Understanding US thread-III

[shyam]

Why doesn't GoI book the Harward prof for interfering with India's election?

[Prem]

Bill introduced in U.S. Congress to withdraw the U.S. membership from the United Nations
http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0124/c90000-9170716.html

A bill introduced earlier this month by Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers calling on the United States to "terminate" its membership in the United Nations (UN) has caused some broad discussion on social media on Monday.The bill, or American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017, proposes a complete U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations, where UN removes its headquarters from U.S. and stops participation in the World Health Organization.The bill was quietly introduced on January 3rd and was passed on to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. If approved, the bill is expected to take effect in two years. It would also repeal the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, signed in the aftermath of WWII.
Several prominent Republicans have reiterated their opinions that U.S. taxpayers' money should not go to an organization that does not represent U.S. interests. The U.S. President Donald Trump has described UN as "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time" and expressed that relations between the U.S. and the UN "will be different" during his presidency.

[UlanBatori]

Presumably that means no veto, hain? Putinski probably co-sponsored the resolution with Wee Dong.

[Dipanker]

one black commentator on election night coined the phrase "white lash"
totally on the money

Not totally correct. Lot of non white folks in my locality did vote for Trump.

It was a "rural lash" rather than a white lash.

Rural areas, with the exception of couple of states in south, are almost exclusively populated by white folks, so a "rural lash" in effect is white lash.

[Dipanker]

Unprecedented in the US history.

(Now if only a very tiny fraction of these had bothered to show up at poll booths in just 3 of the upper midwest so called blue wall states.)

[Arjun]

Rural areas, with the exception of couple of states in south, are almost exclusively populated by white folks, so a "rural lash" in effect is white lash.

80% of the population in US rural areas is white non-Hispanic. Is that what you call exclusively white ?

Also, can you repeat what you had said about Trump approval ratings while taking office ?

[Cain Marko]

Bill introduced in U.S. Congress to withdraw the U.S. membership from the United Nations
http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0124/c90000-9170716.html

A bill introduced earlier this month by Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers calling on the United States to "terminate" its membership in the United Nations (UN) has caused some broad discussion on social media on Monday.The bill, or American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017, proposes a complete U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations, where UN removes its headquarters from U.S. and stops participation in the World Health Organization.The bill was quietly introduced on January 3rd and was passed on to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. If approved, the bill is expected to take effect in two years. It would also repeal the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, signed in the aftermath of WWII.
Several prominent Republicans have reiterated their opinions that U.S. taxpayers' money should not go to an organization that does not represent U.S. interests. The U.S. President Donald Trump has described UN as "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time" and expressed that relations between the U.S. and the UN "will be different" during his presidency.

Here India is trying to desperately find its way into the unsc and the US is actually thinking of leaving. Would be ironic if India made it only to find the UN as another toothless Nam type org.

[Gagan]

The UN is toothless.
The only occasion where it has taken effective action is when one of the P5s specifically the US has used it to further its interests.

Otherwise it is mostly a d*ck measuring phorum onlee. Resolutions passed to publicaly shame adversary nations and show one's mardangi.

[UlanBatori]

Kruschev used to use the podium to knock the dog pakistan off his shoes.

[chanakyaa]

Bill introduced in U.S. Congress to withdraw the U.S. membership from the United Nations
http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0124/c90000-9170716.html

Here India is trying to desperately find its way into the unsc and the US is actually thinking of leaving. Would be ironic if India made it only to find the UN as another toothless Nam type org.

First of all, any Tom, Dick, and Harry Congressman can introduce bills. It is free. I does not cost them anything. It is like Pappu debating in the parliament. All that shouting is dog/pony show. Question is how many bills are real and have a serious chances of passing (i.e are real bills) and becoming Law.

Congressman's Past/Current Bills

And second, why would you trust someone who wears a Wig or Toupee. Oh!! wait a sec, does DT wear a Toupee?

And after seeing this bill introduced, baby Nikkie H. must have started crying expecting to stand in unemployment line soon..

[NRao]

Off beat, so pardon. For a lighter moment.

Donald Trump was walking through Manhattan and saw a long queue. Wondering what it was for, he joined it.

People would look over their shoulder, see that it was Donald Trump behind them, and leave the queue, so he would proceed closer and closer to the front.

As he was getting closer to the head of the queue, he asked one guy, who also looked and was about to walk away, "Wait a second, what is this queue for and why are you now leaving it?"

The man said "This is the queue for Canadian Immigration Visas, but if you are getting one, I don't need one now."

[Dipanker]

Rural areas, with the exception of couple of states in south, are almost exclusively populated by white folks, so a "rural lash" in effect is white lash.

80% of the population in US rural areas is white non-Hispanic. Is that what you call exclusively white ?

Also, can you repeat what you had said about Trump approval ratings while taking office ?

Excluding the southern states where black and/or hispanic populations are quite high. Considering that only 15% of the entire population lives in the rural area, once you account of high black/hispanic population in south, moving northwards most rural areas will almost exclusively be white.


Low estimate for Trump's as president elect was in the 30s.

[Arjun]

Excluding the southern states where black and/or hispanic populations are quite high. Considering that only 15% of the entire population lives in the rural area, once you account of high black/hispanic population in south, moving northwards most rural areas will almost exclusively be white.


Low estimate for Trump's as president elect was in the 30s.

Rural Voters played a big part in helping Trump defeat Clinton

The table provided in this link leaves no room for ambiguity....the ONLY support for Clinton was from 1M+ cities (total population of which comprises perhaps 10% of the US). In all other 8 categories of progressively smaller metros - Trump polled more than Clinton with the lead getting bigger the smaller the metro area. This was a rural + suburban lash - no two ways about it.

Any two-bit channel can come up with an estimate of Trump ratings - the name that has most credibility is Gallup which says 45%....Reagan and Bush got 51% so with the change in demographics it is entirely not surprising that Trump gets 45%. Vote-bank politics is bigger in the US than even in India - and the Democrats are obviously banking on underclass and immigrant support and expecting that part of the pyramid to grow (and doing everything to push it along with their immigration policies as well ).

[Singha]

- someone is copying indian MSM over there

[chetak]

[Singha]

he has the crutch of the 2008 crash to limp along on. he can claim he saved the US from a far worse fate than the blue column. failure can be spun as defending the rampart stoutly and positioning the empire for a breakaway as any failed CEOs playbook might ideate. american politicians are verbally unmatched as slippery eels who within 2 sentences of a hard question will turn it around to what they want to communicate and pin the blame on you instead

[chetak]

ouch!!!

https://therepublicannews.net/2017/01/2 ... ite-house/

Trump Orders Removal Of Islamic Symbols, Practices In The White House

By Ike A. Offor



Obama was seen storming away from the West Wing after staffers from Donald Trump’s transition team began preparing the executive offices for the new administration. On Trump’s orders, one of Obama’s most secretive rituals is being reversed and all signs of it removed from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

For the past 8 years, to appease any Muslims working at or visiting the White House, silence has been ordered during the 5 times of Islamic prayer each day. In addition, prayer rugs and crescent moon symbols are available in several areas of the executive mansion to make Muslims more comfortable.

The administration has defended the practice by asserting that it also observes several other religious moments of silence and prayer out of respect, including a full 15 seconds for Christianity on Sunday morning while a chaplain blesses a staff breakfast.

None of the prayers is mandatory or led by a government official, which has allowed the administration to subvert 1st Amendment issues, but the obvious favouritism towards Islam, which is observed for 25 minutes per day 7 days a week, tells a story this president has denied for 8 years.

President-elect Trump, who acknowledges that this country was founded by Christians and was built on Christian morals, is having all pagan symbols removed from the property unless they offer some historical significance. Only the cross in the White House chapel will remain for worship. Jim Mergernerlerny, head of the team that will transform the White House from the Obama’s home to the Trumps’ second home, told MSNBC:

“Mr Trump doesn’t see the need to provide prayer rugs and false idols in a house built by Christians. Washington, DC offers a diverse cultural centre for the worship of any kind. You won’t find any special considerations for Judaism or crucifixes to appease Catholics, either. There is a simple chapel with a single cross on one wall that is suitable for prayer by anyone. Our government doesn’t need to be forcing prayer rituals down people’s throats just so we don’t “offend” apologising people looking to blow us up.

Patriots around the U.S. can rest assured that apologising for our faith has come to an end.

http://www.twitter.com/RNNetwork1

[Paul]

RD, Thanks for the long reply.

The current Jallikattu escalation was due to Obama-Clinton forces. GOI waited for the forces to reveal themselves and defused the situation.
As for all the things you say the situation has not improved due to Trump election, India doesn't need US to do the lifting.
Just stand aside while we combat our terror and our deplorables.

Not only Jallikattu. The Harvard professor's team orchestrating the Akhilesh Yadav campaign in UP (with an eye to GE 2019) is also part of the Obama-Clinton intervention machine. The Ford Foundation-funded rise of Arvind Kejriwal also happened during the Obama-Clinton years. Let us have no illusions that Obama-Clinton were benign in their view of India.

The flawed assumption here is that Trump administration will stand aside and pose no impediments on India. There is exactly zero evidence for this at the moment. Furthermore, the US deep state is not so stupid that it will simply stand back and allow all the levers and gears of its highly sophisticated foreign-intervention mechanisms, cultivated over 7 decades, to simply atrophy and rust away from disuse. They are not I K Gujral to make such a mistake. Trump has no chance of overriding them, even if we actually believe he has a sincere desire to desist from foreign intervention.

On the contrary, there is plenty of evidence that EJs have more far-reaching influence in the Trump administration than in any previous US presidential administration. We know very well what this means.

Best Case, things will be no worse for India than in the Obama-Clinton days (though the Republican-sponsored COTUS hearings on Compassion International seem to have already debunked the best case scenario).

Worst Case, things will get much worse with a completely unrestrained EJ onslaught. During the Obama-Clinton days, EJs were spending a good deal of effort and resources on fighting local socio-political battles in the US... now, they have a free hand to deploy all their effort and resources towards "saving" heathen India.

RDji, the benefit for India will accrue from Trump's retreat from G-2. He has already repealed TPP, and is also building a strong navy, Xi is doing likewise. If Trump wages economic warfare against China, at the very least it will pressure PRC to some extent to not make a rival like India into an enemy.

As for EJs, I dont think things will ever get better for India on that front. We better not have any illusions on that front.

Third aspect is Islamists and Pakistan, which is tied to China's belligerant mood in the subcontinent.

All we need is some breathing space to take care of our own neighbourhood. Negation of G2 is the best gift that we could have hoped for. Thankful for small mercies.

[panduranghari]

Trump is just the first of the global domino of change. Rest are now getting ready

The leaders of Europe's main anti-establishment parties appearing together in public for the first time, on January 21 in Koblenz, Germany. (Image source: Marine Le Pen/Twitter)

European ThugBandhan?

It might be easy to dismiss this as a thugbandhan. From a perspective it is. They are more or less bigoted, parochial, xenophobic. However, informal chats with people in a Tory heartland of Britain makes me believe the support for these guys is rising rapidly. And if one takes time to listen and parse what Nigel Farage said during the elections of 2015, it makes sense to even me. The common man finds a voice in him and the movement is going to grow even rapidly.

[Lilo]

5)Trumps's aversion to mega trade agreements like TPP , TTIP means that India directly benefits as hitherto India has been categorically shutout of these agreements which could have isolated india totally in international trade . Now Trump is going to emulate India in pursuing bilateral trade deals with other trading nations & impending collapse(or atleast suspended animation) of mega trade pacts like TPP,TTIP greatly improves India's trade situation for the next decade atleast.

I am unable to understand what this argument is supposed to mean.

Let us say that US interests are to inject clauses A, B, C into {TPP, TTIP} or whatever trade pact we are talking about.

Meanwhile, India's interests are to inject clauses X, Y, Z into the trade pact in question...{TPP, TTIP} in this case.

I hope we can agree that clauses X, Y, Z which India wants included may not be in perfect alignment with clauses A, B, C which the US wants included. In fact, the interests reflected in these two sets of clauses may be one hundred percent oppositional.

Therefore, US taking the initiative to upend {TPP, TTIP} type pacts for the purpose of forcibly injecting clause A, B, C does not in any way benefit India's efforts to include clause X, Y, or Z in these pacts. That is an incorrect premise from the get-go.

Apart from this, you say that Trump is "going to" move away from a trade regime premised on multilateral pacts... most of which were drafted with America's perceived interests in mind, by Washington DC's Hamiltonian power circles, in any case... and move towards a new paradigm where bilateral trade deals will become the staple basis of US international trade.

I am highly skeptical that Trump will ever be able to override the Hamiltonian power circles responsible for structuring the international economic order through their pet institutions like WTO, IMF, WB, NAFTA, etc. Those institutions were built-to-order by the US deep state in the service of its own interest. They have been allowed to continue serving as the cornerstones of international trade for many decades... by many US Presidents... despite their side effect of creating domestic political liabilities on the outsourcing, offshoring and immigration fronts. If Trump tries to change the system in favor of bilateral trade deals he will have to take on the deep state. I am almost certain that, if he tries, he will fail.

But even if we want to be generous and assume that Trump has the brains, the staying-power, and the negotiating finesse to achieve such a paradigm shift... the scenario you are offering here is 100% hypothetical, and a projection into the future.

RD ji,
Let me randomly address different parts of your post in different posts.

Despite your oft repeated skepticism on ability of Trump to walk the talk, the fact is yesterday US led by trump just walked out of TPP - needless to say its not some posturing to get clauses A,B,C inserted but its a brexit like exit. The basic contradiction which you failed to consider in your analysis is that even if these institutions were "built to order" by american corporate interests in the past they are now being universally seen for what they are as screwing the common american working class interests(jobs & economic freedoms) by the voting americans .

Coming to effect on India - In both TPP & TTIP ,India was never going to be the part so i dont understand how India gets any influence to insert clauses x,y,z in the firstplace, especially since trade blocks tend to operate on zero sum principle against the rest.There is little chance that both these megapacts will accede to any of the principles(IP,Agri trade or Labor movement) which India is batting for in bigger forums like WTO since Doha round.
Both these pacts were instruments through which OECD capitalists wanted to circumvent the 12 year impasse in Doha led by countries like India & other emerging economies in Asia Africa & SouthAmerica. That has been dashed now because Trump sees american jobs & domestic american investment & growth to be more important than the need to see unchallenged expansion of american corporate interests abroad - atleast in the interim - until a more politically sustainable balance b/w american working class vs its global corporate interests is achieved.
This re balancing period is a window of opportunity for India to claim space commensurate with its current & potential economic capacity which was hitherto denied in the "built to order" post WWII or coldwar legacy global institutions.

Dumping/ extended coma of these mega trade pacts(TPP & TTIP) all of which were designed to explicitly isolate India will result in direct benefit to India's trade interests.His renegotiation pressure on NAFTA will open additional windows of opportunity in the non-american Americas.

[Paul]

I am unable to understand what this argument is supposed to mean.

+++++++++++++

I think the advantage for India is that it does not have to choose.....We keep using our hedging strategy for another 4 years.

[Lalmohan]

chetak - did you mean to post that article here or is it better in the comedy thread?

[Lilo]

RD ji,
Are you saying that India because of Trump gets a minimum of 1.5 year or a maximum of 2.5 year window when the USCIRF , Human Rights Watch , Berkely-Haas gangs will be under suspended animation because they have been starved of their funds ?

No Lilo ji, I am not. I am saying that it will be 1.5 to 2.5 years before our ahead-of-the-curve-alicious, Trump-supporting BRFites finally recognize that the EJ-friendly Trump regime has been shafting India via Berkeley Haas, HRW, USCIRF etc. all along.

It will take folks some time to get over all that brilliant "RW" foresight and come to grips with reality, after all.

For the shafting of India, we don't have to wait even 1.5 weeks. It is already in progress... see Republican EJ Congressman Ed Royce's initiative to haul India over the coals, in the COTUS, on Compassion International's behalf. This is far worse than Kerry begging favors from Sushma Swaraj behind closed doors. It is an attempt to drag the dirty laundry of anti-India psyops, regarding "Intolerance", "Hindoo Fundamentalism" etc. onto the public floor of the United States Congress. And it is being done by a Republican Congressman who is also, supposedly, head of the India Caucus in COTUS!

In the meantime, currently unfolding events indicate that the EJ's future *capability* to shaft India is expanding beyond anything that was even remotely possible for them during the Obama administration.I have no doubt that, following the March on Washington, EJ compromise-makers are already on the task of identifying and recruiting the most talented Color-Flower Revolutionaries for Christian causes.

The organizations you mention (HRW, USCIRF, Berkeley-Haas) will never lose their funds. The defunding threat will ONLY be used by the Trump administration against university departments, grant-giving foundations and corporate sponsors of explicitly anti-Trump organizations... Move On dot Org, Acorn, Black Lives Matter etc. On the contrary, anti-India organizations will be loaded up with funds so that they are better empowered to attract talent and resources away from the anti-Trump organizations.

RD ji,
You seem to claim with conviction that
1)There is NO transition period,
2)There is NO problem of separating the foreign directed Social Justice groups & academia from the domestic Social Justice groups directed against Trump & they have apparently had separate existence & ideology from inception.
3)There is NO ongoing churn against Trump enough to disrupt the harmonious execution of evangelical agenda abroad as was obtained during the good ol Democrat days by the EJ's & Social Justice departments in US academia working in perfect concert.
4)That the Republicans with their bare faced EJ agenda are infact NOT damaging this well polished operation where SJWs sowed misery & EJ's reaped the souls in heathen lands.

You further claim that Ed Boyce publicly thumping the desk demanding heathens in India accept the one true religion is BAD as compared to Hillary, Kerry or Obama pressing their toe down on Indian governments behind closed doors to force us to evangelical demands through threats & carrots.

Examples:In dienasty's time they would have reiterated alCIAda's guarantee for the access & safety of sikular neta's BM stashes abroad.
In case of NDA they would promise foreign investments & concessions in trade in return from access to american NGO's doing god's work under a sikular garb .Or they would have threatened with interference in the next major election by helping the sikular side win using american money & media support.

RD ji, you may think above threats & consequences happening behind closed doors is GOOD.
I see those threats & consequences happening behind closed doors as BAD.

Infact what you see as BAD i.e public support of American establishment to evangelicals in a congressional hearing led by some kooky republican is really GOOD for me.

[Yagnasri]

Trumpamzee will do a lot of things he promised he would do. Why? He is not a political leader, and I believe he is a bit crazy. maybe he is crazy like a fox.

We are going to see US withdrawal from the Globalist project. So EJ activities as part of the Globalist activity will be reduced, but EJ activities as EJ activities will continue. What I mean and think is now EJ activities will turn more direct in nature and without/less US SD cover.

[Lalmohan]

We are going to see US withdrawal from the Globalist project.

hmmm... except where it deals with Oil - and this is where its going to get interesting

[Lilo]

Pojitive things as i perceive happening since the window created by the transition to Trump in no order of relavance:
1)Burkha dutt has resigned to her fate & gave-up mainstream journalism when her bumchum (i mean literally) Hillary was kicked off unceremoniously from any future contention in Soothasia .

Lilo ji, I think of you as an intelligent and well-informed poster.

Therefore I think you will appreciate that the real reason Burkha Dutt has resigned from NDTV is that the temperature of water in my lota was slightly less than 10 degrees C on that morning. The butterfly effect caused by the sudden reflexive tightening of my sphincter is what caused her to resign.

I mean, if we are going to try and pass off any and all correlations as causations, then why not at least invent some entertaining correlations, right?

I am sure that Barkha was disappointed when Hillary did not win the US Presidential Election. Maybe even heartbroken. But extending this to say that Clinton's electoral loss was the inspiration for Barkha to resign from NDTV is a classic ("RW"?) case of putting 1 and 2 together to make 4.

Moreover, what is the basis for your statement that Barkha has totally given up mainstream journalism? As far as I know she has left NDTV, that is all.

RD ji,
You & me both know whats the most important employability attribute of a Journalist.

Its called ACCESS. Its hardly some butterfly effect starting from some sphincter.

Burkha bibi could score "smiling" interviews with BJP cabinet ministers like Smriti Irani , Gadkari or Jaitley despite rrNDTV's minuscule TRP & her bitter slanted reporting on BJP - only because she is one of those few american establishment(as represented by the Democrat's killer combo of overt Social Justice & covert EJ agenda) "accredited" journalists in India.
Afaik whenever Hillary visited India as SecOfState she never failed to give a public interview to Burkha bibi articulating (without challenge) the then current american interests through her.

The bumchum relationship which Burkha enjoyed with Hillary was the source of her ACCESS to the deepest levels of American establishment & as the foremost interlocutor & lobbyist on their behalf - she had access to the ears & attention of the Cabinet level ministers in GoI.

Now Hillary has been kicked out from contention & of all the Presstitutes India is afflicted with, Barkha lost the most - its infact a career shattering loss for her.
One can understand that she had given up mainstream journalism (& daily prime screen time in rrNDTV that comes with it) and had settled to penning sad opinion farticles in WaPo etc.

[Lalmohan]

lilo - plausible but feels like a stretch in extrapolation

there is also the snowball effect - access comes about due to success and is a self reinforcing circle

[Lalmohan]

and now Ajit Pai... end of net neutrality... one short step away from predatory pricing and two steps from censorship...

[Rudradev]

RD ji,
Let me randomly address different parts of your post in different posts.

Despite your oft repeated skepticism on ability of Trump to walk the talk, the fact is yesterday US led by trump just walked out of TPP - needless to say its not some posturing to get clauses A,B,C inserted but its a brexit like exit.

Lilo ji, if you actually open your eyes and look at the supposed "walk" you will see that it is nothing but talk.

America was never IN the TPP. The agreement was dead in the water, on the floor of the US Congress, and had been so for months. It had never been ratified, only proposed. So what was there for him to "exit" from? Comparison to "Brexit" i.e. exiting from a long-standing, functioning European Common Market is completely bogus.

This did not stop Trump from concocting a phony drama of "rejecting" the TPP on his first day in office (easy to do with an agreement the US has never formally accepted ) This is exactly what can be expected from Trump... kicking an already dead horse and then claiming loudly that he killed it with his superhuman strength. He did this with the Carrier Air Conditioning plant fiasco as well, falsely claiming that he had pressured Carrier to keep American jobs at home when in fact he had bribed them with the promise of taxpayer dollars to effect a 100% cosmetic change.

So in fact, I have to revise even my generous estimate yesterday, when I thought Trump might threaten to walk out of mega-trade pacts in order to compel a re-negotiation that injects clauses A, B, C in the service of American interests.

I don't think he has the guts to do even that. His position is far more vacuous... it is restricted to crushing the paper tiger of a nonexistent TPP and claiming victory over the international trading system based on that. He will never have the nerve to take on any well-established institution that the deep state is already invested in. Withdrawal from TPP is empty posturing and nothing else.


NOTE: I have no issue with Trump's empty posturing. Let him do what he needs to do to keep the support of his constituency. I absolutely don't care if he benefits Americans or not. I DO have an issue with empty-headed Yindoos who think Trump will somehow benefit India, based on 100% false premises. Also, arguments like "Trump Walks the Talk!", being demonstrably untrue, do not help such empty-headed Yindoos compensate for the glaringly obvious deficiencies in their wisdom.

The basic contradiction which you failed to consider in your analysis is that even if these institutions were "built to order" by american corporate interests in the past they are now being universally seen for what they are as screwing the common american working class interests(jobs & economic freedoms) by the voting americans .

The American electorate is too stupid to distinguish between Trump's empty posturing (e.g. with Carrier and TPP), vs. genuine imposition of curbs on the institutions perceived to bleed the American working class interest. This is what you have failed to consider in your analysis.

You should also realize that the institutions that govern international trade were built to order, not by American corporate interests, but by the US deep state. That goes much beyond corporate interests. There is a faction of the US deep state... the Hamiltonians... who prioritize trade as the most effective mechanism of exercising global influence. They are the ones most directly responsible for crafting those institutions.

No political administration in the US can survive without the blessings of the Hamiltonians. Even the "leftist" administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had to quietly concede to their agenda in every single respect.

Obama won two terms as POTUS on the strength of a "hope and change" message, promising the American electorate that he would save them from the ravages of the international economic order spawned by the Hamiltonian institutions. Yet, he could (or would) do nothing to actually weaken or undermine them, because the backing of the Hamiltonians is completely essential to the functioning of any presidential administration.

The Hamiltonians very much continue to occupy positions of influence in the Trump administration. Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State is the ultimate Hamiltonian. Labor Secretary Andrew Puzder is another. So are Carl Icahn, Steve Mnuchin, Gary Cohn, Wilbur Ross, Scott Pruitt and several other of his cabinet picks.

Therefore, there is absolutely no chance that Trump will take any concrete step towards undermining these institutions... IMF, WB, WTO or any other. I fully expect Trump to tilt at windmills, charge at paper tigers, and put on a big show of opposing Hamiltonian interests (as he has already done with Carrier and the TPP). All of these moves will be for public consumption only.

Coming to effect on India - In both TPP & TTIP ,India was never going to be the part so i dont understand how India gets any influence to insert clauses x,y,z in the firstplace, especially since trade blocks tend to operate on zero sum principle against the rest. There is little chance that both these megapacts will accede to any of the principles(IP,Agri trade or Labor movement) which India is batting for in bigger forums like WTO since Doha round.

When in my post, I referred to {TPP, TTIP}, I was simply using the term in brackets as a shorthand for {generic trade megapact}. I thought that the context made this clear, particularly when I was referring to American interests generically as "clauses A, B, C" and Indian interests generically as clauses "X, Y, Z". Forgive me, I will try to be more literal about it in future.

No, of course India had no part to play in the TPP or TTIP and hence no interest in modifying the clauses of these specific agreements (though I hope you see how this undermines your argument that Trump pretending to act against the TPP somehow constitutes "paisa vasooli" for India ).

Both these pacts were instruments through which OECD capitalists wanted to circumvent the 12 year impasse in Doha led by countries like India & other emerging economies in Asia Africa & SouthAmerica. That has been dashed now because Trump sees american jobs & domestic american investment & growth to be more important than the need to see unchallenged expansion of american corporate interests abroad - atleast in the interim - until a more politically sustainable balance b/w american working class vs its global corporate interests is achieved.
This re balancing period is a window of opportunity for India to claim space commensurate with its current & potential economic capacity which was hitherto denied in the "built to order" post WWII or coldwar legacy global institutions. Dumping/ extended coma of these mega trade pacts(TPP & TTIP) all of which were designed to explicitly isolate India will result in direct benefit to India's trade interests.His renegotiation pressure on NAFTA will open additional windows of opportunity in the non-american Americas

The italicized, underlined part of your quote is what your entire argument hinges on. You think Trump is actually going to deliver where Obama failed to deliver. You think Trump is going to act against the Hamiltonians and bring down their institutions, biting the very hand that fed him all these decades and elevated him to the presidency last year. You think Trump is actually going to go beyond the empty posturing he has engaged in with Carrier and TPP, and enact policies that somehow curb American corporate rapaciousness so as to benefit the aam American worker. And that this will somehow accrue benefits to India's trade interests.

You are wrong for two reasons.

One, there is no indication that Trump is going to pursue these aims beyond garishly-postured, loudly-proclaimed rhetorical measures for public consumption. The institutions that are actually in place, currently functioning, and actively marginalizing India will come out of the Trump administration completely unscathed. They are too heavily invested in by Trump's core backers, so he will never be allowed to mess with them.

Two, even if by some miracle he does end up destabilizing the institutions that his Hamiltonian forebears have assiduously cultivated for the past seventy years... claiming that this will produce a "direct benefit to India's trade interests" is completely devoid of substance. India will have to fight for its terms to be included in any new international trade regime just as it had to fight for its positions in Doha. In a situation where the US has actually withdrawn from the global trading arena behind a wall of protectionism, leaving China in clear dominance of the field, this does not become easier for India to do. In fact, we will not even be able to use the US as a pole to triangulate against whatever regime China brings in to replace the TPP, with its contours fitted exactly to the service of Chinese interests.

I am not saying we should shiver in our dhotis about taking the fight to the Chinese on trade. We will do what we have to do, and we would have fought this fight regardless of who came to power in the US election.

But please, let us not pretend that Trump's tantrums on trade (even IF they go beyond empty posturing and rhetoric) will somehow benefit our capacity to do what we need to do. That is 100% delusional, and hardcore MUTU thinking.

The TTIP, by the way, isn't a "mega trade pact"... it is a bilateral agreement between the US and EU. You had earlier touted the claim that Trump's backing of bilateral trade agreements would somehow benefit India's economic agenda:

Now Trump is going to emulate India in pursuing bilateral trade deals with other trading nations & impending collapse(or atleast suspended animation) of mega trade pacts like TPP,TTIP greatly improves India's trade situation for the next decade atleast

So you're now completely contradicting yourself with the claim that

Dumping/ extended coma of these mega trade pacts(TPP & TTIP) all of which were designed to explicitly isolate India will result in direct benefit to India's trade interests.His renegotiation pressure on NAFTA will open additional windows of opportunity in the non-american Americas.

[SBajwa]

Lalmohan wrote:
one black commentator on election night coined the phrase "white lash"
totally on the money



Not totally correct. Lot of non white folks in my locality did vote for Trump.

It was a "rural lash" rather than a white lash.

Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania voted for trump while the rest of the states voted to their historical preferred respective party.
Also! most of the counties (suburban areas) outside the cities of Miami, Orlando, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh voted for Trump even if the counties where these cities exist voted for Billary!

So! The hard working people who live in suburban areas close to the cities voted for Trump while free booters (city living people surviving on food stamps and public money) voted for billary!

[SBajwa]

by Lalmohan
Yagnasri wrote:
We are going to see US withdrawal from the Globalist project.



hmmm... except where it deals with Oil - and this is where its going to get interesting

Trump advances the construction of two pipelines

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-advanc ... nance.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed two orders on Tuesday to move forward with construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, rolling back key Obama administration environmental policies in favor of expanding energy infrastructure.

Trump campaigned on promises to increase domestic energy industry production and before taking office indicated he supported completion of the Dakota pipeline and revival of the Keystone XL project.

But a restart of the projects would mark a defeat for Native American tribes affected by the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Protesters had rallied for months against plans to route the $3.8 billion pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying it threatened water resources and sacred Native American sites.

Environmental activists broadly opposed the Keystone XL pipeline and campaigned against it for more than seven years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in January said it would begin an environmental assessment that could delay the Dakota project further. It was not clear if Trump’s order supersedes that move.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a key victory when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in early December turned down Energy Transfer Partners' request for an easement to tunnel under the nearby Missouri River. Standing Rock officials were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.

Shares of ETP, the company building the 450,000 barrel-a-day Dakota line, rose 3.5 percent in U.S. trading.

Oil producers in North Dakota's Bakken region would likely benefit from the ability to move oil more quickly to the U.S. Gulf Coast by way of the 1,172-mile (1,885 km) pipeline.

The North Dakota Petroleum Council, the trade group for the state's oil producers who are relying on Dakota Access to expand their crude transport options, cheered Trump's order.

"We think this is a great step forward for energy security in America," said Ron Ness, the council's president.

Most of the Dakota pipeline was completed by the summer of 2016, except for a small section under Lake Oahe, a reservoir that forms part of the river.

Trump on Monday met with leaders of labor unions, including the Building and Construction trades group and the Laborers International Union of North America, who have been vocal supporters of both pipeline projects.

Both groups had endorsed Trump rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. election, but disagreed with her opposition to the Keystone pipeline.

Trump owned ETP stock through at least mid-2016, according to financial disclosure forms, and ETP's chief executive, Kelcy Warren, donated $100,000 to his campaign. U.S. Energy Secretary nominee Rick Perry was until recently on ETP's board.

Former President Barack Obama rejected Transcanada Corp's Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would bring Canadian crude from Alberta into the U.S. Gulf, in 2015 after environmentalists campaigned against the project for more than seven years. Transcanada did not immediate respond to a request for comment.

Transcanada shares last traded up 2.4 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Valerie Volcovici in Washington, Ethan Lou in Calgary, Ernest Scheyder in Houston and writing by Catherine Ngai in New York; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Meredith Mazzilli)

[Rudradev]

RD ji,
You seem to claim with conviction that
1)There is NO transition period,
2)There is NO problem of separating the foreign directed Social Justice groups & academia from the domestic Social Justice groups directed against Trump & they have apparently had separate existence & ideology from inception.

Oh there will be a transition period. In fact, it is currently ongoing. But certainly nothing on the order of providing a "breathing space" for India.

Please note that every single breaking-India project that was ongoing during the Obama admin continues into the early days of the Trump admin. The Harvard team continues its backing of Akhilesh Yadav. Udaykumar, US-backed mastermind of the Koodankulam agitation, has conveniently resurfaced in time for the Jallikattu controversy. There hasn't even been the slightest bump in the road of Breaking India execution as Trump has come to power. NONE of the people involved in this Breaking India project have been marching on Washington, wearing Pink Hats or anything of the sort.

Your claim of "paisa vasooli" accruing from Trump's victory is therefore completely baseless.

What will happen in reality is that the ranks of the Breaking India project will swell dramatically, and its coffers expand propitiously, when it receives fresh infusions of funds and talent from the current asset base of the Anti-Trump movement.

Things never, at any point, got better for India as a result of Trump's election. However, without a doubt things are going to get substantially worse for India as a delayed consequence of Trump's election.

3)There is NO ongoing churn against Trump enough to disrupt the harmonious execution of evangelical agenda abroad as was obtained during the good ol Democrat days by the EJ's & Social Justice departments in US academia working in perfect concert.

Excuse me, what?

I have been living in the US for 20 years, and have constantly observed the functioning and evolution of Breaking India nexuses (with all their moving parts) over that period of time.

As far as I can see, there is no evidence whatsoever that the evangelical agenda functioned "harmoniously" during the Democrat days. What exactly is your source for claiming that the EJs and "Social Justice departments in US academia" (whatever that means) worked in "perfect concert" during Democratic presidencies?

From everything I have observed this could not be further from the truth. In fact, the greatest schisms between the "left" and "right" wing EJs invariably occur during Democrat presidencies.

Democratic presidencies are exactly the times when the Social Justice EJs have to publicly distance themselves from the Gays/Guns/God positions of the Conservative EJs, or else risk losing the political and economic patronage of non-religious institutions tied to the Democratic federal government. Meanwhile, the Conservative EJs are too busy fighting on issues like abortion, gay marriage etc. and have far less resources to spend on going overseas to convert the heathen.

The political climate in the US under Democratic presidents thus produces the greatest possible degree of socio-political schism between the two groups of EJs.

Under Republican presidents, the schisms largely repair themselves, mainly because Republicans open up the purse-strings of EJ funding across the board (see George W Bush's "Faith Based" Funding Initiative as an example). The social-justice EJs are the more pragmatic group, and quickly realize that they are not going to get a big share of this newly available funding if they oppose domestic social agendas backed by the government of the day. On the other hand, they realize that by taking up "heathen conversion" projects, they can get a piece of the largesse.

In India, let us remember that the apex height of EJ activity that directly impacted India's core internal security interests occurred during the George W Bush administration. This was the period when the 2007 Kandhamal riots in Orissa took place-- thousands of "Christian Tribals" were allegedly killed by Hindoo fundamentalist tribals. The Conservative EJ groups used the incident to launch a high-profile atrocity literature campaign, asking their parishes for money to bring the light of Jeebus to the heathen darkness of India, etc.

However, the incident that sparked the Kandhamal riots... the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu spiritual leader... was committed by the Maoist group of Sabyasachi Panda. The Maoist connection was managed, funded, and orchestrated by Social Justice EJs.

We thus saw an ecosystem where Social Justice EJs used their connections to Maoists to create an incident that provoked mass violence... and then, Conservative EJs used the mass violence to produce atrocity literature and raise funds. A cycle that could only work smoothly and effectively when both Social Justice EJs and Conservative EJs were united in the mission of converting foreign heathens. A system that could only function when funded by the largesse of George W. Bush's Faith Based Initative, which provided billions in government funds to both Social Justice EJs and Conservative EJs alike.

There is simply no comparison between this sort of co-ordination, and ANY EJ activity of any sort that occurred during the Obama administration.

So I'm sorry, the contention that the EJ threat gets worse under Democratic presidential regimes is absolute rubbish. Demonstrably so. Indeed, the truth is exactly the opposite... both the Liberal EJs claiming to work for "Social Justice", and the Conservative EJs claiming to work for Jeebus' Gospel, are the best funded and best motivated to work in complete harmony during Republican administrations.

You further claim that Ed Boyce publicly thumping the desk demanding heathens in India accept the one true religion is BAD as compared to Hillary, Kerry or Obama pressing their toe down on Indian governments behind closed doors to force us to evangelical demands through threats & carrots.

Examples:In dienasty's time they would have reiterated alCIAda's guarantee for the access & safety of sikular neta's BM stashes abroad.
In case of NDA they would promise foreign investments & concessions in trade in return from access to american NGO's doing god's work under a sikular garb .Or they would have threatened with interference in the next major election by helping the sikular side win using american money & media support.

RD ji, you may think above threats & consequences happening behind closed doors is GOOD.
I see those threats & consequences happening behind closed doors as BAD.

Infact what you see as BAD i.e public support of American establishment to evangelicals in a congressional hearing led by some kooky republican is really GOOD for me.

Lilo ji, you are entitled to your personal preferences regarding the optics of BAD and GOOD.

Unfortunately, what you think is BAD or GOOD does not align with what any career diplomat will tell you, regarding the way they prefer things to be done in the nation's interest.

The method of breaching sensitive in private, official meetings is the preferred method in diplomacy for many reasons.

1) It allows the maximum room for face-saving and clearly defines the zones of responsibility for all the players.

For example, it allows Kerry to ask his favour on Compassion International's behalf. Kerry can then go back to DC and tell CI/John Podesta: "OK, I did my part... I tried." Meanwhile it allows Sushma Swaraj to hear the favour in private. Even if she does not want to accede to Kerry's request, she is able to save face for him, and keep India's options open, by saying "We will look into it." After some months, the MEA comes back with the impersonal reply "we looked into it, and we are going to retain CI on the restricted list."

This has many advantages. Kerry does not appear incompetent to his own side, whatever India decides to do. Sushma is not put in the position of having to say "yes or no" to Kerry right away. Institutional equations are preserved even if the specific favour requested is not granted. It brings the least amount of pressure to bear between the interlocutors.

EVEN if the US side mentions all kinds of dirty threats and inducements, as you describe... these are all still being conveyed and considered in private. It is 100% the GOI's choice, without any additional component of public pressure, to spit on the dirty threats/inducements being offered (if any) and send Kerry packing home.

2) It preserves distinct silos of interest. Kerry may use 45 minutes of his time with Sushma to discuss trade, another 20 minutes of his time to discuss security affairs, and then finally 5 minutes to ask for a favour on CI's behalf. All this is accounted for and noted in the "minutes" of the meeting, by diplomatic functionaries on both sides. The raising or outcome of the Compassion International discussion does not affect the trade discussion or the security discussion.

By contrast, when a US legislator drags the issue out into the floor of the US Congress, three things happen that are far worse from a diplomatic point of view:

1) The involvement of an additional organ of GOTUS. As opposed to the back-room discussion between diplomats, i.e. representatives of the executive arms of the two governments... the legislative arm of the US government has now become involved. This has very substantial repercussions. It means that the issue being raised has gone from being part of the regular transactional business between the executive arms of GOTUS and GOI, to an exceptional irritant that requires the attention of US legislators to help address it. The very act of raising the stakes in this manner is calculated to bring additional pressure upon India, have no doubt about it.

2) The capacity for face-saving has gone out the window. Rather than a quiet and long-drawn out process, the urgency implicit in a Congressional hearing forces the Indian government to respond in the public glare. Even a non-response by India will now get a lot more attention than any interaction during the back-room process of diplomacy.

3) The silos of interest have become intermingled, and the issue has become completely muddied by commingling with other issues. This is a key difference in how legislative arms of government work (very often, some tax issue or gun-control issue or whatever can get "tacked on" to a budget bill) as opposed to executive arms of government (one issue at a time). Now that Ed Royce has made the debate public before Congress, ANY issue regarding India that comes before the US Congress has the potential to impact (and be impacted by) it. Whether related to trade, "human rights", security affairs, military or anything else.

In every single way, the move of bringing the issue to a Congressional hearing represents an increased quantum of threat, an increased level of pressure, and overall greater hostility towards India by the Trump Republicans... compared to the situation that existed under the Obama Democrats on the Compassion International issue.

The Obama administration did not care enough to bring that kind of pressure on India on behalf of Compassion International. The Trump administration, and the Republican party, are quite happy to risk damaging the US-India relationship by escalating hostility to the level of Congressional hearings regarding Compassion International.

It is also very revealing that the initiative for this Congressional Hearing has been taken by Ed Royce. You describe him as a "kook", but on Capitol Hill he is known as the Republican chair of the India Caucus, and the most pro-India Republican legislator around! In terms of setting a tone for forthcoming developments in US-India relations... the tone being set here is quite unmistakable. Far more than the Obama administration, Trump's administration will be acting at every turn to pressurize the GOI on behalf of the EJ agenda; this is what has been signaled.

A basic understanding of the ABCs of diplomacy would make it clear which of these approaches is GOOD or BAD, relatively, from India's point of view. Neither is GOOD. But the Republican approach is quite obviously much WORSE.

Meanwhile, I notice you have raised the strawman of what happened with backroom negotiations during UPA's time. Of course, when we had MMS/Sonia at the helm, any favour asked by any Republican or Democratic interlocutor in the backrooms would have been met with an obscene willingness to sell out Indian interests. By contrast, when a favour was asked of the Modi administration regarding Compassion International, India's interests were preserved. This has nothing whatsoever to do with Republicans vs. Democrats, but only to do with the kind of government Indians elect for themselves.

[Rudradev]

RD ji,
You & me both know whats the most important employability attribute of a Journalist.

Its called ACCESS. Its hardly some butterfly effect starting from some sphincter.

Burkha bibi could score "smiling" interviews with BJP cabinet ministers like Smriti Irani , Gadkari or Jaitley despite rrNDTV's minuscule TRP & her bitter slanted reporting on BJP - only because she is one of those few american establishment(as represented by the Democrat's killer combo of overt Social Justice & covert EJ agenda) "accredited" journalists in India.
Afaik whenever Hillary visited India as SecOfState she never failed to give a public interview to Burkha bibi articulating (without challenge) the then current american interests through her.

The bumchum relationship which Burkha enjoyed with Hillary was the source of her ACCESS to the deepest levels of American establishment & as the foremost interlocutor & lobbyist on their behalf - she had access to the ears & attention of the Cabinet level ministers in GoI.

Now Hillary has been kicked out from contention & of all the Presstitutes India is afflicted with, Barkha lost the most - its infact a career shattering loss for her.
One can understand that she had given up mainstream journalism (& daily prime screen time in rrNDTV that comes with it) and had settled to penning sad opinion farticles in WaPo etc.

Boss you are putting 1 and 2 together and getting 7.

"Career-shattering loss"? However much favour she was allegedly bestowed upon by Hillary Clinton, are you seriously suggesting that Barkha's entire career depending upon access to Hillary Clinton?

Sorry, it seems to me that ALL of these "Trump will benefit India" arguments you are advancing harbour a similar deficiency of veracity as this one. Too many assumptions have to be made, too many realities have to be ignored, too much imagination has to be employed for them to have any credibility whatsoever.

I am as always glad to hear your opinions. But whatever evidence is available, thus far, fails to support (or in some cases, directly contravenes) your assertions.

[ramana]

Ok. I think you too have made you arguments and will soon descend to "mai-mai, tu-tu!"

So let time tell us how it plays out.

To sum up

RD: DT is not good for India for variety of reasons*
Lilo: DT is good for India for variety of reasons*

* Read the above posts!!!!

[Atmavik]

"Career-shattering loss"? However much favour she was allegedly bestowed upon by Hillary Clinton, are you seriously suggesting that Barkha's entire career depending upon access to Hillary Clinton?

i am not sure about "Career-shattering loss" but something was cooking before the election. this is mere speculation on my part but these few things caught my eye.

1. Burkha writing an article in WAPO on geo-politics.
2. hanging out with DC establishment folks like the good haqqani.
3. attending the same confrence as chelsea clinton (http://www.tinabrownmedia.com/events/wo ... mmit-2013/)
4. she is the co-founder with coupt of the program "off the cuff" where they interview influential people and invite other such folks as guests. this looks like a lobbying activity to me.

[Lilo]

RD ji,
Thanks for this round.

In particular thanks for the gyan in this post. viewtopic.php?p=2105844#p2105844

[KLNMurthy]

RD ji,
You & me both know whats the most important employability attribute of a Journalist.

Its called ACCESS. Its hardly some butterfly effect starting from some sphincter.

Burkha bibi could score "smiling" interviews with BJP cabinet ministers like Smriti Irani , Gadkari or Jaitley despite rrNDTV's minuscule TRP & her bitter slanted reporting on BJP - only because she is one of those few american establishment(as represented by the Democrat's killer combo of overt Social Justice & covert EJ agenda) "accredited" journalists in India.
Afaik whenever Hillary visited India as SecOfState she never failed to give a public interview to Burkha bibi articulating (without challenge) the then current american interests through her.

The bumchum relationship which Burkha enjoyed with Hillary was the source of her ACCESS to the deepest levels of American establishment & as the foremost interlocutor & lobbyist on their behalf - she had access to the ears & attention of the Cabinet level ministers in GoI.

Now Hillary has been kicked out from contention & of all the Presstitutes India is afflicted with, Barkha lost the most - its infact a career shattering loss for her.
One can understand that she had given up mainstream journalism (& daily prime screen time in rrNDTV that comes with it) and had settled to penning sad opinion farticles in WaPo etc.

Boss you are putting 1 and 2 together and getting 7.

"Career-shattering loss"? However much favour she was allegedly bestowed upon by Hillary Clinton, are you seriously suggesting that Barkha's entire career depending upon access to Hillary Clinton?

Sorry, it seems to me that ALL of these "Trump will benefit India" arguments you are advancing harbour a similar deficiency of veracity as this one. Too many assumptions have to be made, too many realities have to be ignored, too much imagination has to be employed for them to have any credibility whatsoever.

I am as always glad to hear your opinions. But whatever evidence is available, thus far, fails to support (or in some cases, directly contravenes) your assertions.

Re Barkha Dutt, it doesn't have to be either she left the scene in utter frustration because Hillary lost vs. Hillary's loss had nothing to do with Barkha's decision to move on to whatever she is now moving on to.

Career shift planning and decision-making are rarely all-or-nothing--if I get this great new opportunity I'l move ahead, but if it doesn't come through I'll just take sanyaas and live out my life as a failure. Most likely, Barkha had been planning to leave NDTV for some time and did harbor serious plans of leveraging her supposed access to Hillary to a next level of visibility and career growth for herself. Hillary's defeat came as a surprise to a lot of people, and I am sure Barkha is among them. That doesn't mean she would have put all her career eggs in Hillary's basket--you don't get to her level by being so foolish. It just means she had a plan B and carried it out.

For India and BRF, it means she isn't going away any time soon, and she will continue to be a major factor in media portrayal of India.

[ramana]

KLNM, Minions like Barkha Dutt don't have options to choose. She has been re-tasked by her controllers.
Plan is to denigrate NaMo in WaPo while enjoying protection of foreign correspondent of WaPo.

She just wrote an article in WaPo claiming that NaMo is taking back India to 1970s.

Aka Emergency rule of Indira Gandhi.

[Lalmohan]

^^^ thats an interesting hypothesis Ramana, on what are you basing these assertions?

[Rudradev]

Thanks Lilo ji to you as well. Always a pleasure

I think there is some chance you may yet be proved right under the specific heading of trade issues. IF Trump actually starts disrupting the international system of commerce... it is possible that a windfall of benefit can accrue to India, if we are observant enough, and quick enough to react. But it is a big IF... and, at least so far, the composition of Trump's cabinet does not give much confidence that he will actually do anything in contravention of the Hamiltonians' wishes.

On geopolitical issues like China... IF, again, Trump actually goes beyond brash words to enact a real change in US' China policy... there is once again a chance that we could accrue a windfall of short-term benefit. However, I don't know if we will be positioned to take much advantage of whatever opportunities come our way. India has many problems that Modiji is working overtime to fix... so, if and when the chance comes, we may not have the resources or capability in place to exploit it. Net net, by moving international relations away from their current equilibrium of predictability, Trump is 5% likely to create opportunities that India can capitalize on, and 95% likely to create headaches for MEA mandarins with no potential benefit to India. Of course, if Trump is just making noise vis-a-vis China, nothing will change anyway.

Under the heading of India's internal stability and security, we must agree to disagree quite profoundly. Regarding EJs, Breaking India Forces et al, I see no reason for us to celebrate, and every reason to be on heightened alert, in the aftermath of Trump's election.