Author Topic: Hegemony in mid Asia.  (Read 315 times)

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Giuliano Taverna

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Hegemony in mid Asia.
« on: January 29, 2010, 03:06:23 pm »
Much talk but little real consideration has been vested in the considerable problem of long term stability in the Middle East. Most parties find themselves in agreement regarding the long term goals, but fervent disagreement on how best to reach them. Factoring into the equation the current deficits regarding both capital, resources, and manpower as well as the political considerations I will endeavor to draw forth a path to a modernized unified and benevolent middle east in which the west may find a kindred spirit and ally that is capable of meeting the needs of its own citizens.

Halting the decline

Currently economic and moral deficits hamper the attempts by the current administration to broaden the front against jihad to include the known havens in Somalia and Yemen as well as those in Pakistan and northern Afghanistan. The first step to peace in the region is for the primary implement of action, ie the American armed forces to have at its disposal immense capital and human resources to be expended willingly with the consent of the people. Therefore this necessitates the establishment of a booming domestic economy with a strong industrial base capable of producing the implements of war.

To accomplish an economic recovery the deficits in the current system must be addressed, the financial sector must be purged of wrong doing by way of intense scrutiny by law enforcement with resourced devoted to rooting out fraud, embezzlement and other forms of white collar crime, these individuals once found guilty in keeping with legal standard should have their assets seized and used to finance the economic recovery. This purging should extend to all major corporations, hedge funds, banking firms, and insurance companies so as to restore popular confidence in the capitalist system and prevent further loss of capital to criminal activity.
After the financial sector is stabilized and cleansed, consideration should be given to the nations crumbling infrastructure. All methods of water distribution, sewage treatment, sanitation, and transportation both public and privet should be modernized and brought to a standard that meets the needs of all citizens with reasonable redundancy while adhering to the strictest environmental and safety standards so that our institutions are built on a sustainable and ethical platform that will remain for generations to come. Once this has been achieved laws should be enacted mandating constant inspection and maintenance of all institutions to ensure we never again fall to the deplorable depths we have sunk.

Once the basis of any state is met, (its civil infrastructure) we must turn to industry and manufacturing, the bane of neo liberal thinkers everywhere. While many would claim we live in a post industrial society the inconvenient truth remains that we have a working class in America that both desires and requires jobs in the traditional industrial sectors of the economy. More over a diverse economy is a stable economy and having an industrial base will allow our more modern pursuits a stable foundation on which to grow with some minor insulation from the fluctuations of global markets. This can and should be accomplished by first focusing on the core of industry, energy, food, and markets. The government should invest in new solar, wind, tidal, and nuclear plants in a nationwide program designed to lower the cost of energy by drastically increasing the supply. This will have the duel effect of putting thousands of Americans back to work, and incentivizing individuals and business to expand now free of the undue burden of high energy costs. It will also have a positive effect on the environment and offset the cost of environmental action regarding climate change. Next we must turn to agriculture; our primary aim should be to expand local agriculture to limit our dependency on key crops at centralized locations such as those in California. In addition to improving general nutrition by providing locally grown and thus fully ripened fresh food, we will also be able to expand our export markets and begin to alleviate the very serious problem of world hunger, which in regards to the political question of Somalia is a pressing issue. Once those issues are addressed we must focus on establishing markets for these goods and favorable trade agreements that will allow American manufacturing to grow. Our chief problem is maintaining free trade agreements with nations that treat their working class little better than chattel slaves, unionization of labor, mandated safety, environmental, and wage standards should be encouraged to level the playing field. This will mean an increase in the cost of goods, but also an increase in wages, thus people in general will be able to keep to the rate of inflation with their rising salaries rather than find them unable to purchase artificially deflated goods as a function of either having a poor job or no job at all. This method is a sound successor to the rightfully discredited practice of protectionism which only serves to encourage mediocrity at home and animosity abroad. Once these matters are addressed we should then move to make the domestic environment favorable to manufacturing by streamlining approval procedures, and easing costs associated with starting and maintaining a business. This being a fair and universal alternative to the outdated notion of subsidy which serves to make success in business a function of effective lobbying and not a superior business model.

The enemy within,

Now once the domestic economy is in a stable state we must turn to the moral question, domestic extremist groups should be investigated and anti American cults like the Lew Rockwell institute and the LaRouchePAC as well as neo nazi, racist, and Marxist organizations should be broken up along the traditional lines used to tackle the mafia and other criminal organizations. These groups disseminate slanderous propaganda and engage in practices that warrant scrutiny and any wrong doing found should be pursued. If none be found then class action lawsuits attacking them for libel, and fighting words should be organized and encouraged with the explicit purpose of limiting dissent to only factually correct and responsible criticism of policy and not totally fictitious and radical conspiracy theories.

Building a coalition

When both moral and capital are available we must next recruit allies in the region and throughout the world. We should only ally ourselves with secular democratic countries and movements whose reputation and sincerity are not questionable and whose motives conform to the notion of a fair deal for the people of mid Asia. We should reach out to west Europe, particularly the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and the Nordic countries. Who while faced with the same threat from Islamic fundamentalism as we are, tend to be less than forthcoming in support as well as lacking necessary conviction to the cause. This can be reversed by clarifying our intentions to the people of west Europe and disseminating the ideals of democracy, secularism, and resistance to tyranny and theocracy that are the bulwark of the global war against Islamic theocracy. We must also relive ourselves of inconsistencies by abandoning the tyrants in Egypt and Saudi Arabia who’s tacit support is neither helpful nor indeed genuine. We must also negotiate an agreement between moderate factions in the Palestinian and Israeli establishment to bring an end to messianic settlement and intifada as well as a general recognition of both states; this can only be accomplished by rejecting and marginalizing the hard-line factions on both sides, forcibly if necessary. We should then strive to make a friend of Marxist, secularist, feminist, LGBT, and minority movements and groups within the Middle East who have everything to gain from a secularization of the region. At present these groups are either uninvolved with the fight, unthanked and unwelcomed allies, or even opponents on the basis of distrust and suspicion. This must be reversed and the arming, training, and funding of such movements is in our interest and the interest of the cause as a whole. We should disassociate ourselves from and cleanse corrupt institutions such as the Karzai government in Afghanistan or the Pakistani intelligence service and reach out to alternative support systems such as the tribal alliances in Afghanistan and the Indian government which is after all the world’s most populous secular democracy and is in close geographical proximity to the conflict. Collusion with India however must be tempered with conditions regarding the marginalization of Hindu extremist organizations and a resolution to the Kashmiri question which is a source of continued conflict between the two former of the 3 ethnic Indian states, (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.) The execution of that process should be determined by the majority opinion of the residents of the contested region with arbitration provided by disinterested parties only after peace and security is established to prevent coercion by extremist factions. A new deal specifically for the citizens of Pakistan must be established with an economic and political reform that puts them on a more stable footing than they are at present.

The long war

Once the network of international support has been established we must next concern ourselves with the various fronts of the conflict and how to rectify them, those not previously explained in the context of diplomacy will be henceforth addressed.  The key to short term success in Afghanistan lies in eliminating the Taliban, any attempts to attain peace with them or include them into the establishment are folly, they must be extirpated. This is done by locating and eliminating their sanctuaries, tightening security in towns, cities, villages, and along the roads, as well as organizing local militias to defend their own communities along the model Americans first employed in the revolutionary war. Fortifying said villages with basic defenses while seemingly archaic will go some way to defending them against raids from the rather primitive and tribal enemy we are fighting.  Long term success is based almost entirely on economic growth, literacy, and community, which will require acceptance of the opium crop and incorporation of its products in the legal American economy. We can then aid in the industrialization and modernization of agriculture and opiate production, which may be used medicinally or under a fair amount of scrutiny recreationally. This will of course require an end to the fruitless and futile practice of prohibition which is discredited in the minds of most young Americans. In addition to this the processes described in the section regarding the American economy should be applied with the intent of getting Afghans into stable paying jobs and Afghan girls and boys into non religious schools. Once a level of economic and educational progress is met, democracy will be inevitable as well as positive feelings towards the instrumental force behind this new deal for Afghanistan.

Once Afghanistan and Pakistan are secured with a friendly union of Indian states we can turn to dealing with the North African and Arabian states which either require an entire regime of nation building or pressure to reform politically. In Saudi Arabia we have to use our new found leverage on the house of Saud thanks to the aforementioned energy reforms to either have the formation of a parliament with an expansion of rights to women, minorities, and homosexuals, or to have an internal revolution by these disaffected parties that will achieve the desired result. In either case the destruction of and discrediting of the Wahhabi school of Islamic thought should be the primary aim regarding this matter. Madrassas should be replaced with secular schools that teach patriotic liberal values.

In Somalia we have to defeat the local al Qaeda forces and essentially build a state from scratch, the first step is infrastructure and agriculture, once they have food and running water as a bare minimum, then we invest in industry, education throughout will be vital. This same strategy should be applied in Yemen where we will have our work cut out countering the message of the radical clerics and working with tribal leadership to maintain peace and rout out the enemy. 

In Iran we should ally with democratic forces and aid them in their struggle against theocracy in whatever way they wish. Upon successful establishment of a secular democracy we should offer them trade, investment, and all the considerations due a free state.

Conclusion

Then finally after the main trouble spots in the Middle East are stabilized we must bring the various states together to first agree upon trade agreements and immigration policy, then work to establish a federation on the modal of the EU that is more favorable to modern principles than the current Arab league. These agreements will be mediated by disinterested parties with Nato offering to enforce all agreements, finally all members will be offered nato membership and then we should consider renaming and reclassifying nato as a military alliance of secular liberal democracies against totalitarianism, theocracy, and fascism, instead of a north Atlantic alliance against communism. We will adopt a charter that outlaws all forms of discrimination and protects human rights and bind all members to its practice and to war in its defense.
"It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them." Tiberius Caesar

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