India's Challenge

Imagining post-election India
ND Batra
From The Statesman

India’s elections might seem a trivia pursuit to some observers in the West — just an exercise in ritualistic vote casting by 714 million voters driven by narrow considerations of caste and creed or, maybe, monetary benefits. It is true that most political parties, especially at the regional level, are not motivated by any big ideas or ideological agendas except to jockey for a piece of the pie when the post-election government formation begins to take shape. Neither of the two major national parties, the ruling Congress and the BJP, however, can be accused of having no ideology or lacking a political and economic platform; nevertheless, it is most unlikely that either of them would have a dominant position in Parliament after the election.

Localism and regionalism have been dominating Indian politics for several years and there is nothing particularly wrong with this state of affairs. National parties must reflect and accommodate regional needs and aspirations so that no one is left behind; but they cannot do so if they cast themselves up in ideological straitjackets. Even if a great national leader like Jawaharlal Nehru rises again, India would remain a country divided against itself, which would not necessarily be a disaster. In fact these divisions create opportunities for greater economic and political freedom; and experimentation. You can see the cultural differentiation between West Bengal and Gujarat. That is the beauty of the federal system. You can see how India’s culture of differentiation and the abiding spirit of free enterprise (the Gujarati-Marwari spirit) have been gradually transforming the country into a dynamic economy. In spite of the global slowdown, the economy is still likely to grow 6.5 per cent for the year ending March 2009 and according to Reserve Bank governor Duvvuri Subbarao, “India will be one of the countries that will recover fast.” About a decade ago, India reached the tipping point when economic growth became irreversible, regardless of who would govern the country.

After the post-election realignment of political forces when the new government takes office on 2 June, disciplined liberalisation of the economy ushered in by the Manmohan Singh government would continue. The need for steady economic growth and the role of the marketplace have begun to dominate thinking, which would subsume as well as transcend everything else including local and religious interests. More and more Indians have come to accept the view that the way to prosperity is through well-regulated banking and financial system, free marketplace economy and bold entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur seeks innovations, builds networks and breaks barriers, and in the process he enriches society as you can see it happening in India’s burgeoning health industry that has begun to draw global attention. In spite of Satyam and the global slowdown, India continues to excite the world’s imagination and investors keep exploring its possibilities. For many global investors India offers another avenue of growth and diversification where they can put their resources to alternative productive uses. Tata, Reliance, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro are not the only companies for which India has become famous. There is also the growing field of auto industry, biotechnology, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, where Indian companies have built international brand names. The global buzz that India is full of talented young people who can perform competitively in knowledge economy continues undiminished. Knowledge economy depends upon extracting and creating new knowledge from existing knowledge databases.

Although India is far from becoming a full-fledged knowledge economy, this is the trend. Other developing fields such as genetic engineering and high-tech healthcare will hasten the transformation of India in the next decades. But much more needs to be done to “go back to nine per cent... we need the world to recover fully. Private investment demand has to pick up”, said Mr Subbarao. One of the biggest hurdles for rapid economic growth in India is the red tape, which takes myriad forms such as expectations of under the table money; fear of the loss of bureaucratic power due to privatisation; and the fear of foreign direct investment.

The primary goal of rapid economic growth and its ultimate measure is poverty reduction by generating opportunities for employment, especially for the rural people, who mostly depend upon agriculture. Even today rural India is being held hostage to nature’s uncertainties.Technology can break nature’s stranglehold on poor farmers, many of whom have committed suicide. Most rural workers need to be absorbed into agro-industry, manufacturing and service industries; and that again will necessitate massive investment in building rural and urban infrastructure and upgrading the existing one.

Rising expectations at home and abroad would create compelling conditions for the new government, regardless of its ideology, to put its act together and become pro-active in anticipating crisis and solving problems. India has become an integral part of the globalised economy and the country has flourished on the synergy between multinational corporations and the ingenuity of its people for innovative solutions to complex problems. Ingenuity means transcending a system’s limitations by finding an alternative route to reach the same goal. When a creative and ingenious mind hits a block, he gets energised to find another way and improvise by transferring intelligence from one application to another.

The challenge is whether India’s ingenuity can be tapped to undertake collective action to build reliable highways, ports, railroads, power plants and airports speedily enough to handle future growth. Corruption is a serious problem in every society but more so in India. The source of corruption is the unchecked exercise of power. Elected officials can be removed, though one might say cynically, only to be replaced by another bunch of hoodlums. But democracies do have methods of dealing with corrupt people in high places.

Public accountability through the media, including television disclosures as well as social networks and blogs, is the key to fighting the menace. If laws are enforced rigorously, the corrupt will find their rightful place in jail. War against corruption and poverty will never come to an end but the media can play a great role in fighting the scourge through courageous reporting. It is the moral responsibility of leaders to create conditions that encourage risk-taking and reward entrepreneurship. It is only through free spirited and full-blooded entrepreneurship that the post-election India can meet the challenge of national, local and regional aspirations.

(ND Batra is Professor of Communications at Norwich University. He is taking time off from the weekly column “Cyber Age,” which he has been doing since 1995, to complete a book about the American spirit of ingenuity and innovation. He will be back with a new column of ideas soon after the book is done.)

Spying on Amricans

Why America spies upon Americans
From The Statesman
ND Batra
The Obama administration is keen to have a clean image at home and abroad. But spying is a dirty business and a necessary evil. The American spy outfit, the National Security Agency (NSA), is under scrutiny again for the right and wrong reasons, for example, that it over-spied and over-collected information on American citizens by tapping their private phone calls and e-mail messages and that its intelligence gathering activities went beyond the legal limits established by Congress last year.

Since NSA’s intelligence gathering is classified, no one exactly knows how much and what kind of excess the agency has committed and how much harm has been done to people’s privacy and civic liberties. Responding to the concern raised by The New York Times last week, the Justice Department promptly assured the public that it has taken steps to comply with the law and re-affirmed that it “takes its national security oversight responsibilities seriously and works diligently to ensure that surveillance under established legal authorities complies with the nation's laws, regulations and policies, including those designed to protect privacy interests and civil liberties." Times have changed. Americans are less ready to give the NSA the benefit of the doubt than they were a few years ago.

In 2008 Congress put stricter controls over the agency’s unbridled spying power that was given to it by George W. Bush after the 9/11 terrorists attacks. The NSA could still collect information by tapping e-mail and phone conversations without court warrants provided the target was believed to be outside the United States; but for domestic spying on suspects who might be collaborating with foreigners it must have the authority of the special court. But Congress did not ask the agency how it would distinguish between domestic and foreign communications as the digital stream passed through the telecommunication system. So the technology neutrality excuse could be used by unscrupulous agents to eavesdrop on domestic suspects for political reasons also.

Although Americans worry about the government agencies spying on them, Internet companies like Google, Yahoo, AOL and others automatically collect and archive huge amounts of personal data, which can be used to profile the behavior of the user. If a company accidently released search queries done by its users, digital crooks could profile the users. It would not be difficult to put together the profile of a web surfer Joe Doe, for example, and what’s preoccupying his mind. The questions a person asks and the searches he makes online reveal his mind. People quietly submit to whatever brings them a feeling of assuredness. Protests against intrusiveness by the government and businesses into their personal lives have become less vociferous.

People are being gradually pushed into a gentle non-obtrusive surveillance society not only to pre-empt terrorists and apprehend child molesters; but also for commercial and financial reasons.It is common knowledge that online surveillance devices are being increasingly used by businesses to track users. Tracking is done inconspicuously and the user can never suspect that he is being traced; nonetheless, the practice is questionable, especially when the website does not declare in its privacy policy. Cookies—small software programs the advertisers put on our hard drives to track where we surf so that they can customize the most appropriate advertising message for us to achieve target marketing, reaching the right person with right message—don’t seem to bother us. But you turn off cookies, though some websites won’t let a person search unless are cookies are allowed. On the other hand, a web bug, also called web beacon, can be programmed to collect whatever data is required without the knowledge of the user.

A web beacon can track whether a particular message, including junk mail, has been opened and acted upon or not. Any electronic image that is part of a web page, including a banner ad, can be programmed to act as a beacon and spy on the user. Search companies claim that the information enables them to personalize the surfing experience when a frequent user visits their portal. Similarly marketing companies use beacons to do demographic research on behalf of their clients, albeit they assert that no personally identifiable information gathered from the beacon research is shared with the clients. Users can opt-out, but most of them don’t know whether the option is available; nor do many of them pay attention to the privacy statement.

Surveillance technologies are not limited to Internet companies. Several companies are using biometrics, face recognition, radio frequency and global positioning system (GPS) technologies, to keep a watch on their properties and track suspects. Many car rental companies in the United States use GPS to keep track of their rental cars. If a car is stolen or is involved in an accident, the company would know the exact location of the car. GPS also enables them to check the speed of a rental car. Airports use digital fingerprint identification technology to conduct background checks with little protest from anyone. Face recognition technology is being extensively used not only in airports but also in ballparks, banks and other business establishments.

The US Customs and airports use body scanning machines to electronically scan a person for drugs, bombs and contrabands. A body scanner electronically scrutinizes a person and projects the image on the screen for examination without the person being asked to take her clothes off. Hundreds of air travelers, including women, are randomly subjected to electronic search.The radio-frequency identification tag (RFID) is another promising security technology, which is attached to a suspect’s baggage as he checks in. The tagged baggage is automatically routed to a security area where it is screened with special cameras and sensors for explosives and other hazardous materials.

Along with the baggage, in the future boarding passes too may have radio-frequency ID tags so that a suspect can be watched as he moves from one airport to another, from country to country via GPS. The only problem is that everyone is given the same treatment.

Both the government and corporate America have a common interest in keeping Americans under surveillance. They want to make their lives safer and better.
Although surveillance has not diminished American innovativeness, creativity and productivity, one does not know its long term effect.

India goes to election

Reflections on India at election time
ND Batra
Fromg The Statesman

The public trust in leaders in India is limited by their parties’ narrow-minded regional-and-caste based ideologies, rampant corruption and unscrupulous opportunism despite their occasional Madison Avenue style public relations image-building. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, of the 1,425 candidates 222 have criminal records, including “charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion,” and other heinous crimes. The scars and burns of the Gujarat communal massacre in 2002 and the mass killings of poor helpless Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 are still seared into people’s visual memories.

Thanks to television and global media, we saw how ugly and inhuman people can become at times and felt ashamed of ourselves. This is what the media revolution does to a democratic society like India. It never lets you forget the past and it also fuels the desire for change at a rapid pace.

Dr N Bhaskara Rao, writing for the Center for Media Studies, observed that “in the last fortnight of March 2009 there were more than a dozen instances from around the country that we saw news channels showing cash in large volumes being transported or distributed by political leaders in the context of the Lok Sabha poll.” Although this kind of anecdotal observation needs to be vetted by empirically verifiable evidence, perception is reality in the public mind.

While the Internet makes India global, it is television that mirrors the actual realities and can uncover hidden problems including corruption and criminality. Television gives everyone easy access to information and even the most complex topic has to be simplified into terse statements, sound bites and visual moments. Television turns the abstract into the concrete and the visual. It can make corruption and injustice visible.

An uneducated worker or a farmer can easily understand what is happening; and given the Indian habit of building quick grapevine communication, eventually every topic ends up in political discussion, and into the voting booth. So when television shows some parts of India clean and bright, naturally the voters, the urban and rural poor, may ask, what about us, the slumdogs?

With cell-phone cameras everywhere, every “note for vote,” to borrow Dr Rao’s phrase, can be captured for the 24/7 television.

It is legitimate for a farmer on the verge of suicide to ask the question: How can you leave us behind? Trickle down economy has not been good enough even for the United States; but for India the economic growth must reach every nook and cranny, the lowly and the humble, the rag pickers of Dharavi-Mumbai and the rat eaters, Musahars, of Bihar.

I regard it as an assertion of the people’s right for equal access and equal opportunity to share the good life that one sees on television, soap operas and commercials. In other words, the pace of economy cannot be slowed down; rather it has to quicken to meet the rising aspirations created by television news media in India.

Since globalisation, privatisation and free market have begun to create more jobs, there’s no reason why any government, communist or otherwise, could afford to oppose the trend and still stay in power. On the contrary, one sees a growing trend in various states in India for generating competitive advantages to attract direct foreign investments and collaboration.

I have always wondered why Bengal lost Tata’s Nano, the little beautiful car which has become part of the global chatter. Competition: This is the global paradigm shift that Indians must understand. So if Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai rise, can Ahmedabad with Nano in its workshop remain far behind?

In a competitive environment of the free marketplace, the states, communists or communalists, have to position themselves to attract private investments and encourage entrepreneurship. Information technology industry in India has reached a critical mass and in spite of the Satyam scandal it will continue growing.

But India needs balanced development, including massive emphasis on agriculture and rural development to spread wealth and reduce disparities.

This is not to minimise the importance of information technology as an engine of economic growth. The change of government will not adversely affect the information technology base and the trust that Indian knowledge workers have been building for more than a decade. The Satyam hiccup would not change the fundamentals that India is a reliable source of off-shoring for major companies like General Electric, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and others, who value India’s knowledge workforce.

One can say with confidence that the technology sector will continue to receive the excellent support that it has been receiving regarding infrastructure and developmental policies. ITs foreign collaborators and partners need not have any concern. In fact, whatever party or coalition comes to power in New Delhi, it will certainly make all-out efforts to ensure a growth-friendly environment to attract foreign investment. But at the same time we should keep in mind that since not everyone can go to IIT or IIM, jobs off-shored to India from the United States and Europe would play a marginal role in lifting people out of poverty and raising them into the growing middle-class. There has to be something else, something much more dynamic like the rise of millions of cell-technology mobile small entrepreneurs who can grow like giants.
The next leadership must forge millions of levers to lift India out of poverty.
This much I know that once again India’s millions of electorate will regretfully affirm that the age of giants, those larger-than-life men and women ~ Jawaharlal Nehru (Tryst with destiny), Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Integration of states) and Indira Gandhi (Liberation of Bangladesh, accession of Sikkim, bank nationalisation that has protected India from the global financial crisis today) ~ is over forever.

Nonetheless, Dr Manmohan Singh has been good enough for the country. He has kept the hurly-burly political alliance together for five years, persuaded the country to accept the path-breaking nuclear deal with the United States, braved the Mumbai terrorist attack, and on the top of it, he has managed to keep up the average economic growth around 8 percent. Now it is the age of exploration of space, outer space, rural space and cyberspace, for which India needs bravehearts, men and women with courage, integrity and imagination.

Song of Tagore

Thou Hast Made Me Endless

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941 AD) the Nobel Laureate of 1913 was introduced to the West primarily through the collection of English translation of some of his poems/songs captioned as ‘Gitanjali’ (=Offering of Songs).More translations of his works followed by the poet himself and others after he had won the Nobel, including poems/songs, dramas, short stories etc. However, such efforts were sporadic and sluggish, mostly on individual initiative, which still remain so.As a result, a vast volume of the poet’s works remains un-translated while, it appears, it is an impossible proposition to translate even a substantial part of the poet’s total works to permit those, not privileged by the knowledge of Bengali language, a reasonably broad view of his myriad creations where unfathomable perceptional depth of top grade aesthetics runs through, literally true to his song “Thou hast made me endless / Such is Thy pleasure”.Notwithstanding this, an upsurge of Tagore translation took place in the last decade of the twentieth century by virtue of a good number of eminent poets/translators e.g. William Radice, Joe Winter, Ketaki Kushari Dyson, to name a few, all of whom left their valuable contribution to this oeuvre and my book
THE ECLIPSED SUN is a modest addition to this. I have put stress on a few aspects of the poet’s works, particularly those in his twilight years, which seemed to me quite inadequately covered so far. The followings are presented mostly based on this book. RAJAT DAS GUPTA: Calcutta: e-mail: rajatdasgupta@yahoo.com & dasguptarajat@hotmail.com
Rabindra Sangeet – Songs of Rabindranath Tagore: (Part 2) – 6 samplesTranslator’s note: The songs of Rabindranath Tagore are known as Rabindrasangeet which number approx. 2500. It is no exaggeration to say that Rabindrasangeet has explored every corner of human emotion and perception to give them best possible expression. Their philosophical depth also is unparalleled in the music world. It may be claimed, Rabindrasangeet has climaxed wording of the ineffable in literature of all time. Anybody not knowing Bengali definitely miss this aesthetic treasure. A translation can at best explain the central idea of a song, but cannot surface the wonderful matching of music with the original poesy so intimate with its philosophical/spiritual canvas. Unfortunately, therefore, the best of Rabindrasangeet, with all its humanistic appeal of highest order, will remain confined within the Bengali circle. It may be possible, some highly talented musicians endowed with literary command also, will emerge with versions of Rabindrasangeet in other languages, equally appealing. Such experiment in Hindi has not been disappointing and has gained popularity. Hindi is of course quite close to Bengali which must have been a contributory factor to such success. But the Western languages are likely to pose insurmountable challenge to any such effort. While hoping that some highly talented musicians will some day perform this magic of perfect cloning of Rabindrasangeet even in the Western languages, a sensible suggestion in the meantime appears to be to keep its translation handy while the Westerners (and in general all not having access to Bengali) will give their ear to the original Bengali song and try to perceive its import. Those knowing Bengali can only sympathize those not so privileged for such a plight in their struggle to enjoy a song! Below appears translations of some Rabindrasangeets, with a few initial lines of the original Bengali given in Roman script to enable the listeners to relate the translation to the song.Amra dujana swarga khelana garibo na dharanite
Mugdho lalito asrugalito geete
………………………………………….
………………………………………….
[Notes: The song was composed in early thirties of 20th Century, presumably dedicated to the great revolutionary Jatindra Mohan Sengupta and his foreign (Irish, I guess) wife Nellie Sengupta, who had worked shoulder to shoulder with her husband in the freedom struggle for India. In 1932, on his return voyage from Europe, Jatindra was arrested by the British police near Bombay. He was since interned and eventually breathed his last on 22 July 1933 at Ranchi (in Eastern India). Many a couple dedicated to freedom struggle had similar plight at that time and, naturally we may assume, this song was directed to them all. Yet, its appeal extends universally, beyond a particular milieu, to all the couple whose objective is far beyond a mere happy family life to respond to the cause of service of the people at large.]

To compose the toy of heaven
Is not our aim craven –
In emotional songs occult
The nuptial night to exalt
In nostalgic charm
With a heart infirm
To beg at Fate’s feet
All our imploring to meet –
Is not for us intrepid
Both standing firm in our daring bid.

The banner of love we’ll hoist high
Along craggy path our perilous mission to vie;
The distress of the cruel day
Overwhelm us may;
Yet, for peace to languish
Or consolation we’ll not wish.
If the radar is broke, the sail torn,
To us this will be ever known,
That both of us are there
Even when Death at us will stare.

Both of us to vision the Earth there
And each other;
The desert heat to bear
Not to rush for the mirage mere
Evading truth to self beguile
This glory be ours all the while;
This message oh dearest
Be our heart’s closest –
Till we die
That you’re there; so am I.

* * * * * * * * * * * ** ** *
Tumi hatath haway bheshe asha dhan
Tai hatath paoyae chamke othe mon
…………………………………….
……………………………………..
[Note: God’s revelation to us is off and on in course of our life, without notice or ritualistic processes, but even through the simplest objects of Nature if we keep our perceptions open.]

Thou art my treasure windfall
So my mind does startle.
On my secret travel
Thy abrupt reveal I marvel –
In the wind fragrant
On Thy fancies errant.

Daily as we come and go
Each other we do not know;
Kicking up dust visit many
To convey message hardly any;
All of a sudden Thy flute yonder
Alerts the lost passenger.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * *
Tomar holo shuru, amar holo shara
Tomay amay mile emni bahe dhara
…………………………………….
…………………………………….

[Note: Among the Hindu gods, Vishnu is the protector of Creation while e Shiva is for its destruction. One will agree, concepts of Vishnu and Shiva are more philosophical, rather than religious, to perceive this dual faces of Existence. This song brings out this very philosophical perception.]

You set out as I end;
Such a stream founts as we blend.
For you the light does glitter,
At home with mate you are.
For me is the night,
The stars above only I sight.
You have the shore,
For me the seas roar.
You have station,
Mine is motion.
You preserve, I undo,
You fear, I brave in lieu.

* * * * * * * * * * * * **
Bhenge mor gharer chabi niye jabi ke amare, Bandhu amar
Na paye tomar dekha aka aka din je amar kate nare
…………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………….
[Note: While we are confined to the narrow limits of our life, we pine for a bigger significance of our existence beyond our mundane boundaries. This song wonderfully brings out the distress of the human soul seeking exit beyond its confinement and, in the case of the Poet, I believe the eternal Truth is his quest.]

Who’ll break loose oh
My room’s lock for my bondage to go,
That from me does fend
Thou, oh my friend!
Without Thy sight
Lone days are my plight.
Is the night over
The Sun soon to appear
At the horizon Eastern
My rescue to earn;
By the long road ahead
Thy chariot to my door will be led?
In the sky stars countless
Stare at me blink less
Awaiting the dawn
With Thy floodlight to be gone.
The travelers in the morning
All come amidst din;
Pass their pageants with music
Thy glory to seek
In the flowers blooming
Tunes struck by the Sun’s golden string.

* * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * ** **
Charanrekha tabo je pathe dile lekhi
Chinnha aji tari apani ghuchale ki
…………………………………
………………………………
[Note: Everything beautiful in our life is only transitory. Yet. the Poet’s conviction is that only the eternal Truth manifests in these temporal.]

On the path Thou left Thy footprints
To-day to blot out all its hints.
Pollens of Ashoka (*) rendered Thy dust crimson (*= tree)
Only to be lost in the grass on Thy lawn.
Ends flowering,
Birds forget to sing;
The southern wind ceases
Oblivious, self-forfeits as it pleases.
Yet, the Immortal did they not carry,
In death will end its memory?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He nutan dakha dik arbar
Janmero prathama subhakshan
……………………………….

[Note: There has been a boom of celebration of birthday parties of young and adults alike in the Western style even in our country with the trite song ‘Happy birthday to you …..etc.’ preceded by the ritual of cutting/eating of delicious birthday cakes to be followed by sumptuous dishes and, of course, the incumbents are flooded with costly gifts from their guests. Thus, the birthday parties do provide plenty of enjoyment. However, it may be interesting to compare this ethos with that which pervades the whole of Bengal during the Kabi Paksha (Poet’s fortnight) which starts on the 25th day of Baisakh (this month in the Bengali calendar synchronizes with the mid April to mid May period), the birthday of the Poet, when the entire clime here is inundated with Tagore’s songs/recitals etc. in various functions taking us deep into the perception of Creation’s mystery, which we badly miss in our said birthday rituals which, one may feel, are in utter mediocrity once one has experienced the ecstasy and philosophical height in Kabi Paksha. Out of many other recitals relevant to the profundity of ‘birthday’ the following song is sure to be heard on this occasion ]

O Ever New, may Thee reappear
Through Life’s holy primal hour;
With the mist torn
Like Sun be Thy manifestation.
From the midst of inane
Thy victory be over its bane.
Let be hailed by Thy glow
And my heart’s trumpet blow;
Music of Life’s marvel
Infinity’s eternal wonder to reveal;
The clarion call to the Ever New be sent
At the advent
Of Baisakh the twenty fifth
For its un-blighting gift.

Obama and Afghanistan

Obama’s War
Milton Bearden writes in Foreign Affairs:
“Since the United States first dispatched troops to Afghanistan in October 2001, the war in Afghanistan has been an orphan of U.S. policy. But with the release last week of a revamped U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, the conflict has, by default, become Barack Obama's war.”
Read the full article …

Obama as global shepherd

President as global shepherd

ND Batra
From The Statesman

Reflecting on the G-20 meeting in London, it would appear that world leaders of the most powerful economies had succeeded in realising that concerted action was needed to halt the precipitous global economic slide and begin taking concrete steps to effect global recovery, regardless of the primary source of the trouble; which of course everyone knows started with the United States banking system’s disastrous financial innovations like sub-prime lending, credit default swaps, liar’s loans, et cetera.

Although the time for finger pointing and mutual recriminations, as some Asian and European leaders had been doing earlier, seemed to be over, the contentious issue was what would work the best to lift all boats, for example, whether to inject fiscal stimulus to let credit flow again and kick start the recovery or to erect regulatory frame work to control Wall Street’s rapacious capitalism. That was the great Atlantic divide the G-20 communiqué tried to bridge with rhetorical flourishes such as “The era of banking secrecy is over.” Much credit is being given to President Barack Obama for parlaying his well-honed campaign-style charm offensive into global diplomacy, which certainly is true.

Wherever Mr Obama and his graceful lovely wife Michelle Obama went, they won people’s hearts and minds. Through their grand symbolic gestures, eloquent speeches and transparent smiles, America seemed to be refurbishing its image sullied by the Iraq war and the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

But no less could be said of other leaders also including the powerful European duo, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Markel Angela of Germany, who asserted that the Anglo-Saxon form of unbridled marketplace capitalism is dangerous for the new world order, especially now when the global economy has become so integrated that a single Wall Street investment bank failure could cause worldwide financial tsunami. The world just cannot leave the United States to its own financial devices, however innovative they may be.

With Prime Minister Gordon Brown, like his predecessor Tony Blaire, being secure in the American safe haven of “special relationship,” the new Europe is essentially a Franco-German Europe. And in the ultimate analysis, French and German leaders prevailed in their views that mandatory stimulus spending by individual countries as the US and the UK have been insisting, would not work without a global regulatory structure.

Although China and Russia, prior to the Summit, made lot of noise about creating a new global currency under the tutelage of the IMF, they had no takers. As Nobel economist Paul Krugman said in his New York column, China is in a dollar trap. The IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is a convertible mechanism based on a basket of currencies including the dollar, pound, euro and Japanese yen. Nothing should worry China more than the value of the dollar, whose collapse will wipe out China’s massive, rather frightening, foreign exchange reserves.

China and other developing countries have to determine the optimum level of foreign exchange reserves beyond which the accumulation becomes more of a liability than an asset. China’s excessive dependence upon exports and obscene accumulation of foreign exchange reserves is as much responsible for global financial crisis as the US fraudulent and criminal lending practices.

China and the United States have let down the world, but Mr Obama would not say so much so bluntly. Measured as he is always in his public utterances, Mr Obama said in his post-Summit radio-Internet address: “Ultimately, the only way out of a recession that is global in scope is with a response that is global in coordination.” In broad terms, there was an agreement that banks need to start lending again in order to stimulate growth and generate jobs, but Europeans were unsure about the wisdom of infusing their economies with massive multi-billion dollar stimulus packages, the kind of seemingly bold steps that the Obama administration has announced, for example, to buy toxic bank assets and shore up their finances so that they start lending again.

European leaders see the global crisis primarily as a consequence of lack of financial controls and most of the G-20 communiqué is about establishing the regulatory framework, including the closure of tax havens (Switzerland, Hong Kong, Macao, Mauritius, for example) and close supervision of hedge funds and private equity firms. But it was the eye-catching amount of $1.1 trillion through the IMF and World Bank in loans and guarantees to help developing countries, who have been badly affected by economic downturn, that answered the question, Where is the beef? “The whole world has been touched by this devastating downturn, and today, the world’s leaders have responded with an unprecedented set of comprehensive and coordinated actions,” said Mr Obama, calling the agreement “a turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery.” The market responded to his optimism with a surge and the Dow closed over 8,000 in spite of the increasing US unemployment figures. Looking from a glass half-full half-empty perspective, the Obama stimulus package for the global economy through domestic spending, which was rejected by the Europeans, might be seen as being funneled though the International Monetary Fund ~ in spite of the IMF’s dubious reputation of being an organisation whose actions in the past, some believe, have caused more harm than good to the recipients of its loans. But beggars have no choice.

Although Mr Obama’s all embracing inclusive diplomacy shepherded the G-20 Summit superbly, it was essentially an European theatrical performance. The so-called BRIC countries were seen but not heard much.

(ND Batra teaches communications and diplomacy at Norwich University)