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The Art of Nuclear Politics
The virtues of great powers are not to be had by a cultivation of their
vices. For example, the brandishing of a nuclear arsenal does not, of
itself, bring with it civilization and prosperity. Witness among the world's
nuclear powers Pakistan and India. Neither is a sterling economic example,
both are nuclear. Iraq would dearly love to join this august company.
Priorities seem strange. In a country where getting a decent phone line
is a
serious problem, the thought of nuclear capability is unsettling. Where
there are three nations of uncertain telephony backing in to one another,
all
with nuclear weapons, the situation can gray an ambassador's hair. The
region is Kashmir, a territory contested by three nuclear neighbors:
Pakistan, India and China.
On December 13, the Indian Parliament came under attack by terrorists.
In
India, a passable democracy, the violation of sovereign space was taken
as
rather an affront. In India a coalition government reigns and accurately
represents a fractured electorate. Not much in the way of constructive
legislation happens. Every faction has enough power to block. This attack
put more stress on the fractures. Fingers were pointed at Pakistani militant
groups. While the motivation for the attack is as yet undetermined, it
is
easy to associate with Kashmir, that contested patch of mountain range.
Yet, it is also productive for the Indian party in power, the Bharatiya
Janata, which needs to carry the Hindu majority in Uttar Pradesh in
February's elections.
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(c) 2002 Millennium Relief & Development Services, vol. 2 no. 4
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of
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