South East Asia

S’interroger sur les rapports entre le marxisme et le parti communiste chinois, c’est s’engager dans un dédale vertigineux. Non seulement les questions jaillissent de toutes parts, mais on se heurte assez vite à un problème de méthode : faut-il évaluer le «socialisme chinois de la nouvelle ère» au regard du «socialisme de Marx» ? Qui plus est, ce problème de méthode – qu’il faudra traiter comme tel – recouvre un véritable problème de fond : le socialisme étant selon Marx une phase transitoire (le «premier stade du communisme») entre la société capitaliste et la société communiste, à partir de quel moment peut-on dire que l’élément communiste l’emporte sur l’élément capitaliste ? Et comment peut-on déterminer ce point de bascule – à supposer qu’il soit possible et légitime de le faire – dans la trajectoire passée, présente et future (à titre d’hypothèse) du socialisme chinois ? Autrement dit, le socialisme au stade primaire dont se prévaut aujourd’hui le parti communiste chinois a-t-il quelque chose à voir avec le socialisme tel que Marx le concevait ? Que laisse-t-il augurer quant à la poursuite de la transition socialiste en Chine ? Ce qui revient aussi à demander : puisque le PCC se réclame du marxisme, dans quelle mesure la théorie et la pratique des communistes chinois (de Mao à nos jours) sont-elles marxistes ?

Making the Case for Trump’s Foreign Policy

Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin phrase that emerged in the fourth century that means “If you want peace, prepare for war.” The concept’s origin dates back even further, to the second-century Roman emperor Hadrian, to whom is attributed the axiom, “Peace through strength—or, failing that, peace through threat.”

Summary

• Some two hundred million Muslims live in India, making up the predominantly Hindu country’s largest minority group.
• For decades, Muslim communities have faced discrimination in employment and education and encountered barriers to achieving wealth and political power. They are disproportionately the victims of communal violence.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party have moved to further limit Muslims’ rights under the controversial citizenship law, which has the power to render millions of Muslims in India stateless.

Ignoring the decades-old political roots of the Baloch Conflict, their new economic dimension over the past decade since CPEC, and the latest Taliban connections via its TTP partners leads to inaccurate assessments about its latest manifestations and impedes work on a sustainable solution.

An army with a state

In her seminal piece titled “Pakistan-from hybrid-democracy to hybrid-martial law” published in the 2019 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistan born and UK based leading expert on the Pakistan armed forces made some very pertinent and precise observations of how the all-powerful Pakistan army was continuing its subtle subversion of the country’s constitution with renewed vigour. One of her prognostications was – “The military is keen to generate a new national discourse in which the army’s position is considered synonymous to the state.” [Emphasis added].

In the latest issue of its Urdu-language magazine “Taliban,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) eulogizes slain fighters, argues that it is ahead of the Pakistani military in building narratives in the eyes of Pakistani audiences, frames Pakistani military leaders as those who monopolize resources and obstruct the establishment of Islam, and says that the TTP should not be viewed as a terrorist group but as an Islamic jihadi group striving for an Islamic welfare system.

In a devastating and violent incident, a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of foreign diplomats travelling through Pakistan’s scenic Swat Valley. Resultantly, what should have been a symbol of Pakistan’s expanding diplomatic connections, transpired into a tragic reminder of the menace of terrorism.

The White House went to extraordinary lengths last year to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a state visit meant to bolster ties with an ascendant power and potential partner against China.

Tables on the South Lawn were decorated with lotus blooms, the symbol of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. A chef was flown in from California to preside over a vegetarian menu. President Biden extolled the shared values of a relationship “built on mutual trust, candor and respect.”