Ideologies and New World Order

It is must for an ideology to make itself stable and prosper and also propagate itself to other part of the world. This is the ideology which has made the countries superpower. The Muslims ruled this world just because of its ideology and the system implemented on them, which obviously was emanated from Islam. Same goes with the once mighty U.S.S.R. and the still mighty but entangled with crisis all over United States of America.

Witnessing the history of the world, we can easily resolve that for a country to be a worldpower, it should have a system which matches the ideology of its people. Like in United States, the system and law guarantees personal freedom that is aligned with the ideas of the people on which the system is implemented.

History of the world is testament of the fact that it wasn’t the natural resources or education alone which helped them to establish their hegemony over the world. The Great Britain, a very tiny empire had no natural resources or any other significant component which could lead to power except for their ideas and military capability and they ruled the world.

Looking into the current state of affairs, the world has no longer been a unipolar one. After the Afghan and Iraq wars and the economic meltdown all over the world, bulging out from United States of America, US has started to lose its grip over the world. United States, once drenched with mighty power is now declining to its very end. People from within have started to raise their fears against the system and policies of the state.

Capitalism in United States is nearing its conclusion. The people in US have lost their homes and jobs on a massive scale due to its fragile capitalist system. Capitalism, as its name reveals, is a system formulated to protect the one who has the capital. The price United States paying for the love of capitalism is as heavy as it could get. While the American dream has become a nightmare, it still is trying to export its ideas to the outer world, eventually leading to en masse disapproval of their system. General public of United States has lost its trust on this system it is inevitable that the US is reaching its end after reaching its pinnacle.

Many people and analysts have suggested that the New World Order is in place or on its horizon. China and Russia (both socialists) have started to assert their power in the international arena. China is expanding economically and both militarily while Russia is countering US in every aspect, be it dealing with Iran or an attack on Georgia. While these socialist giants establish their power, there is another force rising: the rising wave of Islam or the Political Islam. Islamic World, under the oppression from colonialists and imperialists are looking for an alternative and perhaps going back to the basics is the panacea for their ills.

Think tanks in US and other countries have already started raising their fears regarding Political Islam and every day we hear senior US government officials talking about Political Islam and its threat to Capitalism. Islam may prove to be the final nail in the coffin of capitalism.

The role of so-called superpower in the world is now up for grabs. 20th Century and the naught of 21st has seen the very high of socialism and capitalism and also its decline very quickly. Only the Islamic ideology was the one which longed for much longer and paid the dividends to the humanity like expansion in technology, education and arts. It sound very romantic that Islam would again come back on the front stage, especially when the Muslim World is at crossroads but there is one good thing about the crossroad is that it always has a right path.

Be it Islam or Socialism, it is evident that the New World Order will be according to the ideologies as it always has been.


(Writer is a Government Employee and a Student of International Relations)

What Happened in these Five Years?

Published in The Frontier Post on 24-08-2010

Five years ago, Pakistan suffered an earthquake of gigantic magnitude which jolted whole of the country. The earthquake brought a great loss to the affectees who not only lost their loved ones but also lost all their lifelong savings and accumulations. Their rehabilitation was not less than a daunting task and still there are some families who haven’t recovered from the tragic loss.

Biggest problem after a natural disaster is the displacement of the people and their rehabilitation. During the earthquake, it was the zealousness of the people of Pakistan which made it possible to resettle all these people and help their brethren in any manner they can. This time around, the instance is different, although people have started to respond lately but it isn’t the same as it was witnessed before. The enthusiasm of the people during the earthquake is not available to the people this time.

The monsoon rain has wreaked havoc all over Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Southern Punjab are the main targets of the ever coming flood and is still doing the damage all across the country. The loss has been terrible and is touted as the biggest ever tragedy in almost a century. Question marks have been raised over the response from the general public over the donations and efforts in the rehabilitation of the affectees.

Analysts have found it as a tough nut to crack as to why the people don’t have the same zeal as they had before, even though the disaster is much worse than the earthquake in 2005. It takes a careful understanding to figure out that what has happened in all these years that people are reluctant to open their hearts to their brothers.

If we analyze the economic and social situation of the country during the earthquakes, we observe a major transmutation. People at that time were not hit hard by the wave of suicide bombs and felt secured in the markets, whereas today the situation is 180 degree to that. Economic conditions at that time were not as worse as they are now today. The country never went in darkness due to load-shedding at that time.

All these problems combine and tell us about the overall psychological situation of the people. General public has had enough and are literally fed up of this situation. Pakistan is one of the country where there are more donors than any one else in the world but the inflation has tied the hands of the people.

Another significant factor was that the youth was mobilized during the earthquakes and this time we don’t see anyone focusing on the youth. Politicians are worried about their own crops and are ready to sacrifice the life of their voters to save their own fields.

Pakistan has never witnessed such a catastrophe in its 63 year old history. People have lost their homes, sitting in the open sky and are vulnerable to all kinds of diseases. Their loss cannot be measured by an aerial view, which our executives usually do to monitor the conditions.

People are living in the system which is totally against their ideology and is resulting in sheer slump of the nation. We are standing at the crossroads. It is upto us, which way we decide. There is always a good thing about crossroad that there is always an alternative way and an option to choose the right path. It is a responsibility on our shoulders to drive this country to the heights which is expected from it. It is about time we work to have a system based on our Islamic ideology rather than becoming a copycat of west and our neighbours.

Aftermath of the Miscalculations of the Presidency

The Constitution Avenue, in front of the National Assembly still has the traces of the very much remembered Lawyers’ Movement against the then ruler, General Pervez Musharraf and we have a new same sort of movement waiting in the wings. The road blockers, barbed wires are still there which were put by the administration to keep the protestors away from the sacred buildings of the state. Only thing which has changed is that now these hurdles stand there in the name of security measures.

The President’s valentine gift to the judiciary, in the shape of notifications for appointing judges against the will of the Chief Justice brought much controversy. Rumours of emergency were looming around when the apex court ruled out the notifications and kicked in the teeth of the Government. This surely is a great test for the Zardari Administration to stand firm and show it still has the popular support with them which brought them to the Presidency.

The advisors to the President sure as shooting got it all wrong and triggered all the elements which were waiting to have a go at the President alone. This act has got all the guns pointing towards the President. Even though the issue is merely of a constitutional nature but the media and the politicians have grabbed the opportunity to malign the already much maligned regime by making it political.

Presidential camp can argue on the merits of their decision, which of course according to the seniority basis is correct. Another question may arise is that why the CJ wants the judges of his choice, perhaps building his own camp. This certainly doesn’t go well with the Presidency.

The repercussions of this surely will be long lasting as the previous movement had. In fact the previous lawyers’ movement was a launching pad for the removal of the then potentate. The reaction of the lawyers after the decision of the three member bench of the Supreme Court was the same as it was before. Different political parties including the second largest party in the Pakistan has indicated their intentions with full aggression.

Mian Nawaz Sharif in his press conference singled out President Asif Ali Zardari as the root cause of all the problems and called him the biggest threat to democracy. This singling out is a real statement of intent from PML-N. PML-N has been labeled as friendly opposition by many factions but the truth is that it is the PML-N, who has forced the Peoples’ Party to take these unpopular decisions.

What awaits after all this doesn’t differ from the previous situation. There will be mass-protests all around, conspiracies to malign each other. In fact Peoples’ Party has already put their foot on the accelerator and started to show their street power and they are in the mood to counter the opposition both in legal manner and also in the streets. It won’t be very easy for the opposition parties to gather the large numbers especially when the Lawyers’ leadership is scattered and divided unlike before. This time PPP has taken the bull by the horn and are in full mood to answer all the questions put at them. The ball is now in the court of PML-N to respond as PPP has made themselves very clear by showing their anger in the streets. Onus will be on PML-N to respond and it won’t be very easy for them because Nawaz Sharif doesn’t want the Mid-Term elections.

Looking into the activities and engagements of President in the last couple of months, we can easily tell that PPP was planning for all this. President was looking for the support of the masses to tackle the arrows pointed towards him. He visited two of the main provinces of Pakistan i.e. Sindh and Punjab. Gathered large number of masses and showed his stance. This time around PPP will play on the front foot and has employed the maneuver of “Attack is the best form Defense”.

This Royal Rumble between the political parties will affect the masses of Pakistan who are already plagued with load shedding of electricity, gas and shortage of food commodities. Pakistan is already surrounded with uncounted problems. These mass protests will only damage the already lingering economy of Pakistan. Price hike has killed the people of Pakistan and a new turmoil will add to the miseries of the people. These protestations will fend off the international sponsors and donor agencies from further investment as it happened last time around.

It is very difficult to conclude any positives from the current situation. Removal of one person or the old cliché “Minus One” won’t solve the problems. The problem lies in the very core of the system. The prevailing system is full of flaws. A uniform system based upon the ideology of the masses is required to solve our problems. Decisions according to the will of the people can only be taken if the system implemented is embroidered from the thread of their minds.