Session - "Why the Americas Matter" at Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru Memorial Lectures 2025

0:11 good morning everyone we begin with our sixth in-house technical session titled why the Americas matter very hot topic of the day uh Dr Arin Professor arind Kumar would be chairing the session uh Professor Kumar is uh teaching in the United States uh uh studies at the center for uh Canadian US and Latin American studies sis before joining uh juu Professor Kumar was associated with AA and nias he's also the founder of geopolitics and international relations department at manipal thank you welcome sir thank you very much uh good morning my colleagues and dear students uh this is perhaps uh very important for us to in fact sit in the

0:57 morning and discuss something which is very very uh not only geopolitically important but also it uh encompasses the larger aspects of the Contemporary debate on international relations so let me at the outset compliment the organizer for inviting me and thinking of such a nice topic because this is uh very right time from India's point of view why uh the americaas matter I think this is something I think if you go to the Genesis of the origin of international res Department I think you will find a lot of these semblance with the contributions made by the US in particular usually what we know about the the Genesis of ir department or IR as a discipline happened only after the Advent of Nar weapons and in that context it really has gained salience

1:44 largely in the context of the larger contributions made by the United States in particular and try to understand about uh the challenges and uh obviously uh how best we can see or view the world from India's point of view so we have a very good panel today morning and all of you know about the panel but let me in fact introduce very briefly about the panel uh each of the speaker will speak for around 10 minutes 10 to 12 minutes because we have four speakers in this panel and obviously we have only one hour with us we would like to have at least 10 minutes for Q&A uh the first speaker is Dr binit Pras he is my colleague at the center for Canadian US and L American studies he teaches us studies and his area of Interest lies in the broad cont of India

2:30 us relations he also has been working on nuclear energy Global environmental issues and international trade so vinit you will be speaking for around 10 minutes we have Dr P KAS who again is my colleague at the center and she is currently associate professor and teaches Latin American studies and her area of research again is wide encompassing it really includes uh the concept of federalism comperative governments environmental politics foreign policy political economy so I think C has been contributing significantly in the Latin American Division we have Dr SN vhat again one of the colleagues of mine at the center and she is assistent professor at the Canadian studies division she teaches Canada in particular very interesting reason right now and C has previously

3:18 Tau the University of Delhi C has also published research articles on ethnic politics diaspora studies and many other areas of inter relations we have a college from W studies Dr SEMA bedya all of you know her she is a faculty at the center of Center for w studies and she's the author of uh books decent in the land of Arab and postrevolutionary Iran's State Behavior Uh towards India Pakistan and China it's a very long title uh title of the book uh C speaks German she is multilingual she speaks German French Spanish and little bit Italian so we very glad to in fact have you in this panel and hear from you

4:03 about why the America is matter I think it's very significant for us to know maybe a perspective from West Asia so this is what our panel is all about and we'll start this uh from Dr Vin prash first and then we'll go through the name whatever has men in the program over to you Dr vinit good morning everyone uh so let's kick uh kickart this thing so what we what I'm going to talk about is Why Us matters that is the theme which has been decided

4:57 and now this is one question which is already there on everyone's mind because there's been a lot of talk a lot of Buzz go ahead go ahead a lot of buz around uh whether America as a power is in Decline and uh uh also there's a lot of talk about other challenges International politics to American power for example the rise of China uh although China is still very far away from being a challenger but definitely that uh Buzz is definitely around so uh there's also a lot of talk around uh potential conflicts in the future for

5:44 example arising China coming into uh clashing into clashing with us uh heimy at some point of time uh going forward so we are also seeing uh realignment of global power equations for example China and Russia coming together North Korea and Iran also aligning with these two countries in the ongoing Global uh conflicts which are there uh for example Ukraine so all of these make it for a very interesting discussion and what I would do is I would highlight some broad Trends in American engagement with the rest of the world to Fathom whether

6:30 what we talking about is actually happen or to what extent it is actually happening so what makes it even more interesting is the fact that Trump is at the helm of Affairs in United States and he has a very unconventional approach to everything including foreign policy so that is something which makes all this very interesting and this discussion more uh thought provoking so what I've done I've have divided uh the presentation into two parts we look at first the economy and then the security part of it and try to see whether American power is actually in Decline uh on both these fronts and then

7:17 I also take a look at uh us soft power so these are the three areas which I you I have picked for today's presentation now speaking of the economy uh us economy is still the strongest economy in the world uh it stands close to as for the latest figures close to $30 trillion in comparison China is uh a far not very far behind but definitely a third of what 2/3 of what US economies is China is roughly close to $0 trillion and in comparison other economies which would be falling behind China would be uh Germany close to around $4.5 trillion Japan again similar range and India somewhere close to $4

8:02 trillion so China if you look at uh the absolute numbers is definitely uh has caught up with us in terms of economy economy uh in the last 20 years but still it is far behind and why I would say this is the fact that uh in terms of per capita GDP where us is somewhere close to uh uh China would be roughly a fourth of where us is right now in terms of 1/4th of where us is right now in terms of per capita GDP so that shows that uh although China is improving in terms of its military strength but us is definitely far ahead of China then

8:49 there's a lot of talk about uh dollarization especially arising from bricks Nations like Russia and uh China again that is something which is uh uh not immediately on the horizon uh as we all know the strength of dollar is rising as we go forward uh and uh uh we all can see that that the Indian rupe has been declining just to take one comparative example so this indicates that uh or in fact all the global currencies they have been uh weakening against the dollar so dollar is strong and the reason that dollar is strong is the fact that US economy is strong so the strength of the dollar is derived from the strength of the US

9:35 economy so uh where uh America or uh like there's been a lot of talk around decline of manufacturing in United States especially uh by the Trump camp and his Maga supporters but that has been compensated for growth of US economy in other sectors for example technology and uh uh uh highend services so although manufacturing has declined but on the whole if you look at it then the US economy has gained in strength especially because of its uh advantages and progress in technology and other high-end services for example Chinese are still doing the catching up game in

10:21 the uh in the space of artificial intelligence and uh most of the high-end technology is still originating from us and uh dominated by us so this shows or these this data shows that America in terms of economy is still a strong country the same can be said about security also in terms of military strength us is still the leading power and uh what I would use to premise my claim on this is the spending on Military which different countries do so American spending on Military is close to $900 billion in comparison China is roughly 1/4 close to 2.6 billion uh

11:08 sorry $260 billion and other challenges for example Russia Russia is spending around roughly $1 126 billion and India of course is even far behind somewhere close to 885 billion so simply on the sheer strength of military uh spending uh we can make out that us has more uh uh flexibility to improve its military to improve its military strength and to claim that America or American strength is in Decline and others are in a position to challenge American Military superiority would not be uh uh would not be correct now all this

11:56 is made possible apart from the fact uh uh all this is made possible because of American economic strength because you need money to build your military and the techn uh the press in terms of technology which America has so these are the two things which make up for uh or which provide the basis for American Military superiority where America lacks in I'm sorry uh we have two minutes okay so where America Lacks is in terms of military strength uh is the capability or capacity to put boots on the ground so we have seen that there's a lot of resistance when it comes to America

12:41 sending its uh troops abroad so that is one thing where America would find itself being challenged when it comes to dealing with uh Global Security situ situations now the third thing which I started with uh would be American soft power so here also us has a very clear advantage and its competitors for example China and Russia would be far behind now I frequently ask my students in class how many of you have seen a Russian movie or a Chinese movie in the past one year and then if you ask how many of you have seen American movie so that clearly is an indication of the popularity of American culture American food American

13:27 uh way of dressing and uh uh which country people want to go to seek education for to not definitely not Russia or China people want to go to us so the popularity which us enjoys uh in the rest of the world in terms of its softar capabilities so that is something I'll just take two more minutes right so that is something which indicates towards the strength of America in World Politics as such besides the its economic power and its uh military power now one area where I see America uh lacking in uh uh its uh Global Leadership would be dealing with

14:14 global challenges for example American uh reluctance especially under Donald Trump to deal with uh issues like climate change uh now finally I'd come to uh how it is going to be like under Donald Trump now Trump and his agenda of making America great so his methods and what he's going to achieve out of those methods so there I see a certain contradiction so I'll uh mention just briefly for example his position on immigration his position on tariffs uh his uh uh his stand on withdrawing us from wh is cutting down

15:02 on us Aid all these are going to cumulatively uh erode American power so what Trump has set out him to do is make America great again that is his claim or that is his agenda but my contention or which the thought which I would like to leave you people with would be that actually uh the action or uh the cumulative effect of all these actions would be uh eroding American position American strength and uh in World politics so that is where I would like to leave you to thank you thank you thank you very much uh Dr vinit he brought out a lot of salient

15:47 points despite all the challenges us still contribute significantly in the overall volume of the GDP of the global economy and also its prise in innovation research and development the Science and Technology Supremacy but at the same time one really is experiencing a different Us in the current context for the simple reason that the level of us engagement with the world has really been changing the ability to set the agenda for the world that ability also has been changing because the US certainly has been looking for other countries across the globe especially in the context of setting the agenda Global governance system that is obviously questionable their dominance across

16:33 Global Spectrum that is again being debated Global financial institutions that again is being debated so I think a lot of things again as a scholar of I I think all of you have to read about this Global governance systems how the US really has been faing Global financial institutions both IMF and the World Bank how these are being debated right now and that is how the concept of dation which Dr B brought out very nicely I think is something which the US really has been thinking and thinking so we have POS of time now I will request my other colleague Dr P kasap to make her presentation Madam 10 minutes please I begin with and based on these premise then I move on looking at I'll

17:21 because of positive of time I'll quickly come to where Latin America stands in IR if we look at IR in Latin America it was always influenced by the Anglo-Saxon theoretical and methodological Reflections and mainstream IR has paid little attention to the rich theoretical contributions of Latin American Scholars and here I would like to uh cite Kenneth Walts and just one line I'll quote it would be as ridiculous to construct a theory of international politics based on Malaysia and Costa Rica as it would be to construct an economic theory of oligopolist istic competition based on the minor firms in a sector of the economy so from here then I try to bring

18:07 in how why Latin America matters now when power is dis redistributed or when we decide the whether a country is great par small par middle par there are theories about par trans transitions that focus on major pars blatantly ignoring states in the peripheries Latin American approaches to World politics that helps us understand how peripheral states can navigate par transitions they accentuate the importance of grasping the agency to ascend to less peripheral position I'm not saying they come to the mainstream but they come to the what um no it is often called the semi peripheral position the concept of international insertion in Latin American theories offers a nuanced understanding of how

18:55 the periphery behaves and the steps of inser ion and recognition they often you know uh they reflect uh why transition towards mid systems or improved status positions within region and per U you know uh Global hierarchies have occurred and often without you know Bloodshed or violence sorry so uh I would like to here put a few contributions of Latin America's Latin America to the understanding of international relations and I have highlighted a few there may be many but these are the important and crucial ones this is the first is the international relation of

19:41 inclusion autonomy the South South vision multilateralism and the important thing here is to note that it's multilateralism of reciprocity principl pragmatism and peripheral realism so these are the some of the theories which Latin America has contributed to the world and here I would just like to uh just cite a few of the important thinkers of Latin America I begin by mayor shimer he underscores the importance of considering the regional context in foreign policy analysis and different regions have unique historical experiences serious threats and economic goals that shape their foreign policy priorities and Latin American Scholars

20:27 have stepped in and they have constructed their model of foreign policy analysis and here I'm going to name two thinkers um ELO kuag rbe and Carlos pu both of them they sought to mitigate the dependency challenges faced by their countries and they played pivotal role in shaping the autonomous tradition within Latin American international relations and we have seen how they have been invoked and cited when when uh uh there were ex uh the progressive cycles of leftwing governments in both their countries so U namely Brazil and Argentina and their ideas both huar rbe and puja's ideas were tangibly shaping

21:13 the respective National government's so-called Grand strategies and the other thinker who's worth looking at is eraldo Munos eraldo Munos talks about Latin American foreign policies based on three factors the desire to maximize National and Regional autonomy the need to promote development and The crucial importance of the United States in the development of the region from here I'll digress a little bit because I cannot say that Latin America leads in Eon economic or military terms but there are other factors which make it important and I'm now like uh going to bring about how it has contributed to International

21:58 political economy if you look at the Latin American International political economy it you know there's a misnomer that we went by the West theories but it developed much before it developed in the Anglo-Saxon world and we have seen Latin American thinkers rul prish selo Fado cardoso dos Santos how they have offered unique perspective on International political economy and there are two important theories which have shaped the inter International political economy Theory one is the EAC prish Center periphery Paradigm and the second is the Dependency Theory I'm just skipping I'm going fast because I have a lot to cover so just going briefly to look at country-wise analysis and I am

22:44 not saying that these foreign policy concepts are exclusive to these countries but I've just tried to sort of highlight that these are the important paradigms and the considerations in these countries so if we look at Argentina you know Carlos escude the foreign Pol he says the foreign policy of a weak Nation must have a low profile to avoid confrontation with a strong State and they have a strong state in the neighborhood so this is called peripheral realism or realismo peripheric Bolivia is exceptional because it's a it it in its name there is a plri nationality it's a purri national Republic of Bolivia so you know uh factoring in the heterogenity of

23:32 population that's always there then they have a very unique concept called bu and viir and I'm going to come to that later Brazil uh emphasizes on autonomy and multilateralism of reciprocity and Lula has a lot to you know contribute to this and I'm here citing Amad servvo Brazil's foreign policy can be explained by its historical trajectory and richness of Natural Resources so this is how its foreign policy has been shaped if we look at Chile we know about the Chicago boys and therefore the Chilean approach has been liberal political economy approach if you look at Mexico and because of the fact that it has always had a huge substantial neighbor it

24:17 always believed in principal pragmatism and this is also known as the okeda formula which suggests that the United States might tolerate Mexican descent on issues important to Mexico so long as they do not challenge The Core US interests and then I have cited Rafael vases so let us just move to what is principal pragmatism I will just skip this what what is principal pragmatism for Latin America the First and the foremost consideration because us has always been there to show autonomy Vis A V Washington to promote cooperation and solidarity in the region because you know they are small entities they are small countries together they have to

25:03 you know counter larger forces larger pars so only one minute now oh okay now to promote National interest and National Security to appease the domestic groups and to solve Financial upheavals so what are the Latin American success stories and these are very importantly three or four from the last decade of the 1980s to showing resilience even during the great financial crisis when most of United States and Europe was battling grappling with uh uh bad economies Latin America resisted they were not affected as much foreign investments pouring in after the end of the Cold War us withdrew and there was a vacuum and China was smart

25:48 it moved in so the Investments are not less in Latin America and if you look at by and large democra democracy in practice of course baring occasional attempts to disruptions but election is still the norm therefore uh if uh what I'll just say that what are the limits to reach of Latin America in the practice of ir the United States factor a permanent influence most Latin American nations have a presidential system and the presidentials become the presidents become so powerful that they border into hyper presidentialism they ignore uh constitutional limits social polarization corruption and violence these are always there economically most of them are developing countries none of

26:34 them are developed so that is another factor and then they have bureaucratic limitations and capacity con constraints in foreign policy except of course Brazil therefore I would end by saying Latin America does matter it is a significant player in the global economy it has vast reserves of critical minerals the lithium triangle is there you know biofuel Gasol everything it is the leader a left that is pink and it's a progressive left environmental best practices and Sophia is here Costa Rica has zero emission Net Zero emission it's a leader in environmental practices populism which is a different variant in Latin America and a region which practices Democratic development and

27:20 respect for human rights I'll rest my case different level so I think it certainly has a lot of contribution in terms of not only understanding a but also involving certain set of patterns now Brazil is in the Forefront in terms of talking about theorization that is something which is obviously challenging the United States money in the economic sphere so very nicely you have put from all the theortical perspective and the larger issues which really come before La America because of their political system and various other engagement but I think many of the states still remain in periphery and you already have out because of their size and their influence and they certainly are not part of the globality now let me move to my other

28:07 colleague here Dr she is going to speak on why Canada matters thank you sir uh good morning to all um it's my privilege to stand before you today and share my views on why Canada matters so um very quickly I'll I'll deal with the four key areas uh specifically uh the economic and trade influence diplomatic and security landscape environmental sustainability and Innovation and culture and social leadership and at the end I I'll just quickly tell about the key challenges which Canada is facing in the time of This Global uncertainty so uh in this rapid uh era of globalization economic shifts and environmental challenges Canada plays a significant role in

28:52 shaping global global policies economies security and Innovation from its vast natural resources to its uh commitment to diplomacy trade and sustainability Canada's influence extends far beyond its border uh Canada is 10th largest um uh I mean um economy in the world with a GDP over $2 trillion it is a global Powerhouse in trade finance and Innovation Canada has third largest proven oil reserves in world it is the fifth largest oil producer and top exporter of energy agricultural products and minerals with 4.6 Milli million barrels per day of crude oil produced

29:38 Canada is a significant provider of safe Dependable crude oil to the global markets only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have larger oil reserves than Canada the Toronto Ex stock exchange is the main Stock Exchange in Canada and the third largest in North America with over uh more than 1500 businesses trading a every day in terms of market capitalization the Toronto Stock Exchange is the ninth largest Exchange in the world and the main platform for Mining and energy businesses it uh plays a key role in international trade being a part of major agreements the United States Mexico Canada agreement uh which became operative on July 1st 2020 uh the the North American uh workers farmers and businesses all benefit from uh

30:25 United States Mexico Canada agreement which actually rep place the NAFTA the North American Free Trade Agreement the agreement boost the uh North American economy and promotes more Equitable and reciprocal trade the comprehensive uh Pro and and Progressive agreement for trans-pacific partnership a free trade agreement between Canada and 10 other indopacific nations had uh almost contributed I mean the Canadian companies have outnumbered their International ders the EU Canada comprehensive economic trade agreement is a Progressive trade agreement between EU and Canada some of the most robust uh Provisions ever found in EU trade deal uh uh which which which are found in the agreement including those pertaining to sustainable development um Environmental

31:12 Protection labor rights promotions and U it it actually uh uh incorporates Canada's and use Pledge to Implement International laws pertaining to environmental uh preservation worker right workers rights and climate change these agreements not only strengthen Global Supply chains but also position Canada as a crucial link between North America Europe and Asia Canada is uh widely uh I mean recognized for its diplomatic strength and peacekeeping efforts it has earned Global respect as a country that promotes peace peace security and international cooperations uh on Global Security issues Canada Works closely with United States United Kingdom Australia and New Zealand by

31:58 exchanging intelligence and coordinating defense plans Canada is a founding member of NATO and actively takes part in defense programs and Military activities Canada Canada is one of the five main members of uh the five eyes intelligence Network which enables the other participating Nations to share a wealth of intelligence data uh the common goal focuses on terrorism cyber threats and Regional instability Canada's extensive Arctic coastline uh and territorial claims makes makes it a vital player in preserving Arctic sovereignity especially when it comes to controlling the Northwest Passage which is becoming more and more vital for the international trade routs as climate change creates a new shipping lanes as a

32:44 result Canada's role in resolving geopolitical tension in Arctic is vital uh through its strong National cyber security strategy which includes strong partnership with the private sector Academia and international organization ations LED primarily by the communication security establishment and the Canadian center for the uh cyber security within the government Canada is regarded as a leader in cyber security initiatives actively contribute contributing and working to combat Global cyber threats um then Canada has uh participated in many un peacekeeping missions as a ke key player um and an inclusive approach to democracy is uh being Advanced by Canada Canada encour encourages its citizens to be involved in institutions and decision- making

33:29 processes that uh affect every aspect of their life human rights have always been strongly supported by Canada the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom serves as a Cornerstone of cornerstones for uh the gender equality in Canada and federal regulations pertaining to General gender inequality safeguards the right to equality so in the increasing unstable World Canada's commitment to peace and security remains a Cornerstone of global SEC uh stability um in the uh just a second um in the uh in the uh 21st century environmental uh sustainability is a key Global concern and Canada is leading the way in climate action and Green Technology

34:16 Canada is being a part of Paris climate agreement aiming for Net Zero U carbon emissions by 2050 uh then um Hydro hydrop power plays a significant role in Canada's Energy Mix and it is a world's third largest generator of hydroelectric electricity Canada now has been one of the cleanest Electrical uh systems in the world U thanks to the hydrop power which also helps the country lessens its dependency on the fossil fuels uh in the recent times almost 60% of the Canada's electricity was generated by hydrop power um and uh this almost accounts for 90% of energy produced in the certain Canadian provinces and by 30 2030 can Canada wants 90% of its electricity to come from these non-emitting

35:02 sources with uh 20% of world's fresh water supply and 9% of its renewable freshw resources Canada is a unique is in a unique position as the demand for fresh water around the world continues to rise uh Canada I mean through large investments in U ev's sustainability focused artificial intelligence applications and the creation of smart city infrastructures that enables optimal energy use and uh Environmental Management through the urban area Canada is actively establishing itself as a leader in Green Technology uh Vancouver and Toronto are commonly uh cited uh as two of the world greenest cities uh Vancouver is frequently ranked as the most sustainable City in uh Canada and among

35:48 the world's greenest city so then Canada is often I mean celebrated as a model of multiculturalism in inclusion and human rights it's this diverse and Progressive society makes it leader in cultural diplomacy both domestically and internationally Canada vigorously Advocates uh for inclusivity uh and and respect for diversity uh Canada's openness diversity and an innovation driven society makes it leader in Global Soft power and cultural influence now uh some of the key challenges for Canada in the time of This Global uncertainty which as as we are aware that most of most likely the new conservative government as well as these Canadian businesses might need to navigate a much

36:34 more fluctuating global environment Canada had already had a taste of what expect uh em delegations of um foreign interference by can I mean China and India and more recently the new tariffs uh threats from US president uh uh Donald Trump um I I would say for many years Canada Prof I mean profited uh from an international system that supported uh its ideals and interests uh Canadian Canadians benefited from more trade freedom and with with their southern neighbor and andow in the multilateral organization that determines the world agenda such as the United Nations G7 and NATO under the protection of United States um president

37:21 Trump returned to office with u uh Pol politically consol Consolidated America first policy Administration I mean uh would actually accelerates its long-standing role as I mean the as a global policeman CH champion of free trade and defender of these Global Democratic Values uh somewhere no other country or combination of countries I mean seems uh somewhere willing to uh get into so for for Canada as a nation whose diplomatic commercial and security policies were established on the basis of us Alliance the United States which is like far less trustworthy may may put a lot of pressure on Canada to boost defense spending quickly and and other traditional G7 allies for also at at an

38:09 alltime low in short Canada's uh options for navigating a global that is uh I mean uh I mean navigating the globe at that that is far more hostile and uncertain limit I mean limited sorry your time is up yeah just two lines I mean so so overall if if we try to SU the the the the the benefits of uh the Democratic political system the robust economy which is fueled by the global trade uh Multicultural Society enhanced by immigration and a solid reputation for having a forward thinking and value based foreign policy everything has like contributed to Canada's consistent ranking as one of the best places in world to live in and uh Canada will sign I mean significantly uh play a role in

38:55 shaping the future Global diplomacy economy security and sustainability that is why it situates among the top uh I mean situates among the tops of them other countries thank you very comprehensive presentation on Canada why Canada matters in a let me tell you that over last few decades Canada certainly has been losing some part of its elements especially agenda sitting it was no more it is no more a part of agenda sitting in a and you see what is happening now the way the things might unfold in the next four years that uh it might happen like that but Canada

39:42 remains uh a very important country for the United States uh it speaks the same language and obviously supports the US in terms of their agenda setting for International System it really uh has uh not been in proving detrimental for the us but certainly it has certain I think larger Challenge from within which is proving to be detrimental for the United States and mostly in the economic Dimension so that is why the debate on tariff and various other aspects are coming up in a larger way uh the resources of Canada again is very significant and that is how uh the things are and most of the resources which they have obviously the US would like to have a direct control over those resources they have a huge uh

40:27 uranium mines and Mining of uranium which Canada does uh that is something which the US really keeps an eye on and obviously uses most of the resources for their benefit so it's a huge debate right now going to start how Canada US tenson which is obviously going to be uh inherent in the larger political system of the US right now how that could really be understood by the rest of the world but she really has brought out a lot of significant points with regard to their contribution in the global politics now I request Dr Sima badya she's from West studies and she's going to talk on why thank you chair good morning everybody at the outset i' would like to thank uh Dean sis Professor M for

41:13 Reviving hi Memorial lecture this is a flagship program in s we should continue with this seeing uh this year's you know theme of statist overwhelmingly statist approach in Memorial lectures that all the states the regions matter so I thought initially that I will focus on non-state approach and I gave my uh you know topic and the theme as why do people matter in the West Asia conand now why um I'm speaking where all the uh people are from American Center I think uh I have also become the prisoner of the statis

41:59 approach and and I focus on um America uh you know specifically North America not you know Americas because West Asia and South America or Latin America's relations should be different so um it's not a complete departure from uh people's point of view but what I thought that U now I will focus on um instead of peoples I'll will be focusing on a people a people Palestinian people and uh my uh deadline um starts from 7th October 2023 when this Gaza War this phase of

42:45 Gaza War has started we all are reading watching and in a way digitally witnessing Gaza War but I want to quote a journalist young journalist muham Mavish what he said about Gaza war war was never just an event in Gaza it was the air we breathed the water we drank the ground beneath our feet it has everywhere and there was no Escape to uh discuss Gaza world we cannot

43:31 Escape as AEL wisman said in his book uh Hollow land the cartography of occupation in this cartography of occupation he talked about deep cartography of Israel's settler colonialism and he has basically focused on and categorically he has shown several places what we don't you know categorize we just think that Palestinian Villages and that's it sometimes we do talk about and include Palestine hospitals and other shelter houses the refugees where refugees they take shelter but very categorically he

44:16 focused on this underground aquires archaeologist stratum then on the surface this terrain with Palestine Villages and refugees they are located and of course the H of the Jewish settlements Claus ofits long back had talked about uh onward as how word could be the you know State policy now in this case what we got we are witnessing it's not the war is the state policy of Israel it is like the assassination is the state policy of this country country and when we are talking about

45:03 you know um Israel and Palestine I can go on and on being in West Asia but I don't want to do that now um if I want to um connect it to us how do I connect it to us us is you know thousand and thousand miles away and um occasionally uh we do talk about that it's uh close relations with uh Israel but it's not only the close relations of Israel we have what we have been noticing in case of uh United States interests in West Asia it is the informal Empire Building in West Asia I people have Scholars have

45:51 used this word informal Empire building it's not Empire Building because us was never a colonial power in the true sense of the term term so it's continuously this um through um its uh controlling its economy and uh politics security you just name it continuously this process is going on this informal Empire Building in case of e So Far West Asia is concerned cially when we try to understand the relations between West Asia and us the first thing comes to our mind that that is energy and as if um you know uh we think

46:39 and many students when I also teach energy so when I ask that how much energy or how much specifically it's not only the hyoc energy it's how much oil you takes from um West Asia I will get you know the inflated percent percentage we have this wrong notion in mind and as for the latest data it's only 10% it is like this in case of us and US interest in West Asia it is the continuously us has been reducing its vulnerability on vation energy and as I I don't want to focus on

47:25 energy but uh we know that um um us has become becoming energy Empire as well so um when um in general what we see in case of West Asia um because of its nature of um West Asian economy the W Asian economy is not a monolith we know the gulf economy is different we know the gulf economy is basically the rentier economy and uh this has long back he has analyzed it's not only the rer economy but the reer poity and the reer state so what we are witnessing you know across

48:13 West Asia be it Gulf economy or know which are not other countries which are not basically the rer economy or the semi- rer economy is a def Democratic deficit in big way now uh coming back to um Palestine again um no there were I'll I'll just finish it okay when this war started there were many efforts to uh for the ceasefire at present this ceasefire you know is going on this there are three phases we have to see that whether actually we

48:59 can reach the third phase or not um and uh from October 2023 to October 2024 we see that us spent $1 17.9 billion um and um as um the arms Supply arms Supply it's we see that us is the 69% um um Supply to Israel and 30% is Germany and 0.9 and other other other countries so from in one data from 1946 to uh 2022 what we see that you know this uh Israel's uh US

49:47 Agencies this data is 37.9 billion so um if if I uh take into account not only the Israel per but us you know was us is capable us if us us uh wanted us could have stopped Gaza War okay not after you know 46,000 deaths and over one lakh wounded and so many displaced people and now what we have I'll just take one minute um what we have heard the latest one what Trump's announcement that the

50:33 gazans they should leave they should have a better place they should be you know go to another place uh though other countries all all the all these countries the neighboring countries they have objected but I think um nanu have never thought of this kind of solution but um he was The Taker and he is he's following and uh in in uh you know as a student of West Asia I think that it's it's not some kind of Utopia that what what what other countries are protesting that it is not going to happen that it is so absur but I think you know we other countries and the whole world is is so weak that we are really not in a

51:19 position to stop that if Trump thinks about it and um um I I only um you know um uh when we talk about U international relations we talk about only security we talk about military we talk about relations um do we talk about people's life the way people live um I'll just I'll just stop uh you know with uh with one lineer by Muhammad darish what he said um when when gazan they have to leave their place and settle somewhere else I think they will say this thing um I belong there I have me many memories I

52:06 was born as everyone is born and the last line of this poem I have learned and dismantled all the world words in order to draw from them a single word home I hope America understands that thank you thank you very much uh let me acknowledge and put it on record that all my colleagues four colleagues here in the panel really have put across their views in that limited time of 10 minutes and really have brought out lot of salient issues which obviously would be adding value to your understanding now I have exactly 6 minutes with me and I would like this six minutes to be used by all the students sitting here if you have any questions yeah yeah so you have

52:51 raised the hand first please go ahead so candidate at let see you and LS so I have question to V sir so recently we have heard that Panama has decided not to renew its B contract with China after increasing presss from the US so sir do you think we are witnessing the return of the Monro Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere thank you so uh hello everyone so this is Akash I'm M A IRS student second year so my question is uh with sir vinit sir the question is Sir how China's footprint in Latin American countries so its B projects uh like it's challenging the US Hony especially if you talk about Peru

53:39 Chan Port it's Mega project of $3.6 billion and it's uh the Chinese manufacturer company byd which become the largest exporter of e vehicles in Latin American countries yes B is second year Central West asan studies my first question is how the S G Revolution can reive the US foreign policy and second question is we we observe that Canada is always a influential country but Canada has the lack of aspiration to be Global power why and my third question is when you discuss about the Gaza any crisis we always discuss about the US Israel Nexus but but I don't see any media discuss substantially the China Iran Nexus why

54:25 there is issue last question uh hello my question is also from Professor vit prakash regarding make America great again so does make America great again means that us is finally ready to embrace its Colonial and settler Colonial past because Trump's declaration to uh make Palestine into Rivera and Middle East sounds very familiar to the buo Declaration of 1917 in its method of dealing with people of Palestine and land of Palestine and thus make America great again means that America is again going to commit genocide on a land that is not theirs and enslave people that is on other land so thank [Music]

55:15 you so uh all the three questions are similar in nature uh they point or all three of you have pointed towards America exercising its hegemony or uh going back to a colonial past so I would just briefly say that when we are talking about Trump so most of Trump's agenda or in fact all of Trump's agenda is aimed at his constituents people who have voted for him right so whatever noises he's making whatever statements he's giving uh the aim is not to establish or uh uh or rather let let me put it this

56:02 way the aim is to pacify or send a message to his constituents that see whatever I uh promised to you I'm doing and I'm taking America in that direction now that necessarily does not mean that he's going to take over Panama or he's going to establish his uh some kind of colony or or revive some kind of colonial past one thing which is very clear about Trump is or uh about his foreign policies especially uh if we take a continuity from his last term he is very clear that China is a challenger to usmany or China is a challenger to us interests so that is something which we can focus upon and in all his actions we can find one common thread so be Panama

56:49 he spoken about Chinese presence in Panama or uh uh the indopacific his whole indopacific strategy which started in his last term so that also has China as its background or the focus area so that is something which I would like you people to think about and keep in mind going forward thank you let me add one thing here it's very important for all the students to know about this don't go by this media reporting president Trump has never told about that they would like to in fact anix Panama he has been talking about Panama Canal the difference between Panama and Panama Canal and why he's talking about Panama Canal because over the years what has happened that China's in fact presence in Panama Canal has increased at a very

57:37 faster pace and uh that is the reason and they are not even paying the the parking fee and many other things are happening so this is what in fact he has said very categorically that Panama Canal was built for Panama not for China so let us differentiate between Panama and Panama Canal that is what is the debate all about that is one thing the second thing which again is very significant now that how the US basically is going to be whether it is going to again adopt isol isol posturing or obviously will enhance the engagement with the world that question again remains largely to really be understood especially in the context of the policy which president Trump will unfold I think it would be very difficult for the US to really keep uh one's own self in isolation obviously without engagement

58:22 they cannot really because they have to certainly assume certain part of responsibility and lead the global Affairs they can't just be obviously sitting and obviously become inward looking uh Nation because of their commitment with the rest of the world any this a huge debate let us in fact discuss it later because we are running out of time m 1 minute for you and one minute for her I have no question there was something on Latin America I I heard some that was in context of us okay okay okay so I think the question was uh why Canada is not uh portraying itself as a global I mean and the right so so as Canada I mean significantly U has a liberal International perspective where

59:08 where he it it sees democracy uh other values as as one of the foremost uh uh principle uh uh I mean uh stakeholders in in the foreign policy and everything so so uh Canada um promoting those values in terms I mean somewhere I mean it it it holds a uh kind of middle par and then um promoting its uh core values of uh democ democracy human rights and other things so thank you thank you very much uh let me in fact now take the opportunity to conclude this session we running out of time you want to say something she had a question oh sorry I'm very sorry I'm sorry

59:56 yes trumps R I think um you know whatever we love think and know our anguish I think there is a method in Madness and it's economy um if I quot this Sheldon volin what he talked about this corporate totalitarianism and now Chris Hedges what he's saying this inverted totalitarianism here he has differentiated two things that the corporate capitalism and the oligarchy capitalism uh for Democrats it is Corporate capitalism but for trump it is oligarchy capitalism so he doesn't differentiate that whether Gaza was Gaza or it will be a you know new new all these new buildings and everything it

1:00:43 will be completely different so this is oligarchy capitalism if we have to understand you know America why America or only why does America matter we have to understand terms economy nothing else thank you answer the question separately about Chinese you can do that yeah no we do talk about Chinese Iranian Nexus we do talk about so let me take this opportunity to conclude this session this very important that we were able to finish all the four uh presentations on time and F I was asking the convener that how we'll do four speakers in 1 hour but see very smart didn't answer my question but we have done but we have done fairly well that uh at least their point of view basically was shared and obviously

1:01:29 all of you heard so please join me in thanking all the members of this panel thank you very much