By Tarana Khanna
Nationalism is growing globally. This time around its face isn’t one of Fascism, although it might seem so but rather, its face is Fear. A knee jerk reaction to the Refugee Crisis spawned by ISIL’s invasion of Iraq in 2014 followed by Syria in late 2015. An ultra orthodox and utterly barbaric Sunni faction with unholy designs of a caliphate, headquartered in Syria ,its self styled manifesto the supreme authority over all Muslims worldwide. They targeted all non Sunnis for extermination. Between the two war torn countries millions of people fled to find sanctuary in neighboring Lebanon, Turkey, Greece and farther afield in to Brussels, France and Germany.
Its interesting to note Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime had Russian President Putin’s backing all along against the rebels who are still fighting the said regime. While France, Brussels and Germany allowed the fleeing thousands entry they failed to run regular background and security checks allowing several terrorists to slip in un-vetted and free to plan and execute their martyrdom with maximum damage. It was a given that there would be major repercussions and reprisals against legitimate law abiding Muslims both sides of the International Date Line. Citizens around the world felt threatened by job losses, the dilution of their religion from the many mosques, the lack of the assimilation of the naturalized Muslims into the way of life of their adopted country and/ or lack of respect for a culture other than their own. The fear of ‘Muslimization’ was and is continuing to be tangible.
Brexit from the EU was a direct cause. Many countries echoed President Donald Trump’s mantra: close your borders to Muslims.
US foreign policy under the Trump administration is thus far myopic. Pulling its membership from the TPP highlighted the Commander and Chief’s shortcomings in experience, foresight and any form of diplomacy. The Obama administration formed the TPP to keep the Chinese out of the market in that region. Now because of the vacuum left behind by the US I feel in the long run it will be a good deal for the Chinese.
China will gain another major foothold in its burgeoning global market reach. In the current scenario placing yourself in purda (the US) will prove an unwise decision.
Between the threat of ISIL actually managing to procure isotopes to make dirty bombs which would not be as lethal in damage as compared with the possibility of their really gaining access to a nuclear bomb that would lay waste to life as we know it, seems remote when you consider the rhetoric coming out of North Korean lately. Its self elected President Kim Jong-un is touting that a sixth nuclear test on the horizon. If so will China actually put sanctions on North Korea if they go ahead? I wonder if it isn’t in the Chinese best interests if Kim Jong-un is out of the picture and someone more malleable to Chinese interests moves in. I feel both China and Russia independently of each other have imperialistic ambitions. China is building in disputed islands of the South China Sea. Putin with impunity annexed the Ukraine and the Crimea.
So where to next Russia?
We have come so far technologically. The world indeed has become a village. Yet sadly there are countries that are forced to live without any access to news and views outside their own borders because they are subjects to state censorship of all media, no freedom of speech, and state controlled travel within their own country.
So yes religion is still the big divide; but in this day and age its controlled by a fanatical bunch of power hungry zealots un sanctioned by any government.
By the same token I feel our freedom is being held to ransom by megalomaniacs in power. Someone told me the other day that no way would we ever have a third world war. Because we aren’t that stupid. I may have bust their bubble when I replied have you taken into account that there are three prominent world dictators calling the shots with a possible addition of a fourth in play?
