The enormity of the tasks at hand and a few graying hairs of President Obama give us the impression that he has been in the office for a very long time. But I believe that the odacity with which he has so far dealt with an undualiting economy, where the unmployment rate may soon touch the uncomfortable double digits, and the two simultaneous war fronts have certainly earned him the accolode of even his skeptics. Within just a matter of 8 months his administration has already brought about the very change he had promised during the early days of his campaign. Of course, that is something the other side of aisle can never seem to reckon with.

The untimely yet the expected death of Senator Kennedy hangs a big question mark over the ability of the D's in the Senate to be able to garner the filibuster-proof 60 votes. The biggest legislative endevor, the health care bill, in the absence of Kennedy's natural abilty to win the hearts of his adversaries, may face some opposition. On another front is Obama's Attroney General waging a war on CIA. Some may see this as asking for trouble while others would call it a step towards transparency. However bad the timings may be, some unpleasant things got to be done by somebody. And this someboby might as well be the very President who ran on such promises.

I am sitting here wondering what should be my dissertation topic for my PhD. I have myriads of ideas tossing and turning in my head. But I wanna get down to just one idea that will be worth examining not only for the mere sake of a degree but for the proper application of my idea in solving at least one problem facing mankind. It doesn't even have to address the problem in its entirety. I would be just happy to begin to address the problem whatever that may be. I don't want my hard work to be just another publication collecting dust in some attic or basement. One particular idea that did latch on to my mind as I was listening to NPR one evening while shaving was the story of a dying city in Germany amidst recession. Not too long ago I had visited a city in the State of Washington called Levenworth, if I remember the spelling correctly. No, it is not the Levenworth prison in California, where I believe a penetentiary of this name does exist. Or atleast that's what I know. Anyways, Levenworth is one such city whose livelihood or the economy so to speak once depended on the logging industry supported by networks of train that carried the logs out of the city. I don't quite remember the details from the plack that I had read at the visitor's site, but from what I do remember, the city's economy took a battering as the demand for the logging industry declined. After much thought some brilliant minds decided to revamp the city by modelling it after a German town in Bavaria. Thus the connection of my story of the dying city that I heard on the radio. After this renewed look given to the city, tourists started to pour in to visit the town. They would enjoy participating in various festivities arranged durin the day, drink at the taverns at night and stay over the inns and hotels at the site. Not bad for the locals who soon started to make an earning from this. So, my point is, if this can work for Levenworth, and I am sure I can find other examples, we can apply the same idea to other cities. They don't all necessarily have to converted into some theme towns after some European resorts. But there is got to be a way to invite outsiders to come in and spend their money which can breath fresh economic blood, bringing back any dying city to life....The rest I will talk in my dissertation if I ever work on this.. Of course the real work will be full of mathematical jargons if you care to read....

-Arif

Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi & Democracy

Given the pressing demand of media coverage of economic news worldwide, stories of Aung San Suu Kyi usually gets put on the back burner. Only lately, following the talk of extension of Suu Kyi’s house arrest in the aftermath of an unwelcome visit by an American at her compound, has recast some of the media’s attention on Burma once more. But for the people of Burma she is an everyday hope. While we may hear of Suu Kyi in our media circles only occasionally, she is an everyday discussion theme among the Burmese hopefuls. But what exactly does her release mean for the current junta government of Burma? We all know the answer to that question. If Suu Kyi is to be openly allowed to canvass she can garner enough support among the Burmese to put her at the helm of her country once again. And the junta knows this very well. Thus it finds the murky incident that is not entirely clear to the rest of the world as a pretext to lock her up for a few more years -- an act well coordinated in an effort to keep Suu Kyi from exercising any influence in the upcoming election of 2010.
While she continues to be a symbol of hope worldwide, both of women’s rights and democracy, there is actually not much the West can do in securing her release. Any attempt so far has gone unheeded by the Burmese government. It is up to the people of Burma to bring about the change that the West including many of Burma’s neighboring countries have long hoped for.
It may be too late and unfortunately it may also be that Aung San Suu Kyi may not come out to enjoy the freedom like the other great leader in another continent, who shares some degree of similarity with her – the great Nelson Mandela. There is much parallel to be drawn between the two legendary figures who have fought for freedom in different ways only in different places.
Lately, the British government has been talking about putting economic sanctions on Burma following the UN Secretaty General's unsuccessful attempt to meet with Suu Kyi duing his recent visit ot Burma. Any sort of economic sanction to punish the government of a country does have its collateral damage that is indirectly inflicted on the very people that we try to protect. We have seen the dire consequences of sanctions placed on Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s regime. One such sanction in the form of oil for food program terribly hurt the Iraqi locals. Thus, I am of the belief that sanctions do not work and they only make matters worse. [http://www.globalissues.org/article/105/effects-of-sanctions]

Democracy will come to Burma one day but unfortunately it may be too late for Suu Kyi to celebrate such triumphant moments with her supporters. No government in history has succeeded in trampling its citizens ceaselessly. Once the wrath of the people is unleashed after its patience has long been tested, democracy will shine. Given the socioeconomic condition of Burma, whether this long yearned democracy proves sustainable in tha long run in that country is something that will depend on the ultimate resolve of Burma’s people. What is regrettable nonetheless is the fact that I remember learning about Suu Kyi’s struggle from the perspectives of newspapers in Bangladesh back in early 90s. Now, after over a decade I read similar news just from another part of the world. Sadly nothing has changed for Burma.

-Arif Jamal

Socialism, Capitalism or Socio-Capitalism?

As my two cents on capitalism and socialism experiments will leave the vast ocean of literature on the two subjects undisturbed, I do not feel guilty of dabbling on the issues in the form of a short discourse.
The Cold War, as many would say, was a struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union to extend each other’s sphere of influence on the rest of the world. Others would say that it was also a struggle to prove whether capitalism or socialism was the sustainable socioeconomic path to choose. Although we currently stand at a juncture in the history of mankind when Cold War has been long over, we surprisingly find the existence of both forms of isms which seem to work in varying degrees.
Marx and Engel’s Das Capital is definitely a milestone in the path to development of economics as a science to solving mankind’s dilemma of making choices in the midst of scarce resources. The authors’ dream nevertheless has remained nothing more than a treatise and will probably be treated so by the future generations.
On another note, Friedman’s much hailed capitalism has also developed fissures long after we had thought we learned everything about running an economy after the great depression. But it is not about forgetting history and repeating it. The financial market system of today is nothing like they were back in the 30s. Today, the countries across the globe are so tightly interconnected that any minor disruption in one country can easily send a ripple across the financial world.
China on the other hand has shown to the rest of the world that its brand of controlled capitalism mixed with elements of socialism does indeed work, proven by its unprecedented economic growth in the last decade.
While capitalism is being rescued from near collapse by President Obama’s financial reforms in unison with the major countries in the West, we must not completely alienate other forms of economic systems that have proven successful elsewhere. Perhaps, going forward what we need is an open mind and willingness to experiment with different ideas.
-Arif

Iran's Election

The result of the disputed election in Iran is a shame. When early in 1979, the American backed Shah wanted to forcefully introduce western elements in Iran, his miscalculated steps backfired. The ensuing revolution took Iran on a completely different path, straining its relationship with the US. We all remember the details of the incidents surrounding those years in Iran. In the course of those events, what emerged was an Iran ruled by Islamic hardliners. Surprisingly, today the pendulum has swung to the other side. Despite warnings from the government in power, the young generation of today's Iran are back on the streets again. This time they do not want a sweeping overthrow of their government. Neither are they openly demonstrating against the Islam Republic, the shadow government that runs the show in Iran. They are demonstrating in demand of a fair election, and nullify the result of the obviously rigged election they just had. Unlike in 1979, when the protesters wanted to chase out the puppet government of the west, this time, they are embracing the attention the West is giving them. And the availability of elements of technology, like cell phones with camera, is helping to capture images that are instantly seen around the world. The supreme leader, Khamenei, in trying to back Ahmadinejad may draw the wrath of the people to such a degree that it may shake the very foundations of the Republic. Another thing could happen is the demonstrators giving up, resulting in another tenure of Ahmadinejad. Which ever way the wind blows, it is the perfect time for Iran to ratchet down its international tone, and join countries like Egypt in stabilizing the Middle East. Iran's hostility towards Israel and its open pursuit of a nuclear dream is isolating it in the region.