting the complex relationship between government agencies and social media platforms, often referred to as the "censorship industrial complex." These cases have brought to light how government actions and policies can influence content moderation on private platforms, raising significant First Amendment concerns.
In O’Handley v. Weber, Rogan O'Handley argued that the California Secretary of State's Office of Election Cybersecurity (OEC) pressured Twitter to censor his political speech, which he claimed was a violation of his First Amendment rights. Rogan O'Handley, a political commentator known as @DC_Draino on Twitter, sued California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, alleging that the state's Office of Election Cybersecurity (OEC) pressured Twitter to censor his political speech. O'Handley argued that the OEC's actions transformed Twitter's private content moderation decisions into state action, effectively violating his First Amendment rights. He claimed that the OEC's communications with Twitter were coercive, leading the platform to remove his posts that questioned election integrity. Supreme Court decision: The Supreme Court ultimately denied O'Handley's petition for certiorari on July 2, 2024, meaning they declined to hear the case. This left the lower court's decision intact, which had dismissed O'Handley's claims because he failed to establish that the state's actions amounted to unconstitutional coercion or collaboration with Twitter.(Source: Casetext)
In Murthy v. Missouri, the plaintiffs, including the states of Missouri and Louisiana, accused federal officials of coercing social media platforms to suppress certain viewpoints during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case involved the Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek H. Murthy, and other federal officials, who were accused by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with individual plaintiffs, of coercing social media companies to suppress certain viewpoints during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election cycle. Supreme Court decision: In June 2024, the Supreme Court decided to reverse and remand the case, ruling that the respondents lacked Article III standing to seek an injunction. This means that the Court did not find sufficient grounds for the plaintiffs to claim that they were directly harmed by the government's actions in a way that justified judicial intervention(Source: Casetext)
These two cases and their judgments are disillusioning for anyone who believes in the right of free speech and democracy. Jay Bhattacharya (Professor Stanford School of Medicine. MD, PhD.) shares his on X.
New Illusion of Consensus podcast! I attended the Supreme Court oral argument on Murthy v. Missouri case. Before, I was fully confident that American courts are fully devoted to free speech. Afterwards... I'm not so sure.
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) March 19, 2024
Please subscribe to the podcast at the link in my bio. pic.twitter.com/2pBtAk3Dpc
Just when one was wondering how much can the US fall in its pretense of democracy, you come across an attack that was targeted to take the main presidential candidate out.
Such is the situation in the US that now candidates standing up to this whole government-intelligence cabal will be targeted and killed.
They tried with Trump today. And failed.
He was shot at with the bullet narrowly missing his head. 2 died in the shooting including the shooter.
I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery pic.twitter.com/ZdxkF63EqF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2024
The leftist media in the US has tried to downplay the assassination attack.
They obviously have their ideological dues to pay.
But this was coming given the hate. Just as Vivek Ramaswamy had predicted earlier.
This is what Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate in the primaries said in an X post today. (X post by Vivek Ramaswamy)
First they sued him. Then they prosecuted him. Then they tried to take him off the ballot. The only thing more tragic than what just happened is that, if we’re being honest, it wasn’t totally a shock. Biden’s inevitable ritual condemnation of political violence today (when it comes) will be insufficient and irrelevant. No amount of verbiage today changes the toxic national climate that led to this tragedy.
Apoorva and I mourn for the rally attendee who was apparently killed by the shooter. We believe the fact that President Trump is safe right now is nothing short of an act of God. My heart tells me God intervened not just for Trump, but for our nation. Today, the future survival of the United States of America came down to less than a hair’s width in the path of a bullet.
If any good comes of today, let it be this: Americans just had the chance to see our next President’s true character, unvarnished. He took the fire, he took the hit, he felt the blood, and then he stood right back up for the people he was put here to lead.
Regardless of who you vote for, let’s unite around the TRUTH that what happened today is unacceptable, now and forever. May we all remember Thomas Jefferson’s words 225 years ago:
“A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions…And if we feel their power just sufficiently to hoop us together, it will be the happiest situation in which we can exist. If the game runs sometimes against us, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake.”
The Republicans, specifically the Trump supporters are clear - this is a Biden act! Specifically after Biden called for putting Trump in the bullseye!
“I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” Biden said. (Source: Defiant Biden tells donors: 'We're done talking about the debate' / Politico)
Well, bullseye it was. The
The establishment within the US is tone-deaf to what the world thinks. Maybe because it believes it has the power to establish its writ worldwide.
Even now.
You see this elite group believes that the US should be immune from the rules of the world. The rules that the US institutes for the world do not apply to it at all.
The Ukraine war is a watershed in many ways.
It has turned America around.
That is precisely what has happened to the US which has become a replica of China. The entity that the US wants to take on. Just as Martin Gurri suggested in the previous section.
And, the American propaganda machine has dragged the Europeans down with it as well.
In today's Europe, you cannot even speak the truth. For example, the treatment meted out to Nigel Farage, a UK politician was remarkable!
It does not matter that John Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, an authority on political science and international relations - at least until recently - said the same thing based on his research inputs.
But this canceling culture reached its peak in September 2022.
One of the most glaring examples was the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. Europe's entire existence was put on the line. Just to hit back at Russia! As Seymour Hersh suggested in his piece, there was credible evidence per him to suggest that the pipeline was destroyed by the US intelligence module.
To see how European and US administrators and leaders believe in their own version of the global situation and want to browbeat others, you should see this conversation.
It is long but worth watching. Specifically the "truth bombs" from Samir Saran. It is even more interesting to watch the Americans and Europeans dodge the obvious insinuations. There is so much conviction in their own moral stand that they want others to believe that Ukraine war alignments are to decide the moral axis of the world.
Even when outside of Europe and the US, no one gives a rat's arse. Just as those in Europe and the US do not give a rat's arse about genocides and crimes being unleashed outside of their territory.
The tension you see in that room with Samir Saran sharing the views which factor in the facts that those still having the guts to question the deep state propaganda reflects the global geopolitical arena.
The hounding of Samir Saran is no different from the statements by Eric Garcetti.
They can attempt to browbeat because they think they can.
They tried with the American citizens and have almost succeeded. Well almost.
Those in the US who have tried to question and challenge them are being targeted in a typical Banana Republic format.
The world is multipolar now.
That has its own consequences.
Actions and statements by the American establishment, specifically around Ukraine, and also other major issues like COVID etc, show they would like to game the world even now.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University, discusses the implications of a multipolar world.
American foreign policy is at a crossroads. The United States has been an expanding power since its start in 1789. It battled its way across North America in the nineteenth century and gained global dominance in the second half of the twentieth. But now, facing China’s rise, India’s dynamism, Africa’s soaring populations and economic stirrings, Russia’s refusal to bend to its will, its own inability to control events in the Middle East, and Latin America’s determination to be free of its de facto hegemony, US power has reached its limits. One path for the US is global cooperation. The other is a burst of militarism in response to frustrated ambitions. The future of the US, and of the world, hangs on this choice. (Source: Learning to Love a Multipolar World / Project-Syndicate)
This loss of hegemony for a reigning power will make it want to experience the world of sole power dynamics back again.
That will mean at some point the pretense of transaction "friendship" will come down.
And the real folks will emerge and be in your face.
Those days are not far.
Specifically when India is also leading the charge for a de-dollarized world within BRICS.
Of course, de-dollarization is not that simple a goal to accomplish. Specifically when the majority of global trade is dollar-denominated.
The goal may be tough but the journey has already started.
More than economics, statecraft and spycraft will be used to make the de-dollarization goal impossible.
That is what PM Modi and India are up against.
We have looked at this in detail - first in July 2022 and then recently.
We are convinced that the real reason for the Ukraine war is not Ukraine.
It is the Arctic Circle.
Using Ukraine as a pretext, the Europeans, Canadians, and Americans are trying to isolate Russia. So they could force their way through the Arctic Circle of the future.
Why is the Arctic Circle so important?
The USGS also estimates that the Arctic contains 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. (Source: Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal / USGS)
Russia controls 53% of the Arctic Circle!
But the real prize is - Rare Earth Minerals.
Instead, the main drivers of the Arctic resource rush are minerals, in particular rare earth metals such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. These minerals are key to the world’s electric-vehicle and renewable-energy revolutions, underpinning battery technology and wind turbines among other things. However, it’s worth noting that lead, iron, nickel, zinc, gold, silver, coal, mica, precious stones and construction minerals such as sand, gravel and crushed rock are also believed to be present in significant quantities. The estimated value of minerals in Arctic Russia stands at $US1.5–2 trillion. The Geological Survey of Norway concluded that the subsurface of the Kola Peninsula contains a ‘remarkable’ abundance of various minerals. Meanwhile, the Canadian Shield, which extends through eastern and central Canada from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, features high-grade metamorphic rocks that hold large reserves of copper, gold, lead, molybdenum and uranium. In Greenland, melting ice is exposing mineral belts that are highly likely to contain gold, nickel, platinum-group elements, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, diamonds and rare earth elements. (Source: "Arctic nations are squaring up to exploit the region’s rich natural resources" / Geographical)
So you see that is what the morals of Democracy, Free Speech / Right information, and justice really come down to - Control over the natural resources and the sea routes of the Arctic Circle while denying Russia that control.
One-party authoritarian regimes silencing mass populations and incarcerating critics or unwelcome voices are now a norm in the West. Are we seeing the rise of self-proclaimed democracies that are decidedly anti-democratic?
India's ambitious Deepwater Greenfield Port at Vadhavan is set to revolutionize global trade routes and strengthen national security. How will it impact trade, security and geopolitics.
Kolkata Gangrape and Murder case and the subsequent batting for the criminals by the entire administration, including the Chief Minister, was not an exception in West Bengal. It is a pandemic!
The future may not have a Bangladesh that we see today. The forces unleashed today will create different ramifications. We look at every angle of the events unfolding.
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