Stept up to the plate

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations on Sept. 20.
You can count on a few things during the U.N.’s annual General Assembly. The traffic will be bad, the speeches will be worthy (if a bit dull)—and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will say something absurd. This year the Iranian leader suggested that U.S. officials orchestrated the 9/11 attacks to save Israel and “reverse the declining American economy.” (Has he noticed the actual effect of the war on terror on America’s fiscal state?) It continues to be a pity that a great civilization like Iran is represented by such a character.

In other ways, however, the atmosphere this year was muted. I asked Israeli President Shimon Peres, who has been going to such gatherings for decades, for his read of the mood. “There is more worry than there used to be,” Peres said. He described a general atmosphere of unease and uncertainty amid which emerging nations were jostling for influence. “I don’t think it’s that America is going down, but the world is becoming larger and more complicated.”

There has been much worry about the activities of countries like Brazil and Turkey, with many Americans arguing that the two countries have become troublemakers, cutting deals with Ahmadinejad and turning away from America. But we have to understand the dynamic that is altering the power status of these countries. Twenty years ago Brazil was struggling to cast off a long legacy of dictatorship, hyperinflation, and debt. Today it is a stable democracy with impressive fiscal management, a roaring economy, and a wildly popular president. Its foreign policy reflects this confidence and a desire to break free of its older constraints.

In a speech in Geneva on Sept. 11, Brazil’s intelligent and ambitious foreign minister, Celso Amorim, explained that even eight years ago, the United States absorbed 28 percent of Brazil’s exports, but now buys only 10 percent, surpassed by China. Africa, too, is now a major trading partner for Brazil. In explaining the country’s new interest in Middle Eastern affairs, Amorim pointed out that Brazil’s 12 million Arabs would constitute the fourth or fifth-largest Arab nation in the world. Recently, in another speech, Amorim urged Brazil to be bold and expansive in its conception of its interests. “It is unusual to hear that countries should act in accordance with their means,” he said. “But the greatest mistake one could make is to underestimate [Brazil’s potential].”

Then consider Turkey. Twenty years ago, it too was perceived as a basket-case economy, dependent on American largesse, protected by the American security umbrella, and quietly seeking approval from Europe. It needed the West. But now Turkey has a booming economy, has an increasingly confident democracy, and is a major regional power. It is growing faster than every European country, and its bonds are safer than those of many Southern European nations.

What Took the UN So Long?

A Newsweek Starter Kit explains why it took the Security Council so much time to sanction Iran.
Its foreign policy is becoming not so much Islamic as Ottoman, reestablishing a sphere of influence it had for 400 years. Abdullah Gül, Turkey’s sophisticated president, explains that while Turkey remains resolutely a part of the West, it is increasingly influential in the Middle East, Central Asia, and beyond. “Turkey is becoming a source of inspiration for other countries in the region,” he said to me while in New York last week.

The newly rising powers—China, India, Brazil—rightly insist that they be more centrally involved in the structures of power and global decision making. But when given the opportunity, do they step up to the plate and act as great powers with broad interests? On trade? Energy use? Climate change?

No. Many of these countries want to be deferred to on matters of regional peace and stability. Yet they continue to pursue their national interests even more zealously. Perhaps the most egregious example is South Africa, which has insisted that it is Africa’s natural leader. Yet the country has been shamefully absent in the efforts to rescue the people of Zimbabwe and Sudan from the tragedies unfolding in their lands.

Says Shimon Peres, “You can call yourself a decision maker, but if you are not ready to donate, to sacrifice life, to take risks—not because your country is being attacked but because peace is being put into danger—then it’s more of a perception than reality.”

Fareed Zakaria

I wrote my first column for NEWSWEEK 14 years ago to the month. This is my last. I have been honored to write for a truly great magazine and a wonderful group of readers. Thank you.

Eulogy of Her Friendship

...That it really began in the days when the Love Laws were made. The laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much. However, for practical purposes, in a hopelessly practical world…(Roy - The God of Small Things)

The beauty of the world was plucked the very day when these love laws ere created, they say, for the betterment of society itself...I scoff at! It yielded nothing but devised a wall between human beings and their very engine of life, between human spirit and its very 'RAISN DE'TRE'' of existence. No, I get puzzled and take my words back for a little while - Kudos to all love law makers instead for creating a wall, you have saved me, yes i would say you rescued me! - For love hurts, when you fail despite streneous efforts, to let someone know how much you love him/her. Thngs have both upsides and downsides - i set forth downsides not least to placate myself!

Yes, after all many ups and downs, twists and turns they have agreed to disagree. Much to their dismay, there were conspicuously a host of miscomunications, misunderstandings and I better know, chasm in their ways of thinking. I always felt like these two litlle Romeo and Juliet were from two oppposite poles but again she had with all her efforts cocooned a hope that these would turn dwarf and would be easily annihilated by her unwaverng love for him. Regretfully time has changed - Romeo and Juliet are no longer the captives of their family enmity but are enmeshed in their own egos' and insincerities.

There she failed Shruti! "I love my 'Prince', I still do"...she told me in her ailing voice ,"but failed to sort out our misunderstanings - every time we sit to resolve, it escalates into bigger one and for a time being shuts all doors of communication between us. we again sit for the next time, and there, the problem repeats. languished in agonies, here I say - Words are not enough to suggest how i am feeling right now. and you know - what aches the most - when you feel that you haven't been able to let someone know how much you love him - this feellng sucks you Shruti." My heart ached for her. since i am a witness to their replationship and i know it right from the start. I have seen her in her worst, in her best, stormed, and jostled upon by the ruthless forces of life - in her glees, in her smiles - and yet he was there ' in her eyes' unfazed as ever, at times inspring her, and other suggest her to rock the boat! Just watching the time passing by, this day is nearly gone...she must be feeling the same way even now......

Their visit to Taaj Mahal, an epitome of love, the solemn prayings in the Mosque of the Fattehpur City must be haunting her now - as though no God were left unprayed to, as if they sought a favor from every religion and hence craved to be assured that no force on the heaven and earth could destroy their 'unity.' Darling, Gods are futile in the kingdom of human beings! Who knew, that small boy they met right after praying in the Mosque had been casting an evil eye upon her relation, who knew they were exhanging their fate at the cost of just some 1 RS (indian currency) and who the hell knew, in his ill-vioce, right then had a harbinger of this doomsday, when he said, "kunai din timi haru le estari nai runuparos."

I felt, in her explanations, as if she lived more than 3 years in only 3 weeks long stay in MAHARANI BAAG, NEW DELHI. They used to engross in their own cute pranks and follies, when everyone was listening to the lectures in a camouflage of interest though. They had created their own space invisible for others yet enough for them where they enlivened the present, weaved the future and shared the past. Treasures unlimited, if only they remain treasures with the pangs of time!

And this is my eulogy - a devout appreciattion to all her high held opinions about him...she could not make it till the end - how could a cart move with a wheel alone..but she was always there 100% when she was there.