Skip to main content

Forged lines

There is furore among diplomats regarding medium-sized autocratic nations wielding more hard power on the new world order. Countries like Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia have begun to meddle in the politics of their neighbourhood, which was earlier restricted to great powers like Russia or Europe. The reason was the grand exit of the US from the world scene post-2016 when it began to look inwards in response to the awaking dragon.

However, a bigger picture in these battles must be more easily seen. The fall of the Soviet union was globally witnessed, but none stood watching when the colonies fell into the European merchants. In fact, the peace that shadowed post second world war saw colony owners sign on behalf of their holdings. Boundaries were drawn to satisfy the European view of the world. Thus the constant turmoil in these autocratic nations speaks of a history that was ignored in this treaty of the west. Baghdad, for example, had long been the capital of the Islamic dynasties. However, current-day Iraq is almost denied any coastline to operate its maritime cargo. The kingdoms of Kuwait were a promise that the English kept at the cost of Iraq's future.

Primarily geography has been the boundary maker between States. A mountain kept the Indian and Sino rulers unaware of the kingdoms past the Himalayas. However, soon ethnic tensions began to split up these states further. When the Europeans came armed with guns, they needed a master of the land to guide them. There, they used one ethnicity against another, promising them a country in return. Some of these boundaries were drawn in a hurry, post-1945, when the war had to be shut. It was here that the Britain govt handed out regions like east and west Pakistan separated by an entire country.

What was left of this exercise was states with confusing boundaries and new wars that have no reason. The Indus plain was split in two for the first time in history. Although many nation-states are using this argument to fuel hypernationalism among their citizens, there is an essential misjudgement in the first place. There is no doubt that autocrats have used such issues to divert the public from their political failings. However, these forged lines beg the question of whether the world wars' burden of peace came as new tensions among formed states?

Popular posts from this blog

Election afterthoughts

The unfolding of the Indian election might have come as a surprise to many, for one is the BJP who steamrolled the campaign seasons with slogans of "400 par". While it remains 240 seats popular in a house of 520 members, a few stories should not go unnoticed. First, the BJP's popularity and the win for a third term is no ordinary feat. Only a few leaders of the past have managed such an elusive feat. This, indeed, is the trust that the brand Modi has built over the years. In politics, we often get acclimatized to the situations, in certain aspects too critical of it. When the young generation looked at Indira Gandhi's cabinet, they vowed never to again let such a solid mandate to a single party that its chief could declare an emergency, and no structures would be able to prevent that. This, however, ended up in fragmented colours in the Lok Sabha, the era of coalitions and surprise prime ministers. Needless to say, the horse-trading of MPs and the mindless corruption ...
dive in...

Birth of a flood

The sky is almost dark, saving for those last golden tinges that would fade in no time. As palm trees mark the oblivion, a muddy reflection forms the ground. Last few days were mostly rainy. So profound is our love for rain. And why would not we? Unlike most other seasons, rain are so tender. A drop of patience which is about to reach its final destiny. Every time I look at rain drops they remind me of a struggle. A journey that begins with summer in an aura of dry and burning heat. And in no time the drop loses its sources. The long carried identity of its mother. With the loss of identity a awakening awaits. The pleasure to reach out and bond. As our drop moves up and up the end less skies, it realises the futility of pride and the necessity to bond. This comes with age. Not until it is near to earth it agrees to meet with other wanderers of the new world. And finally all our drops reach the cold atmosphere. The coldness makes life dreary and lonely. As the youthfulness dies out,...
dive in...

Turning back from pull to push

Two recent campaigns deserve attention from marketing enthusiasts, one of Campa Cola (reenergised by the Reliance Group) and of Tata Sampann's species. The challenges these two brands face are too distinct from one another. Campa, on the one hand, aims to fight the global brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, whereas Sampann looks to create a market in indian spices that has been dominated by local players like MDH and Everest. However, their strategies have something in common: getting the distributors to stock more of their products on the shelves. Campa is offering the distributors twice the margins, while Sampann is leveraging its vast portfolio to make stocking only Tata products a win for the distributors. Image credit: Economic Times To understand why this is happening, and what makes this interesting, one has to look back on the history of marketing, more specifically the shift from a push to a pull-based marketing, where the focus of the brands shifted from pushing their produc...
dive in...