ENGINEERING A SUPERPOWER

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With the disintegration of USSR well under the way, UK and France still reeling from their World War wounds and Japan pursuing pacifist ideologies, USA was cruising along as the sole superpower for almost two decades since late 80's. But during this period there were some significant tectonic movements in the geopolitical landscape of Asia. On one side, the Chinese were rapidly and steadily building an empire founded on an oxymoronic ideologue of political communism and economic liberalism. On the other side, Russia was exorcising the disintegration demons of Mother Russia under the dynamic and assertive stewardship of Vladimir Putin, with the abundant natural resources at its disposal. And our own India was starting to reap the benefits of the demographic seeds it had sown for a long time - courtesy economic liberalization and IT revolution. And now the stage has been set for an intriguing battle of superpowers.

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If becoming a superpower is a politico-economic feat, sustaining it is an engineering one, though not in the literal sense. When a nation is evolving into a superpower, it develops quality infrastructure, optimally utilizes national and international resources and attains socio-economic supremacy. But once there, it starts hogging into global resources and exerting its influence on global political scenarios to maintain and assert its hegemony. And to do this, it sets in motion many Machiavellian endeavors (which the esoteric political scientists seem to decipher only when its well and over). And the pioneer of such “engineering” attempts has been our Uncle Sam. If its botched attempts to assassinate Castro was to undermine communism, then the war on Iraq and its ardent support of Saudi Arabia are to quench its thirst for oil. Even the much touted Indo-US nuclear deal is suspected of some hidden foreign policy agenda. But if there is one political goal that it has pursued steadfastly, it is to undermine the supremacy of USSR (and now Russia). From the 70's race for outer space to arming the Afghan mujahideens against the Soviet forces to the expansion of NATO, the US think-tank is more concerned about eurasian politics than its one. Even the recent Georgian crisis seems to have been maneuvered by US (atleast to some Russian parliamentarians). And many of these political misadventures have come back to haunt the US and also the world at large. The recent economic downturn has its roots in the Iraq war and the Islamist terrorism had its progeny in the hegemonic Middle East policies of US. So its the world which is paying for the misdemeanors of Uncle Sam. Not a worthy engineering pursuit, looks like.

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