Wide Angle 17 - Great Powers

This week’s Wide Angle is going to be different. It is not going to be about a movie or a book or an event. My writing is always piggy backed on some entity like a book or a movie so this time I have decided to take a position of sorts and put forth my thoughts on a subject in this column. I am going to write about Great Powers – what it takes to make one and where we stand in terms of being one. This is a carry forward from the thread in last week’s Wide Angle where at the end I had quoted the American Secretary of State. This aspect of the world always fascinates me so I have done a little bit of reading on why some powers are big and some who deserve to be are also-rans (any example come to mind?). So here goes.
First things first – what is a Great Power. A Great Power in the world is like a rich and influential person in a family or society who tends to call the shots but is also a benefactor for others. If you remember the patriarchs of old times who lived in big houses and who looked after not just their families but had many other relatives fobbing off them. Often in communities, the richest or most powerful (if it’s a feudal setup) person or family tends to rise above others and is feared/respected by the others – sort of a first among equals. The same logic applies to international relations where certain countries rise above others in terms of power and influence and start dominating politics and economics and others become either their supporters or bitter irritating opponents. Recent example is the US. The basic fulcrum of a Great Power is that its influence and writ runs far beyond its domain and the world looks at it through aspiration-filled eyes. The citizens of these countries are coveted visitors to any country in the world and these countries value them heavily. An American or a British doesn’t need visa to go to most countries in the world while an Indian needs one.
Second point – why should one want to become a Great Power – answer is Why Not? This mostly applies to India. Again it is my personal view but I would want us to become a Great Power. If one is big and has talent and resources, why should one not aspire to be a big power. If you are big and not good enough, all you end up being is a laughing stock. For example – those big kids in school who could beat around and dominate would be feared and respected but those who were big and mild in nature often were poked at and made fun of as “Motu” or whatever. Therefore, if one has the makings of a Great Power, one should aspire to be so and do all that it takes to be one. We had been growing at 3% rate of growth for 40 years and preached to the world about values etc. and we were looked at as whiners and laughed at. It is only with the reforms and the robust economic growth that we achieved that we have gained some respect outside. So bottom line – we should become a Great Power.
Now, what does it take to be a Great Power – like said before – being rich and strong is definitely one thing. You cannot go out and win in the football field if you are not healthy yourself. The first thing that is essential for the making of a Great Power is economic might. This can only be achieved when the people in the country are secure with both internal and external threats in control. This also means that people are free to make money i.e. the enterprising and entrepreneurial spirit of people is not curbed but encouraged. This also means that there is a strong government that takes care of its citizens in terms of security and allows them the freedom to produce, trade and prosper without being predatory. This also means the country has a strong rule of law so that anyone coming in the way of these freedoms is punished quickly. This also means that there is a strong educational system that churns out brilliant minds with useful skills and also funnels research that take the country forward. When all these things converge, a country becomes economically strong.
The period at the end of eighteenth century and whole of nineteenth century was when England dominated the world and had an empire “where the sun never set”. This was also the period when the British had the maximum number of scientists producing path breaking discoveries, a strong merchant class that modernized production, a parliament that was vibrant, a strong educational system, a population that was dynamic and went on to conquer the world. Of course, lot of their wealth was directly “picked” from their colonies but this was always invested in the funding of the Industrial Revolution. The twentieth century was dominated by the US which almost has everything that is described in the previous paragraph which led to it being a strong economy.
The second essential for a Great Power is might which is military might – both in terms of software (people) and hardware (technology). Both the dominant powers were militarily strong in their age. Britain was the primary naval power during the time when conquest was mostly sea based. US dominated when conquest became dependent on the military-industrial complex. Merely investing in a big military doesn’t help as we have seen in the case of Pakistan or Soviet Union. Both UK and US were rich so they had enough spare cash to invest, had lot of technological brains that fuelled inventions and the population had a can-do spirit which led to them being dominant.
The third essential thing is to be able to project this hard power on to the world i.e. to be able to use it effectively to be dominant. To do that, one has to believe in oneself and go the whole hog. Then projecting hard power becomes a series of interventions in disputes, resolving crisis in the world, funding major world agencies, targeting aid to win over good will, arm twisting to win contracts for your corporations etc. You may end up burning your fingers in many places but you also tend to be respected and looked on as the big brother and can shape the world according to your views. Look at the rise of China which might end up dominating the 21st century -they first became rich through 30 years of economic reforms, they slowly built up and modernized their military and also hooked up with many countries through giving aids, donations and increasing influence to become a great power. As an example, for the World Cup in West Indies, Chinese companies built stadiums there for a much lower cost as a goodwill gesture. And now they have bought up so many American treasury bills that the American President went and kowtowed before them.
The last thing that is also very important is soft power. This is the attractiveness of your culture and other softer aspects for e.g. universities or industries that attracts people to you. Look at the US – Hollywood is a great export of the US and this endears them to lot of folks in the world. The American universities and campuses inspire people and invite them and therefore US is such an influence in the world except for the Arab World maybe. This was also the case with Britain where people would die to get into Oxford and Cambridge in the nineteenth century. The Chinese have started to market themselves to the world this way, did you notice how they pulled out all stops to make the Olympics in Beijing a big success. They may soon end up being the next US.
So that is what makes a Great Power – this is really a nutshell of the whole topic but I assume you get the idea. So what will it take for India to be a Great Power. Well, first of all the “I am a victim and I am poor but morally superior” mindset needs to go. Second – all Indians should be aligned to make our country the greatest (I assume this is not going to happen but what’s the harm in dreaming). Third – make the economy even stronger, once you are rich, you have more money to do other things. Fourth and very important –modernize the internal security apparatus because a populace needs to be secure before it can be productive. Fifth – build a solid infrastructure and good rule of law. And the list goes on – the most important thing is to want to be a Great Power and start working towards it – a lot of spin offs will come in and benefit.
This was a short summary of a rather big topic – I am sure the mandarins of the Indian government are striving towards this goal, we as the little guys should do our bit to take our country places so that tomorrow, when your son produces his blue passport at an immigration abroad, he is politely waved in with a smile and a “visa-on-arrival”.