Showing posts with label South Asia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Asia. Show all posts

Friday, May 09, 2025

The Forgotten Casualties of the Trade War: Africa and South Asia Deserve a Fair Shot

Toward a Fair and Inclusive US-China Trade Architecture
A Blueprint for Fair and Inclusive US-China Trade Architecture

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Fixing Education in America: Lessons from the Best School Systems Around the World
World-Class Learning: The Rich Countries with the Best Education Systems
How to Fix Health Care in America: Lower Costs and Cover Everyone
Neither Aid Nor Trade: The Hidden Cost of the US-China Trade War on the World’s Poorest
How Singapore Handles Retirement
Tit-for-Tat Scenarios and De-escalation Roadmap for Operation Sindoor Using Game Theory
Harnessing the Sun from Space: China's Ambitious Leap into Orbital Solar Power



The Forgotten Casualties of the Trade War: Africa and South Asia Deserve a Fair Shot

In the escalating tensions of the ongoing trade war, headlines are dominated by the rivalry between two global titans—China and the United States. The world watches as tariffs fly, supply chains reorganize, and multilateral alliances shift. But amidst this geopolitical chess match, my concern does not lie with Washington or Beijing. I am not worried about the future of Silicon Valley or the fate of Shenzhen’s factories. I am worried about something far more fragile, far more urgent: the lives and futures of ordinary people in Africa and South Asia.

Because when giants fight, it's the grass that gets trampled.

Trade has been one of humanity’s most powerful engines for lifting people out of poverty. From the textile boom in Bangladesh to the tech outsourcing revolution in India, from cashew exports in West Africa to flower farms in Kenya—access to global markets has offered millions a ladder out of deprivation. But as tariffs rise and trade corridors shift, the weakest economies stand to lose the most.

Let’s be clear: this is not about defending corrupt regimes or bloated bureaucracies. It’s not about African or South Asian politicians. It’s about the farmer in Bihar who wants to sell mangoes abroad. It’s about the garment worker in Dhaka whose factory order just got canceled. It’s about the Kenyan small business that was finally breaking into international e-commerce—only to be priced out due to shifting regulations or currency volatility sparked by trade battles they had no part in.

These people deserve preferential treatment—not as charity, but as justice. The global trade system should be calibrated to level the playing field, not tilt it further against the most vulnerable. That means granting duty-free access to products from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). That means supporting infrastructure, financing, and digital access so that small producers can compete. That means acknowledging that "fair trade" must go beyond the powerful negotiating among themselves.

If we are serious about eradicating poverty—truly serious—then we must build a trade architecture that includes and uplifts the poorest. Not just with slogans, but with enforceable commitments. Not just with development aid, but with a real seat at the table.

The poorest of the world do not need protectionism. They need partnership.

And in this trade war, they are the ones who risk losing the most—while having done the least to cause it.

Let’s not forget them.



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The Fentanyl Crisis: Unraveling a Global Web of Death, Trade, and Geopolitics
India-US Trade: Mapping the Path to $500 Billion by 2030
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China and the United States: A Tale of Two Political Systems
"Who Will Blink First" Is the Wrong Question in Global Trade
AOC 2028? The Possibility, the Platform, and the Path Ahead

Trump’s Trade War
Peace For Taiwan Is Possible
The Last Age of War, The First Age of Peace: Lord Kalki, Prophecies, and the Path to Global Redemption
AOC 2028: : The Future of American Progressivism

Monday, March 18, 2019

सीके राउत: चरणगत अग्रगमन

पहला चरण नेपाल सरकार के साथ किए गए ११ बुँदे सम्झौता को माना जाए। ये बहुत अच्छा कदम रहा। रणनीति के हिसाब से भी और राजनीति के हिसाब से भी।

दुसरा कदम हुवा पार्टी की स्थापना

तीसरा कदम: संगठन विस्तार। लक्ष्य लिए हुवे हैं कि १० लाख सदस्य बनाएंगे। ये हुइ न बात। १० लाख सदस्य अगर बना लेते हैं तो नेपाली सबसे बड़ी पार्टी ही बन जाएगी। सारे नेपाल पर शासन कर सकते हैं तो फिर मधेस अलग देशकी क्या जरुरत?

चौथा कदम: फोरम और राजपा के साथ एकीकरण। उतना करने के बाद उसके बाद के चुनाव में सबसे बड़ी पार्टी बन जाएगी। उस समय तक में या उसके तुरन्त बाद तक में मधेस का राजनीतिक समस्या समाधान हो जाने की प्रचुर संभावना है। देशकी सबसे बड़ी पार्टी बन गए फिर भी मधेसका समस्या समाधान अगर आप नहीं कर पाए तो उसके बाद के चुनाव में आपकी हार होनी चाहिए।

पाँचवा कदम: आर्थिक क्रांतिका नेतृत्व। सिर्फ मधेस में ही नहीं सारे देश में। और सिर्फ नेपाल में ही नहीं सारे दक्षिण एशिया में।

छठा कदम: दक्षिण एशिया का राजनीतिक एकीकरण। विश्व शक्ति बनना।


Sunday, February 14, 2016

नेपालको बाबुराम भट्टराई र भारतका नक्सल हरु

Representación habitual de Marx, Engels y Lenin
Representación habitual de Marx, Engels y Lenin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: leaders of CPN maoist of Nepal.
English: leaders of CPN maoist of Nepal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
मलाई भारत का नक्सल हरु बारे एकदम कम थाहा छ। हुन त इंटरनेट मा मनग्गे सामग्री होला। तर मैले सोधखोज गर्ने मौका पाएको छैन। आजको अवस्थामा म भारत को एक जना पनि कोही नक्सल नेता को नाम भन्न सक्ने अवस्थामा छैन।

भारतको नक्सल समस्या लाई सदा का लागि निर्णायक किसिमले समाधान गरिदिन निर्णायक रोल खेल्ने ठाउँ मा बाबुराम छन। दक्षिण एशिया मा त्यस्तो राम्रो ठाउँ मा अरु कोही छैन।

पहिलो कदम त भारतले चाहनु पर्यो। दोस्रो कदम बाबुराम ले वार्ता गर्ने चाँजो पांजो मध्यस्थकर्ता हरुले मिलाउनु पर्यो। नक्सल लाई पनि भारत सरकार लाई पनि मिल्ने मध्यस्थकर्ता हरु। बाबुराम सँग चाहिँ वार्ता गर्छन। भारत को कुनै पनि नक्सल ले बाबुराम ले भन्दा बढ़ी वेद पुराण पढेको होला जस्तो मलाई लाग्दैन। वेद पुराण भनेको नक्सल को वेद पुराण भनेको।

नक्सल ले हिंसाको बाटो छोड्नु पर्ने। भारत सरकारले संविधान संसोधन गर्न तैयार हुनु पर्ने। नक्सल ने नया शुरुवात गर्न पाउनु पर्ने। पुराना मुद्दा फिर्ता, कैदी हरु रिहा जस्ता कदम चालिनुपर्ने। एउटै एकीकृत पार्टी बनेर राजनीतिको मुख्य धार मा आउनुपर्ने। भारत सरकारले नक्सल का इलाका मा एउटा विशेष पैकेज लिएर जान तैयार हुनुपर्ने। शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, रोजगार, विकास सम्बन्धी।

नक्सल का अगाडि पाकिस्तान केही होइन। भारतको नंबर एक सिक्योरिटी मुद्दा नै नक्सल मुद्दा हो।

Just like in Nepal, the key is for the state to realize that there is no security solution, there is only a respectable political solution.

Marxism-Leninism in Europe was primarily about organizing the industrial poor in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Maoism was more about organizing the agricultural poor that India has a whole bunch of. India still is primarily a pre-industrial society. There is desperate poverty, there are acute gender and caste hierarchies. The state can be brutal and out of reach.

Mining companies can sometimes act like the Mafia, a sophisticated mafia that knows both how to pull the levers of power, and also to bring local muscle power to brutal use. As usual, follow the money. Do the mining companies not pay taxes to the local district government? Because they should. Locally elected leaders should have the option to know how much these companies are making.

There is also a cultural issue. These people get dismissed by mainstream India as "tribals."

A negotiated settlement to the Naxal violence in India might add a full percentage point to the country's growth rate. Baburam Bhattarai is the most qualified person in South Asia to be leading the mediation efforts.