Ramesh Thakur

Ramesh Thakur is emeritus professor at the Australian National University and a former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General. Of Indian origin, he is a citizen of Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Ramesh's recent articles

Lives vs lives: Corona without karuna

Coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the health and economies of many developing countries where a billion people subsist in a Hobbesian state of nature and life is nasty, brutish and short.

HARSH MANDER. A pandemic in an unequal India (Hindu 1.4.20)

The irony is that a pandemic has been brought into India by people who can afford plane tickets, but while they will buy private health services, the virus will devastate the poor who they infect and who have little access to health care.

US-India relations shape Japan's strategic environment (Japan Times 23.3.20)

Japan's strategic environment is shaped by the intersection of three major geopolitical story lines: the rise of China as a comprehensive national power; the Trump administration's reset of relations with China into full-spectrum strategic competition; and the expansion, consolidation and deepening of India-U.S. ties.

Coronavirus postscript

Two brief comments as a follow up to my article on coronavirus on Monday.

Coronavirus pandemic: sceptical question marks make for better policy than excitable exclamation marks

When did the worlds media and politicians become collective versions of Lance Corporal Jones in the British comedy series Dads Army, screaming Don't panic! Don't panic!?Colour me contrarian, but since the 2003 Iraq war, my working motto has been: when you come across excitable exclamation marks, substitute sceptical question marks and youll be right.

Delhi in flames

Last months deadly riots in Delhi were a state-sponsored pogrom. To prevent an uncontrollable mass tragedy that could destabilise the AsiaPacific region, friendly governments must speak out now.

Impeachment politics revisited

The doomed impeachment has helped Trump and damaged Biden. The election is now Trumps to lose and the Democratic nomination is Sanders to lose.

SUSHANT SINGH. With a flag, song and book (Indian Express 24-1-20)

As well as Australia Day, 26 January is an important day of celebration in India as Republic Day. The Constitution of India formally came into force on 26 January 1950.

Modis threat to the idea, national unity and territorial integrity of India

Chinas Communist Party never admits to mistakes but always learns from them. Indias PM Narendra Modi never admits to mistakes and seems too stubborn to learn from them. He calls to mind Barbara Tuchmans description of Philip II of Spain: No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.

The half-century miracle of Asian resurgence (Japan Times 6-1-20)

Is Japan Asian? Geographically, this is a silly question. Yet in an age in which identity politics have become increasingly critical, by economic logic, political orientation and geopolitical alliance, Japan is Western.

Australian bushfires: its not always about climate change (Straits Times 24-12-19)

Global warming and climate change are scientific facts, but beware of attempts to make them responsible for poor human decisions affecting the environment today.

Modis project to make a Hindu India (East Asia Forum 30-12-19)

When Scott Morrison visits India later this month, he should temper his marketing enthusiasm. The Modi government is fast-tracking India into uncharted territory despite a forest of flashing amber signs of dangers ahead.

Is India still committed to its no-first-use nuclear policy? (The Strategist 11-11-19)

On 16 August, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hinted that India might abandon its no-first-use policy: Till today, our nuclear policy is no first use. What happens in future depends on the circumstances.

The Greens cruelled Australias last best chance for climate action 10 years ago

Ten years ago, on 23 November, PM Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had worked together to draft a compromise environmental policy for Australia that both could live with. That fleeting moment of bipartisan unity was sabotaged by Andrew Robb and Tony Abbott from the Liberal Party and the Greens. Since then, the different sides have dug ever deeper trenches in a bitter political struggle that has reduced climate action to a wedge issue. The need is for transformative action but governments remain trapped in piecemeal and manifestly inadequate reforms.

The invisibility of AsianAustralians is a national scandal. The silence on this scandal is a disgrace

As I read through the opinion articles in The Canberra Times and The Australian on Saturday 9 November, I grew increasingly exasperated at the total absence of any Asian voice. I then did an online search of opinion articles in the Fairfax media (The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald), plus The Daily Telegraph. As far as could be ascertained from their names and photos (with a built-in margin for errors), of the 49 opinion articles on that Saturday, only one was by a non-Caucasian.

The risk of entrapment by self-fulfilling nuclear prophecy

As rising nuclear threats become harder to ignore, non-nuclear states have responded in one of two ways. The majority have sought to reduce the risks of deliberate or inadvertent nuclear war by doubling down on disarmament efforts, crystallised most eloquently in the Nuclear Ban Treaty adopted in 2017. The treaty has been signed by 79 states and ratified by 33. It will enter into force with 50 ratifications.

We Need to Stop Turning India into a Hindu Pakistan (The Wire 19-10-15)

This is the follow-up article promised yesterday. It was first published in October 2015 in The Wire, one of India's premier online news and analysis site that has managed to remain independent and critical. I have added translations of common Hindi words used in the article. Because the original was aimed at an Indian audience, there was no need of any translation. The original article can be found here.

A hometown lynching

This gut-wrenching story is from and about my hometown where I was born and grew up. I wish I could say I'm surprised as well as horrified but that would be a lie. This is the reality I grew up with and still return to for one-two weeks almost every year. Brutal, savage, barbaric and primitive even by Indian standards, so much so that Bihar state is a foreign country to most Indians. If its not religious violence, its caste and gender killings that will be the main news from Bihar. To make it worse, Sitamarhi is named after the...

Schadenfreude, thy name is Tony Abbott: No one is above the law

If a law can be abused, it will be. This is as true of laws enacted in the name of national security and anti-terrorism as any other law. Why is this simple reality so hard for politicians to grasp?

The P5 must reaffirm that nuclear war cant be won and mustnt be fought (Strategist 15-10-19)

There are three sets of reasons for a palpable rise in nuclear anxieties around the world: growing nuclear arsenals and expanding roles for nuclear weapons, a crumbling arms-control architecture, and irresponsible statements from the leaders of some nuclear-armed states.

The markets school Modi: India needs reform (Policy Forum 22-10-19)

The Indian governments tinkering has not been enough to enact real change Prime Minister Modi must listen to the market and undertake a serious structural transformation, Ramesh Thakur writes.

Japan's least bad choice on North Korea (Japan Times 3-10-19)

If Japanese officials have conducted any clear-eyed, hard-headed analysis of the governments policy options on North Koreas nuclear challenge, they have managed to keep it well hidden.

'It's no crime to be a refugee'.

Review of Kavita Puri, Partition Voices: Untold British Stories (London: Bloomsbury, 2019), 297 pp. This is an important, interesting and elegantly written book. 'It is no crime to be a refugee', says one of the persons interviewed for the book. The story of refugees is the story of transience, fragility, rootlessness and impermanence. With refugees turned migrants, doubly so. For the children of refugee-turned migrants, their past ancestral land now often lies in 'enemy' territory.

The establishment strikes back at the deplorables. Part 4: Partisanship on steroids

The timing of the impeachment inquiry shows frustration. With uncharacteristic honesty, Democratic Representative Al Green confessed in May: Im concerned that if we dont impeach this president, he will get reelected. A speeded-up removal of Trump could well prove cathartic for the still-traumatised Democrats. In the Quinnipiac survey, respondents split 56-36 on whether the impeachment advocates are motivated mainly by partisan politics or are reacting to facts. The perception of partisanship by Republicans and independents will ensure the Senate doesnt bend to their whim and the country is left even more polarised and bitter.

The establishment strikes back at the deplorables. Part 3: Impeachment

The whistleblowers complaint, made on 12 August, was based entirely on hearsay. The existing guidelines had said in bold, underlined, all-caps: FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED. After receiving the complaint, the intelligence community inspector-general (ICIG) revised the internal guidance to permit evidence that was not first-hand.

Relocating the United Nations (Valdai Discussion Club 10-10-19)

The United Nations is the worlds premier and its only universal international organization. It alone houses the divided fragments of humanity. But currently it faces a threat to the foundational principle of inclusivity. Its purpose-built headquarters was located in New York after theRockefeller family announced a donation of $8.5mn (worth $103mn in 2014) and the city contributed land along the East River and spent $23mn ($279mn in 2014 dollars) on constructions and improvements around the permanent site. On 14 December 1946, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to make New York the host city. The Headquarters Agreement signed in 1947 obligates...

The establishment strikes back at the deplorables. Part 2: The Ukraine connection

We come back to the Russia collusion narrative. A lot of it seems to have had Ukraine connections, so much so that Ukraine was Ground Zero of that story. The primary motive of the Poroshenko administration would have been to spike Trumps candidacy in order to prevent any rapprochement between the US and Russia. Apparently Ukrainians outside government have volunteered some information to the US Justice Department on this.

The establishment strikes back at the deplorables. Part 1: Impeach the MF

Fasten your seatbelts. With fresh revelations on almost a daily basis, we look set for convulsive politics over the coming weeks and months in the UK, the Mother of Parliaments, and in the US, the worlds most successful and powerful democracy, even while the worlds most successful and powerful non-democracy, China, grapples with its own protracted dilemmas in Hong Kong. At this stage it is hard to see happy endings in any of the three storylines, and that will have deleterious consequences for us all. But this four-part article is about the Anglo-American crisis of democracy.

PM Morrison tilts at UN windmill

During Scott Morrisons recent trip to the US, did the PM absorb some of Donald Trumps intellectual genius by a mysterious process of osmosis? How else are we to explain his incoherent, befuddled speech at the Lowy Institute on Thursday evening where he puffed up his own importance by running down the United Nations?

ANU ANWAR. How China is using tourists to realise its geopolitical goals (East Asia Forum 19-9-19)

Decades of astonishing economic growth have given China new tools for extending its influence abroad and achieving its political goals. Some of these tools are inducements, includingBelt and Road Initiativeprojects and new developmentfinancial institutions. But China has demonstrated that it will use its new economic leverage in pursuit of political goals unrelated to economic exchange, swiftly shifting inducements to punishments. One example lies in the field of tourism.

ROBERT REICH. Trump can do more damage than Nixon. His impeachment is imperative (Guardian 28-9-19)

Amid theimpeachment furor, dont lose sight of the renewed importance of protecting the integrity of the 2020 election.

DER SPIEGEL. Tension in the Middle East: The Groundwork Is Laid for a Vast New Conflict (25-9-19)

The attacks on the countrys two biggest oil facilities last month represent an unprecedented humiliation for the Saudis and The kingdom feels disgraced, angry and injured. It also became clear that the Saudis are certain who was behind the attack. The attack fits into the pressure against pressure strategy that Tehran has been taking against the U.S. since the spring.

ROBERT FISK. As Netanyahus Power in the Middle East Wanes, Trump Has to Find His Own Way to Deal with Iran (Counterpunch 24-9-19)

There is an extraordinary irony in the fate of bothBenjamin NetanyahuandIran. The first has been captaining theTitanic,in the words of one Israeli academic,through the past couple of days. The second a rather better captain, it might be said has been captaining a couple of tankers in and out of the Mediterranean and the Gulf.

EDOARDO CAMPANELLA. Back to Little England? (Project Syndicate 17-9-19)

Future historians may come to describe Brexit as the defining moment of a nationalist wave that swept away the postwar liberal international order. Yet their task will be complicated by the fact that Brexit is not, in fact, a manifestation ofBritishnationalism. To the contrary, it is precisely the lack of a proper British nationalism that has pushed the United Kingdom to the brink of disintegration.

WILLIAM LANGWIESCHE. What Really Brought Down the Boeing 737 Max?

Malfunctions caused two deadly crashes. But an industry that puts unprepared pilots in the cockpit is just as guilty. The New York Times investigates.

MARION BENNETT. Working together to end homelessness in Cairns

A new Mission Australia evaluation has highlighted that when people experiencing homelessness in Cairns have the support of strong, caring relationships and when services work collaboratively and seamlessly together, their standards of living and personal relationships improve, they feel safer and they are more positive about their future security.

RENUKA MAHADEVAN and ANDA NUGROHO. RCEP must move forward, with or without India (East Asia Forum 19-9-19)

As the international trading system grows increasingly strained under the escalating USChina trade dispute and theparalysis of WTO reform, many have eagerly called for the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by the end of 2019. TheASEAN-led initiativeis a mega regional free trade agreement (FTA) that was first launched in November 2012 and to date has seen 27 rounds of negotiations.

GEORGE MONBIOT. For the sake of life on Earth, we must put a limit on wealth (Guardian 19-9-19)

It is not quite true thatbehind every great fortune lies a great crime. Musicians and novelists, for example, can become extremely rich by giving other people pleasure. But it does appear to be universally true that in front of every great fortune lies a great crime. Immense wealth translates automatically into immense environmental impacts, regardless of the intentions of those who possess it. The very wealthy, almost as a matter of definition, arecommitting ecocide.

Justin Trudeau is trashing his own brand

Canadas PM Justin Trudeau is caught in a messy hypocrisy scandal, not a racism scandal. To be absolutely clear: Trudeau is not a racist, was never a racist and, in my judgment, has never behaved in a racist manner just deeply embarrassing. But he has given fresh ammunition to critics to reinforce the narrative that he is a dilettante playboy who lacks gravitas.

BILL MCKIBBEN. If the world ran on sun, it wouldnt fight over oil (Guardian 18-9-19)

We are sadly accustomed by now to the idea that our reliance on oil and gas causes random but predictable outbreaks of flood, firestorm and drought. The weekendsnews from theGulfis a grim reminder that depending on oil leads inevitably to war too.

BENEDICT SHEEHY. Bupas nursing home scandal is more evidence of a deep crisis in regulation (The Conversation 13-9-19)

British health-care conglomerate Bupa runs more nursing homes in Australia than anyone else. We now know its record in meeting basic standards of care is also worse than any other provider.

Nuclear arms treaty and umbrella states (Japan Times 12 Sep)

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan noted the nuclear emperor had no clothes: The only value in our two nations [United States and Soviet Union] possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely? Indeed it would. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons tries to do so through a new normative settling point on the ethics, legality and legitimacy of the bomb.

KEVIN RUDD. Australia destroys its own reputation in the Pacific (East Asia Forum 9-9-19)

The dust-up at the Pacific Islands Forum was not simply a zero-sum game between the Pacific and Australia over coal. While this may have been the tip of the spear, it went to a far deeper divide over climate and development assistance that has now dramatically been exposed and will continue to hamper Australias ability to Step Up regional engagement. Australia has so far only upset its friends, opened the door further to China, and trashed its global reputation.

RYAN MANUEL. The United Front Work Department and how it plays a part in the Gladys Liu controversy (ABC News 15-9-19)

Gladys Liu is in hot water over her alleged association with the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Yet no-one has alleged that Ms Liu herself, nor the Liberal Party she belongs to, holds any communist sympathies. Her association is with a body that is not in Hong Kong, where she was born, but rather in mainland China, and she hasn't been a member since 2015, well before entering.

MIKE WALLER.What Westminster system, Prime Minister

These core elements of the Westminster tradition are as important as they have ever been Scott Morrison Speech to IPAA When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said, it means just what I choose it to mean... The question is, said Alice, whether you can make words mean so many different things. The question is, said Humpty Dumpty, which is to be master thats all.Alice through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)

JOHN CASSIDY. Trumps Awful Middle East Policies Are Coming Back to Haunt Him (New Yorker 17-9-19)

Trumps in a pickle, and hes the one responsible for it. By needlessly reneging on the U.S.-Iranian nuclear deal and launching a sanctions campaign that amounts to economic warfare against Tehran, he has strengthened the Iranian hard-liners and further destabilized a region that was already in turmoil. By enabling Saudi Arabia in bombing Yemen and carrying out horrendous war crimes, he has contributed to a terrible humanitarian crisis...

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM. China Slaps Britain: You Cant Afford Hostility (Strategic Culture 13-9-19)

China gave Britain a stern warning this week that any naval maneuvers conducted with the US near its declared territories in the South China Sea will be met with a military response. BeijingrappedLondon further, telling it to dump its colonial attitude with regard to Hong Kong. However, the ultimate leverage, was the caustic reminder to Britain that if it wants to trade with China in the future, then it better mind its manners.

AMY VERDUN. What to Make of the Win of the AfD in Germany? (Australian Outlook 13-9-19

On 1 September 2019, the German far right-wing political party, Alternative fr Deutschland (AfD) had a historical win in state elections. It won 28 percent of the votes in Saxony and 24 percent of the votes in Brandenburg the state that surrounds Berlin gaining respectively 18 and 12 percentage points compared to the last elections that took place in 2014.

GEORGE FRIEDMAN. US Military Options in Iran (Geopolitical Futures 17-9-19)

The United States has openly accused Iran of being behind the drone and cruise missile attacks on Saudi Arabias largest oil refinery.

<