At the beginning of the 21st century, the Indo-Pacific region, consisting of the Asia Pacific and South Asia, existed in an interregnum. The Cold War and the period that followed had passed into history, and it was time for a new era to begin.

What began, instead, was the Age of Terror, inaugurated by the 9/11 attacks in the United States. However, unless terrorism wins, it cannot define an era, no matter how terrible its tactics and how atrocious its results. This is because neither terrorism nor the war against it can settle the great issues of the day.

Thus, the war on terror could not and did not define the relationship between the great powers of the region, primarily the United States, China, Japan and India. It did not, because it could not, decide the balance of power among these nations on the basis of their economic, political, military and cultural strengths. Terrorism merely postponed the inevitable rebalancing of power in the Indo-Pacific region. The region lived in an interregnum for the first decade following 9/11.  Continue Reading »

If there is anything good about crises, it is that they concentrate minds. As the world stands at the proverbial edge of the economic precipice, the looming crisis is focusing attention on fundamental problems that need to be resolved.

Three platforms on which this focus could occur profitably are provided by the Group of 20 nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and the East Asia Summit (EAS) process.

The outcome of these meetings is relevant to Indonesia, which is a member of all three groupings. Indeed, Indonesia’s presence in the groupings – the first two economic and the third primarily strategic – gives it both the right and the responsibility to contribute to a re-stabilization of world order.  Continue Reading »

foto: topnews.in

Early in school, children learn that wonderful line: “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” Later in life, they learn that the line is from Shakespeare. Later still they learn that perhaps the only thing that can unite humankind is an attack from outer space. Shakespeare and aliens give children reason to believe that humans will realize they have a common stake in life on earth.

But children grow up to learn that humanity has failed itself. Nature has not been able to turn selfish men into the family of man. The inexorable advance of climate change has not united humanity against the threat.

The world is not awash in human reason. It has been three decades since scientists began to warn about the dangers of climate change. That is an entire generation. Hence, for a generation, humans largely have ignored what science has had to say about their future — or the lack of it. Like the proverbial ostrich burying its head in the sand, we have tried to wish away the reality of climate change. Now, that denial is costing us deeply, and it will cost us more in the future.  Continue Reading »

Predictably, plans by Domino’s Pizza to open an outlet on the moon have been greeted with disbelief and derision. The company’s Japanese arm, which is spearheading the effort, began thinking about the project last year. Although it would not be drawn on when the new restaurant might actually open, Domino’s logic for taking this bold step appears to be sound.

The fast-food chain anticipates there will be astronauts and other people living on the moon in future, and it is preparing to meet their needs. Domino’s has even offered a detailed cost breakdown to back up the proposal: development expenditure will total $21.7 billion, with part of this amount to be spent on transporting building materials into space by rocket, naturally.

The plan has given cynical commentators plenty of fodder. Continue Reading »