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Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Monday, September 09, 2019
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Terrorism
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| Terrorists Among Us: Jihad in America (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
कुछ solutions हैं।
- State building ---- जिस तरह मच्छर पानी न बहने वाली तालाब ढूँढती, उसी तरह आतंकवादी ऐसे देश ढूँढ़ते हैं जहाँ failed state हो।
- Cooperation between States ---- दुनिया के देशों को information sharing करनी होगी। Otherwise if each country is a silo of its own, you give the terrorists a lot of room to play.
- Information Technology ------ The leaders like Bin Laden might choose to go "dark." But generally speaking terrorist cells rely a lot on electronic communication. There has been much contention on this. Even in countries like America there has been a lot of talk about how civil liberties are being curtailed and citizens are being spied upon. Perhaps there is a happy medium somewhere where you rely mostly on machine reading until you have something substantial and only then you get humans involved. Like with Gmail, the email service serves you ads. But it is machine reading, and you don't feel violated.
- Social network mapping ------ All terrorist groups rely on social networks. Smaller and tighter the group, more reliant they are on their social networks. So when you nab a few, they lead you to others.
- Political grievances have to be proactively addressed. Not because terrorism is and should work. But if there are legitimate concerns, they are legitimate. And they should be addressed. Not as a matter of negotiation with the terrorists or as a step in being blackmailed, but independent of all that.
- The "frontline" is where you have small, agile, well trained operatives who engage in direct action. Mistakes have been made in drone attacks, but they are also one of the tools on the frontlines.
- Ideological fights on social media.
- Larger debates in society, at universities, in old media, on TV, in newspapers. Point by point rebuttals.
Terrorists rely on the war of asymmetry because they know that is the only way they have any chance. आमने सामने आएंगे तो asymmetry गायब हो जाएगी।
That is why you have to fear the ISIS more, because they are breaking many of the rules of the traditional terrorists. Terrorists prefer not to hold territory.
Terrorists rely a lot on out of the box thinking. That goes along the lines of asymmetry. So you have to keep on your toes and constantly be trying to figure out what their next moves might be. It is a game of chess.
Ultimately you just have to drown them out with plentiful information. Wireless broadband and cheap Android phones for the masses ----- I think that is the number one thing. Hundreds of millions of Muslims sharing cat videos makes ISIS irrelevant. You drown out the terrorists with everyday boring stuff. I happen to think that is the most potent weapon.
I have said this many times. I think of the War On Terror as being on par with the Cold War. It will conclude after there is a total spread of democracy across the Arab/Muslim world.
India is the new Britain, because ultimately this is about the ideology of democracy. The oldest and the largest democracies belong together. America and India need each other.
Terrorism is "cutting edge" like Climate Change ---- they both require global coordination. No one country can tackle either.
India is the new Britain, because ultimately this is about the ideology of democracy. The oldest and the largest democracies belong together. America and India need each other.
Terrorism is "cutting edge" like Climate Change ---- they both require global coordination. No one country can tackle either.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
The Unconventional Thinking On Making Fun Of Prophet Muhammad
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| Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It is China's tragedy that free speech is not in its arsenal. Free speech is the most fundamental tenet of democracy. Everything else flows from it.
But when was the last time I saw someone make fun of Jesus? When I was the last time I saw cartoons of Jesus?
Black people getting stereotyped is considered bad. Free speech but bad speech.
Islam is a religion like Christianity. And it deserves an equal pedestal of respect.
Western democracies are Christian countries. It is so obvious when you walk around. Islam is going to have a major presence in the Arab democracies, and I am talking democracies with rights for women, democracies with space for opposition. Modern democracies.
Talking shit about Islam has to be put in the same category as talking shit about black people. Muslims should not be made to feel out of place just because they are Muslim. Most Muslims, like most Christians, just want to share cat videos online.
Don't make fun of the Muslim religion if you are not making fun of your own. Have respect.
There is an Islamism that rhymes with fascism, and there is an Islamophobia that rhymes with homophobia.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Russia's Turn
Image by didkovskaya via FlickrWhen things were rumbling in Egypt I predicted this democracy tsunami is also going to hit America and Russia and China. Well, it did hit America. We call it the Occupy Movement. And now looks like it is Russia's turn. China might have largely skipped the Great Recession but there is no skipping the democracy tsunami. But I think the democracy wave will have to succeed in Russia before it touches China. Just like the wave will have to succeed in Iran before Saudi Arabia is affected.
I am positive. Obama's reelection will not be the biggest news of 2012. 2012 will be the year of the tsunami of democracy.
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