Hello Gotham and Everyone,

This is a very good queston and one that would take a lot of thought.

We can learn a lot about what "not" to do if you are a super power from our Nation's history, for sure. There is so much greatness about our Nation, yet so much that we need to face up to if we want to grow as a vibrant world player.

I would advise any Nation on the verge of becoming a super power to study the history of the US and learn, learn, learn..peace ruth

Hi Gotham,

You pose a good question here. It seems to me that the role of a "super power" nation has evolved a bit over time, but not as much as one would think. Rome for example, was a super power. Although her role was one of conqueror and there were many travesties that were perpetrated by Roman policy, in a way the Romans were attempting to "police" the world. There was a belief by her people that Rome was superior and that it was the job of Rome to "Romanize" the world. The British Empire had the same belief: "To make the world England". They honestly believed that their way of life was superior to the rest of the world. Both the Roman and the British Empires viewed other cultures as "barbaric" and uncivilized and felt obligated to "lift up" the rest of the world.

It would be fair to say that though America is not Imperialist in the sense that it physically wants other lands, the American government certainly believes that its culture and form of government is superior to other cultures and governments ("let's bring democracy to the middle-east). It could also be argued that America's imperialism manifests as economic imperialism: it wants to control production and the means of production in as many countries as possible.

There may not be a way to escape this type of thinking while collectively remaining at the current level of consciousness. People that are happy and well fed see the world through a certain perspective. They believe on some level that everyone should live exactly the same way. From a limited perspective this is sort of sweet; but the flip side of this is tyranny.

Hopefully we're reaching a place in the world where super-powered nations are anachronisms.

Thanks for posting Gotham,
Scott.

Hi Gotham,
Part one of your journal from India reminded me so much of my own perceptions of the way people live there (I have been to India several times...but I'm sure not as much as you) and I agreed with everything you said.

This time, while I hope like most at IB will become a "superpower", I also sincerely wish for this role to be more spiritual than just technological. Nothing wrong with technology if used to benefit humanity, of course, just I am not impressed by super weapons of mass destruction. I know from your articles that you agree.

India, has been for me a point of reference and a spiritual mother for a long time. I hope that it will continue to be so, while at the same time improving its economy, and achieving a vast modernization of its infrastructure.
Best wishes,
Donatella

Now as the world "technologizes" (i realize that's not a real world but in the interest of making the analogy to "industrializes" - you get the idea) I wonder if there is some new role a super power must play. –Gotham Chopra

India missed the first Industrial Revolution partly because of the colonial rule and partly because we were simply not ready. A wrong model of socialism was adopted where the idealistic first Prime Minister Nehru sought to concentrate all industry in the hands of the government. He created huge public sector companies. The people employed in these organizations never had the “customer” as their focus. And they failed miserably.

Atrocious laws such as the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act discouraged private enterprise. In the pre-1991 era of License Raj, a private entrepreneur could be prosecuted if he produced more than he held the license for!

Indians are loath to work with their hands. They are bad team workers. May be that’s the reason a nation of one billion people has yet to have a football team that can qualify to play in the FIFA cup! Football, unlike Cricket, is a team sport. We have world champions (at least who are recognized at world arena) in Chess, Archery, Tennis, Shooting (India’s only silver medal in the Olympics) and other such individual sports.

But Indians have excelled in the field of Information Technology. I think this is because of the celestial nature of this discipline. Indians are by temperament more inclined towards matters cosmic than physical. Internet is all about cyber space, a virtual reality.

The best thing about India is that it is the world’s oldest civilization and it has a spiritual base. It has an impeccable track record of non-violence (Pakistan still exists!!). India has never invaded lands; it has never killed people; it has never sought to establish its hegemony over its smaller neighbors. For centuries, it has been the sanctuary of the oppressed people all over the world. For hundreds of years, it was exploited economically, politically and culturally. Osho Rajneesh described India as a feminine country; the US, Germany, England, he said, were male countries.

Big hearted nation as it is, today India bears no grudge to anyone.

“Male” countries have ruled the world for too long a time and have made a complete mess of it. The situation in the world today is “Chickens coming home to roost” for these countries for their “macho adventures” of the past.

Let this one-billion strong “spiritual mother” take charge for a while!

Sanjeev

Hi Gotham,

I am designing a new super power; it is beyond all national boundaries. It is virtually autonomous, the egoic mind is engineered out, and no country can argue, or negotiate with it.

It will be greater than any single country, including the US.

It might be referred to as the first a virtual country.

I have been working on it for 10 years.

But most people (leaders) have not realized what is being orchestrated right under their nose.

I am going to rip the worlds known political landscapes to pieces.

When one sets it loose, because of the market dynamics, it will be the point of no return.

The whole concept of 'super-power' is just an anathema to the future world - a world devoid of egotistical wars, policies and principles. The ‘super-power’ image is not something one should strive for, because there is a strong negative stigma attached to the word ‘power’ when it applies to countries(or just about anything).

That is exactly what prevents one from embracing a truly accepting world. Especially when we are striving for a democratic planet with everyone having an equal voice, words/perceptions like super-power and countries that have had the tag can only remain transitory.

Again, not everything can be learned, learned and learned from 'super-powers' - there are things you learn and things you UNLEARN. This notion partly is the reason why many people perceive the lives of people from 'some' countries to be particularly more valuable than the lives of people from others.

I am calling you. You, the other side. I need to meet you.

Let's meet in the neutral zone.

My friend forget your weapons, you don't need them anymore.

Let's join around a cup of tea, like in the golden days. I have so much joy hidden that I think I will explode!

My friend, open your arms, I fired myself.

Our hearts are trembling...
Children born again.

Greetings to Gotham, Scott and all of you!

Hi All,

I think India is goung to become a big global influence (its already happening), but not in classic "superpower" mode.

First off, India's military is not of superpower status (although that could change if it suddenly became a national priority to pump it up - in the USA, the arms race of the 50s and 60s with the USSR served that purpose for us).

Second, I don't see India starting a big campaign to colonize the world, or to subdue the Middle East, and so on.

No, I see India getting huge for a number of other reasons, not the least of which is that India is huge. I know that sounds redundant, but what I mean is that India is a huge market, India is a huge Diaspora, spreading its food, music and culture all over the planet, India is a huge source of brainpower and innovation, meaning that it will be a leader in new technology development and fields such as the biosciences.

Everybody who's anybody on the planet is going to have to deal with India, one way or another.

China is going to be the other country in the 21st century that everyone will have to deal with, for many of the same reasons (read: because its huge).

India doesn't have to conquer the world with a huge military. The world will be at your door to trade, banter, and bargain with.

It would be beyond stupid for some country (such as the USA) to try to colonize India. Even if a military victory was achieved, you could take the problems we face in Iraq and multiply them by a factor of 1000, and that's what we'd be dealing with.

So my question is to the neocon conquerors - how'd you like to swallow an insurgency 1000 times bigger than Iraq? Sound appetizing?

I don't think even Donald Rumsfeld is that stupid, and man, he's WAAAAY stupid!

No you guys don't have to conquer the world. Just outsmart it. Which shouldn't be hard, seeing the level of intelligence most countries are functioning from these days.

It is nice to see one is not alone in one's thinking. Like the other commentators here, I don't want India to become a super-power. I don't want India to get a seat in the UN Security Council. I want India to be itself, be different, as it is, and stay that way.

Super Power status breeds a certain arrogance which we can do without. If at all we end up being termed arrogant, let it be intelectual arrogance not an arrogance based on ignorance. But then, the true intellectual is seldom arrogant while the arrogant are seldom intellectual. If I were to chose a cyber ID for India I would select 'just me'.

Gotham,

I think India has bigger problems at home!

"More Indian states ban colas over pesticide row"

Campa Cola anyone?

Or this Yahoo News headline Gotham:

"AIDS may kill 11 mln in India over 20 years"