Is the United States of America a "Totalitarian Democracy?" Permanent War, Military Industrial Complex and Civil Society

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Full Spectrum Dominance by William Engdahi is a serious investigative Report on the interface between the political and civilian institutions and the organs of the Military Industrial Complex which some analysts term the Deep State in the USA.  Bereft of its conspitorial shimmer, this book examines in great detail the policy frameworks and the ideological matrix within which total dominance over the world is sought to be achieved. Preparing the citizens for a state of Permanent War implies the ability to command the economic, cultural and human resource in favor of the stated goals of the US and to be able to draw upon the discourse of "Democracy", "Freedom" and "Human Right" to render such wars legitimate in the eyes of its people and the world. In short a Prapaganda Empire that can sustain the war effort. The author claims that these goals lie behind the Full Spectrum Dominance aspired to by the US. Liberation, Free Market and Democracy are the rallying cry of the New Empire of the USA. 

The enemity first with the USSR and after the disintegration of Soviet Union, the continuing saga of hostility needs to be explained. It appears that right from the time of George Kennan the Russia expert in the State Department, USA committed itself to a policy of "containment". This policy itself was predicated upon the Eurasia-Heartland--Rimland theory of Sir Halford Mackinder whose pseudo science of Geopolitics found avid disciples in Henry Kissinger and even President Carter's National Security advisor, Brezezenski were impressed with the idea that Russia was the pivot of History and it was therefore in American interest to harass and intimidate Russia in order to curtail its natural importance. The policy with regard to Russia-Ukraine War that is presently taking place is also guided by the same strategy of ensuring that Russia does not dominate Eurasia. When Sir Halford Mackinder wrote his famous "Geographical Pivot of History" both China and India were weak colonized subjucated countries and in that specific situation Mackinder may have been right. Now with a boyant China and resurgent India, Eurasia is no longer the sole playground of Russia. This exaggerated theory that stresses the importance of Russia in the geopolitcs of Eurasia is the hangover of the Golden Horde and the long history of Mongol supremacy over the region. A costly war in Ukraine is governed by pseudo scientific theories of the early 20th century. 

The Totalitarian Democracy is a National Security State in which important organs of the Security Apparatus are virutually beyon the reach and scrutiny of the civilians. The Pentagon, CIA, National Security Agency and Defence Intelligence Agency are all part of a sprawling network of secret and semi secret beauraucracies that run the American State. In recent years we have even seen the FBI, the AFT anf the Justice Department being used to suppress and crush dissent. The world has been watching  incredulously as President Trump is being prosecuted by the current Administration. The Deep State has always regarded Donald Trump as a threat and tried its best to defeat him in 2016 and today wants to ensure that he does not contest. All these raise questions over the democratic credentials of he USA. 

The Prussian historian Clausewitz defined war as politics by other means and the US has taken this to a whole new level. Using NGOs, Church, media organizations and academics the US has acquired a creditable control over the narrative space of the world. George Soros and his Open Society, National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House and scores of such well funded fronts of the American state, pump money to create regime change all over the world. Successful regime change has been attempted in Ukraine, Myanmar, Tunisia, Egypt, Kosovo Khazakastan and other places. The tactic of "swarming" a event staged for the benefit of a photobgraphic crew with the international network of BBC and CNN ready at hand to amplify the message is seen in all these protests. In India too we have seen the same tactic in the anti CAA protests and the Farm Law Agitations. One added dimension was the support extended by the Governments of USA and Canada to these movements. These "Colour Revolutions" are the handiwork of the US Secret Service working in tandem with NGOs and Academics along with journalists.

The book brings out certain startling facts. For instance Winston Churchill wanted to send the 12 surrendeed divisions of the German Army into USSR in order to destroy the Soviet Union. USA even had a task force to identify Russian cities that would be bombed with nuclear bombs and it was Soviet demonstation of the Hydrogen Bomb in 1951 that ended US plans. And then there is the curious and tragic case of the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. The western press launched a viciuos campaign against him and he even was arrigned before the International Court of Crimianl Justice. He died in prison before the not guity verdict was pronounced. And men like Obama, Bush, Blair, Clinton and others are walking free as leaders of the "free world".

This book must be read for the facts it presents.

Indian Universities, Student Politics and the Government of India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

The Newspapers in India are carrying real time coverage of the crisis that has gripped Indian Institutions of Higher Education. As a Faculty Member of a Central University with 32 years of Teaching Research and Administration with a PhD from a Global Top 200 Universites of the World I have a few points to make. My 2 cents worth, if you like.

First, Universites like New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University have been encouraged by successive Congress regimes for purely political and dynastic political ends. There has been a trend in JNU to hire its own students and this in breeding amongst the Faculty has contributed to the erosion of diversity and an over representation of certain ideological strands that fare poorly in the electoral battlefield. As the fortunes of the Left declined the radicalism of the Student population repalced the earlier political programme of reaching out to broarder sections of the population: Class analysis was replaced by Identity politics and the rampant mobilization of the youth along identity lines contributes significantly to the present scenario. Identity Politics was the American Social Science respone to Class Radicalisation and was promoted by the American Think Tanks like Fullbright and Ford Founedation in India throughout the 1970s, 80n and well into the early part of the present century. In India it is easy to trnaslate Indentiy Politics into political programmes especially after the introduction of the Mandal Reservation by V P Singh ; Caste, Religion and Gender are now the main stay of Indian Social Science education and research and students socialised in this kind of education fall easy prey to political parties which seek to use Universities as boot camps for their cadre.

In JNU, Jadhavpur University and in other Universites the youth have been incited to join the protests on the Citizenship Ammendment Act on the basis of the false propaganda that a section of the INdian population will lose its citizenship or will be denied certain rights. Nothing can be more untrue. But fascist methods of propaganda are successful: If a lie is repeated over and over again it will be beleived. In this issue the insecurities of the Moslem population is being preyed upon to mobilize them against the Act which in no way abridges or reduced their status or rights. Such identity based mobilization is dangerous and has to be faught against.

The Governance of Indian Universites, with exceptions, leave much to be desired. There is total confusion as far as the Rights of the Universities are concerned. Each University is Governed by a separate Legislation and Central Universities State Universities and now incresingly Private Universitiesd are all competing for funds from a reducing basket of resources and so the Ranking System has been introduced\, Called the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) this system is neither transparent nor credible. Annamalai University generally regarded as a University in which Ph D degrees are managed, ranks very high to other Central Universities. The adoption of the API scoring pattern for Faculty promotion has led to the proliferation of predatory jouranlas and third rate teachers have been promoted on the basis of third rate publications. The Indian Government is notorious for introducing remedies which compound the disease. It is time to delink Research from Teaching and what goes on in Social Science in the name of reseach is just gargabe.

The Student bodies of most UNiversities is highlympolitisised and this leads to confrontation. Political parties of all colours--Saffron and Red and of course Green--use studnets as fodder in their political game of one upmanship and this is playing out in Indian Universities today. Vice Chancellors are not able to function as the politcal parties pull them in different direction. Professor Jagdeesh Kumar has dealt with the crisis in JNU in the best ammer possible and even after the Server Room was trashed perhaps by SFI Students he did not rush to the police. It is for political parties to rtake a call and reduce tensions.

Finally it is tiem to thinkl of solutions. Social Scince education must be reformed and crass Identity Politics under pinnings must be remeoved. Social Science education must be made meaningful and employment oriented and that Education must be  yoked to the New India that is emerging: Digital India, Skill India, Make in India, Entrepenueship, trining in GIS etc.

I am sure that all this will be done.