A brief analysis of history of Hazaras

Introduction

Hazaras are Turku-Mongol Shiites, who are mainly living in central mountains (Pamir and Kohi Baba Mountains) of current Afghanistan. They are also living in Pakistan and Iran in large numbers and in small numbers in countries like Australia, Canada, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, etc. There are different claims on the size of Hazaras population but none is authentic as all are based on estimations (There were no census; used the ambiguity as a political tool for subjugation and denial of political rights). Hazaras themselves think that their populations are between seven to ten millions. They speak in different dialects of Hazaragi, which are dominantly Persian enriched with Mongolian and Turkish words and expressions. Bamiyan is the historic city of Hazaras which carries Hazaragi culture and history in itself. It is a symbolic city of Hazaras which not only has the historical and cultural records of Hazaras but also represent the religious and ideological identity of Hazaras as well. If historical ruins of city of Zuhak and city of Ghalghola represent the cultural and historical pasts of Hazaras then Bamiyan Buddha represent the past religious and ideological bondage of Hazaras and Bandi Ameer (A series of six natural Lakes in canyon of Bamiyan) represent the current religious and ideological bondage of Hazaras.

History

We can grossly divide the history of Hazaras into two eras and eight periods as follows (We can subdivide each period if we want to make to elaborate it more) based on key characteristics in evolution of Hazaras as a nation.

A- Era of development of Hazara nation

1- Chinese period

2- Mongolian period

3- Turkish period

4- Aryan period

B- Era of development of political and economic thoughts of Hazaras

5- Period of Afghan invasion and occupation

6- Period of Islamic revolution

7- Period of Taliban

8- Period of western presence

The first four periods are key in developing composition of Hazaras as a nation and shaping their cultures, traditions, language into present form. The last four periods are key in developing the political and economical thoughts and positions of Hazaras among nations of World. Hence we can say that the History of Hazaras is composed of two eras. In the first era, Hazaras emerged as a nation and in second era they struggled for their political and economical autonomy. These two divisions ask historians, anthropologists, political and economical scientists for consideration in understanding human history and testing their hypothesis and theories. I think, history of Hazaras is very unique and has the potential to put new lights in understanding human evolution as it has all elements preserved in it.

A-  The era of development of Hazara nation

The era of development of Hazaras as a nation starts from Chinese period. The first Hazaras were the Dai people (Still, the major tribes of Hazaras are named as different Dai people, e.g, Dai-Zangi, Dai-Kundi,; Over time, migrations and assimilation have reduced and better say melted traditional tribal categories into a single Hazaragi identity pot and now these are mostly referred to name of places instead of traditional tribes) who came from southern parts of china during great exodus (Something that needs genetic studies to be confirmed or rejected) . These were the first people who carved the Bamiyan Buddha and Constructed the  Zuhak city and Ghalghola city in Bamiyan valley. The famous Silk Road was main trading route between central Asia, South Asia, Middle East countries and Far East countries. As the Buddhism was the dominant religion of the area, so Bamiyan had a peculiar significance as it was the central attraction for religious pilgrims and traders. The pilgrims and traders who came from different cultures and traditions played a vital role in behavioral, cultural and compositional development of earlier Hazaras. As Bamiyan was a cosmopolitan city, so the people were open minded and welcoming to other cultures and people. The monks, traders and pilgrims from different cultures and races came to Bamiyan mixed with local people and contributed to composition of local people. The religion was a bonding factor in the earliest Hazara society.

The inherited open-mindedness of Hazaras stands at the core of their cultural and behavioral developments  that  have survived even after long history of discrimination and persecutions and over time have become as a source of recognition for Hazaras. The earliest history of Hazaras is dominated by tendency towards art and creativity. The carving of Bamiyan Buddha in sandstone of Bamiyan canyon is a living evidence. It is also not amazing that Hazaras were the first people who invented the oil painting and used it in decorating and recording their religious beliefs in caves of Bamiyan. 

It was this period that Hazaras established the Shahri ghalghola (city of noises). There are two different  narratives about names of shahri ghalghola. Some believe that it was named so because most dwellers of this city were Buddhist monks. When they were worshiping and reciting their holy scripters, they were making noises. The second narrative is related to massive attacks of Mongols and mass killings of people of the city and surrounding areas. As Mongols attacked the city, they killed all it citizens and destroyed the Bamiyan in manner that it turned into ruins till now. This city and area as a whole lost its capacity of rebuilding and the area have not been able to revive its glory since then. As Mongols were killing local people noises of crying people filled the air and so the ruins of this city is named as shahri ghalghola, the city of noises.

Although Mongols destroyed the main city and massacred locals in large numbers but because of the resemblance of Hazarajat to Mongolian plateau, Mongolian soldiers that were seeking refuge adapted the area as their new homeland and  contributed greatly to its composition to an extent that Hazaras got the identity as Mongoloids. The climate, landscape, people and life styles were close to Mongols, so as time passed more Mongols took it as their new homeland, especially after Mongol rulers of Persia converted to Shiite. As Mongols clashed among themselves for thrones, the Hazarajat was an ideal place to take refuge to those who were defeated.

Hazaras e themselves believe that the conversion of Mongol rulers of Persia into shiites were though very significant in their history but the conversion of Hazaras into Shia Islam goes back to the time, when Imam Ali (P.B.U.H) were caliph. Hazaras legends have preserved this part of their history and the names of famous lakes in Bamiyan valley are linked to the conversion of Hazaras into Shia Islam. As Umavids took the caliphate, they started killings syeds (descendants of prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)and Shiites in general. Hazarajat were always a best refuge for those Syeds and Shiites due to two main reasons, firstly Hazaras were Shiites so they were welcoming fellow shiites and secondly, Hazarajat is rough country to pass and fight a war. After Hazaras become Shiites they never had a chance to grow their civilizations as the Hazarajat become an area of riots against Umavids and later on against Usmanid caliphates. The traditional rivalry among Muslims proved a big disadvantage to Hazaras as Hazarajat remained under siege for several centuries. The commerce and arts destroyed. The city life vanished. Hazarajat has started shrinking contiuousely under continuous attacks because Sunni Muslims were considering Shiite Hazaras as infidels and they were permitted to kill these infidels and occupy their lands and properties.

Despite these continuous siege and attacks on Hazarajat no army could enter Hazarajat until massive attacks of Mongols. Mongols completely destroyed the capacity of Hazaras to fight in an organized way. After this attack, Hazaras totally lost their civilized life. They never became able again to express themselves in general as this attack opened the door for occupation of Hazarajat by other nations.

As Mongols defeated by Turks, the Turks who were ruling Persia and central Asia also ruled Hazarajat and changed its composition, especially the Shiite Turks. Shiite Turks have contributed greatly to language and in changing the composition of Hazaras. As Hazaras were open to people that had the same religion so these Shiite Turks, never faced difficulty in accommodating and mixing with local population. Turks were defeated by Persians. Again as Persians were dominantly Shiites like Mongols and Turks they were welcomed. Due to rich literature and culture of Persian, Farsi were the official language of Mongols and Turks who ruled the area. Most of religious literature were also in Persian. Religious literature and administrative language influenced Hazaras to adapt Persian as their language. So, today we can see the Hazaragi so close to Farsi that it is counted as a dialect of Dari Farsi (Classical Persian). In fact, Hazaragi language is the only live history that have preserved each time period of Hazaras' history. Hazaragi have very rich language have the Mongolian, Turkish and Farsi words and expressions and there is the need of research to find links to those lingual connections to Dai people. Persians who are Aryans contributed mostly in cultural side of Hazaras than in composition of population of Hazaras but again the Aryan mixing is also present in Hazaras to some extent.

Conclusion: - A short and quick look into first era of Hazaras, clearly lead us to conclusion that religion was the dominant factor in construction of Hazaras as a nation both when they were Buddhist and when they  converted to Shia Islam. These processes are still continued. The most significant evidence of this can be seen both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, Hazaras are equal to synonym of Shiites. The same is true for Hazaras of Quetta. Both in Quetta Pakistan and Afghanistan the Shiites are represented by Hazaras. Hazaras in Pakistan never mixed with non Shiites but have mixed with fellow Shiites.

B- Era of development of political and economic thoughts of Hazaras

The new history of Hazaras starts by rise of Russians and European powers, especially the rivalry between English empire and Russian empire. The Russians and English empires weakened the Turkish and Persian empires and divided their areas. As English had less population so she used the local tribes as their proxies  by arming, supporting them and bringing them forward as an alternative to traditional Persian, Turkish and Mongol empires. This was the beginning of dark era in the history of whole region as tribal values replaced the traditional values of Eastern and Islamic values. The tribal leader asserted their power to fill the vacuum of power. It was the beginning of Pashtoon expansionism and Afghanization of neighboring tribes.

The ambitions of Pashtoon tribes, their Afghanization campaigns and their rivalry among themselves for power were suiting Imperial British's interests. British Empire organized, armed and helped them in their Afghanization campaigns to create a buffer zone  to stop Russians advance and avoid a direct confrontation with Russian Empire.This strategy of English Empire although beneficial to both Russians and English but proved disastrous to Hazaras. English helped in  training, armed them with new weapons and organized them to dominate the neighboring tribes so they could successfully create a buffer zone against Russians. As Afghans remained under Shiites Persians  rule for long so they had general hatred towards Shiites and Persians. Hazaras were both Shiites and Persian speaking, so the Afghans used those golden chances for ethnic cleansing of Hazaras.

The most conspicuous event is the campaign of Abdurahman khan against Hazaras. Britishers have sporadically recorded the events of Afghan invasions on Hazarajat. 75% percent of Hazaras land were cleared of Hazaras, allotted and repopulated by different tribes of Afghans. About 75% of Hazara populations were massacred and forced to migrate. Besides large number of forced migrations, a large number of Hazara population were forced to convert to Sunni Islam and their children and women were sold and presented to different Afghan tribes. In this period, Hazaras revolted several times against heavy taxes and injustices. Hazaras had not the permission to join Government posts and army. They were allowed only to jobs that other tribes were not willing to do. Those revolts though were not successful but developed the sentiments of Hazara nationhood and patriotism for Hazarajat. The thought of separate homeland for Hazaras were developed. Hazaras thought and think that the only solution for their miseries lie in freedom and liberation of Hazarajat. This process of Afghan invasion continued till the invasion of Afghanistan by Red Army.

The invasion of Red Army made Afghans busy with sponsored Jihad or so called Islamic revolution. This period is very significant for Hazaras. The communist regime allowed Hazaras in Kabul and Mazar sharif to enter school and universities, have government posts, and join the army.This was a golden era for Hazaras. Hazaras for the first time became able to organize themselves for their identities and rights. On other hand, in  Hazarajat, religious leaders inspired by Islamic revolution in Iran tried to wipe out the traditional feudal systems which were used by Afghans for exploitation of Hazaras. The attempted revolution turned into civil war among Hazaras. Although in this time period, the civil war snatched the opportunity for development  in Hazarajat however it resulted in some great changes that have and will have the positive impacts on Hazarajat. The feudal system vanished which made Hazarajat more open for democratization. The people became armed and hence they became able to resist Afghan invasion. The Afghan invasion, especially by means of Kuchis stopped and Hazarajat had autonomy in this period. It was this period that Hazaras after initial failed revolution and civil war reconciled again and united to create a single political party by name of Hizb Wahdat Islami. This party made for first time the presence of Hazara military and political presence to be felt in capital city of Kabul. It was first time that Hazaras made their voices heard by international community and get some shares in  Afghan government.

This accomplishment of Hazaras was not fitting to interests of Pakistan and Gulf States whose strategic interests and regional rivalries favor the dominance of Islamic radicals. These governments financed, trained and organized the radical Muslim militants from all Muslim countries under military organization of Taliban. Soon these efforts succeeded and the government of Mujahidin fell to Taliban. Once again, history repeated. The policies of Afghan invasion revitalized. The worst ethnic cleansing started under Taliban rule. Mazari sharif, Yakaolang, Bamyian were the scences of worst massacres. People killed, women raped and presented and sold to different Afghan tribes, Arabs and other radical Muslim militias, homes and mosques were burnt, livelihood of people were looted and freedom and autonomy of people vanished. Afghan Khuchis once again brought to Hazarajat(You can read Human Rights Watch report in external link section of this knol).Khuchis started demanding people for "losses" that they had during last thirty years of their absence from Hazarajat (Autonomy of Hazarajat). They started asking people for paying of taxes they had not collected for thirty years of Mujaheddin.

The emergence of Taliban and their repeat of same the policies of Afghan invasion made the beliefs of Hazaras more strong that there is only one solution for their all miseries and that is their own country by name of Hazarajat. They can’t be secure in state of Afghanistan, because Afghanistan provides the Afghans the legal rights and opportunities to continue the ethnic cleansing of Hazaras and snatching their lands and rights.

As the event of 9/11 affected other nations of world, it also had great significance in history and lives of Hazaras. Western countries faced for the first time the terror and danger that Hazaras were facing for centuries. The world first time realized the threats of radical Islamist  and how the minds that are filled with ideas of expansionism and rule by terror can destroy the nations who play with them as their strategic assets. The military defeat of Taliban brought hope of justice and equal shares along with freedom and development to Hazaras. The Western countries under umbrella of USA look friendlier to Hazaras, as they were not interfering with religion of Hazaras (the most important issue to Hazaras) contrary to Red Army, which Hazaras didn’t helped and cooperated based on the same single issue. But to astonishment of Hazaras, the Western coalition didn’t care much about the Justice, equal share of rights, autonomy and development of Hazarajat. The Western Coalition focused more on their national interests than securing people from terrorists. For sure, Hazaras are thankful to international community for their liberation and providing them more opportunities to earn recognition but Hazaras have still real concerns. And some of the recent events make their concern more real. The Kuchis are back to Hazarajat.

Hazaras returned their arms to international forces and disbanded their military forces believing on their good wills and capability to keep with their promises made to people of Afghanistan but Kuchis are still armed under nose of international community and they have made twice armed incursions into Hazarajat, (At times , it appeared that it has become a routine that every year Kuchis attack freely on Hazarajat, killing people, looting homes, burning homes, mosques, schools and cultivated lands. Then Hazaras demosntrate around the world and Afghan government request Kuchis to return. It is a big question mark on the face of ISAF and Afghan government as they were equally responsible for all losses. They are responsible because they allow armed Kuchis to attack Hazarajat and not preventing them) whose people un-armed themselves on the promise of international community for their protection. Kuchis killed people, looted people’s homes and burnt their crops. Even Kuchis claimed the lands of Hazaras and neither Afghan government nor international community did anything significant about arms and invasions of Kuchis. Amazingly! the policies of Afghan invasion of Hazarajat continued even in the presence of international community. Certainly! The last hopes of Hazaras are also finished. Time again and again proving to Hazaras that they have very limited chances of survival in co-existing with others unless they do not have autonomy or freedom. by their history. Soon or later the Western allies will leave Afghanistan and Hazaras once again will face Afghan invasion. That has put a big question mark on existential survival of Hazarajat.

As of now, there are several  future scenarios of Hazaras in association with changing Afghanistan,

a. A strong federation of Afghanistan that allows each nation have autonomy and hence a peaceful co-existence (That is a demand made by Afghan opposition but as of now, the Afghan government is taking it as Balkanization of Afghanistan)

b. The partition of Afghanistan into two states, one for Afghans and other one a federation of Tajik, Uzbek and Hazaras areas. This is one of the escape strategy suggested to international forces.

c. The current Scenario continues and after withdrawal of international forces in 2014, the repetition of 1990s decade.

Hazaras in Quetta Pakistan; 

Conclusion:-

1st Era; Because of several invasions, deliberate efforts of cultural destruction, changes in population compositions, forced migrations and economic blockade, the history and collective memory of Hazaras are lost. It is natural that there are many claims and counterclaims but despite all these ambiguities certain characteristics of Hazara people and their history remained intact, including,

a. Asiatic, specifically central Asian characters are evident both in their biology and culture.

b. Consisting to history of this part of word, despite of dominant Mongolian features, the Hazaras are a historical nation whose composition have been changed by invading forces and  people who migrated to seek shelter in Hazarajat.

c. Culture and ethnicity have been the dominant force in suppression, resistance and identity of Hazaras.

2nd Era: In the second era of Hazara history that is characterized by developments of political and economical thoughts, one idea has been strengthen during all four periods and that is the sole solution for securing Hazaras and their existence from Afghan invasion is freedom of Hazarajat as a homeland of Hazaras. Hazaras, neighboring nations and international community have sooner or later have to realize that if they do not want the repetition of historical tragedy again and again, they have to let Hazaras to have their own homeland and decide their own fate. The longer the realization, the bigger will be loss for all and bitterer will be the fate of this part of world.

External Links:

Afghanistan, The Messenger from Dark Past (Video Documentary) 

1. Read British reports during Afghan invasion on Hazarajat: Hazaras in the view of British Diaries 

2. First ever oil paintings discovered in Bamiyan:

http://www.livescience.com/history/080422-ancient-oils.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/24/afghanistan.painting/index.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/26/2147150.htm?section=world

3. Human Rights Watch report of massacres of Hazaras by Taliban:

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6a87c4.html

4. Kuchis attacking Hazarajat;

http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article2308

Footnotes; 


Note. 1; [... Before we discuss the historical evolution of Hazara nation, let me make clear one thing. Modern people who are exposed to the concept of the nation states, ethnicity and races, usually ignore one key factor of not so long concept (perhaps a century old concept) and that is the nation meant very different thing in past particularly in most part of Asia. It was mostly the families who were ruling and making empires and the constant struggles for power within family of ruling classes and with other families were constantly shifting empires and alliances. The constant power struggles were a main cause of migrations and changes in the compositions of populations. In short when we talk, about history of nation we have to keep in mind two things,

1. The history of this region is not the history of nations but empires (which were families not nations) and empires were aggregates of different people. So when people try to link a nation with Kushanis or Sassanids and so on, they should not forget that they are mixing families with nations)

2. There is no nation purely based on an ethnicity or a culture but on aggregates of people that have enough commonalities that distinct them from other nations)....]

Note. 2;  Despite of systematic and several attempts for total destruction of the historical and cultural pasts of Hazaras by demolitions of historical places, burning of books and written records, killings of scholars and denial of education, the carved history of Hazaras on rock cliffs, Archaeological ruins and their genes could not be destroyed. Beside systematic efforts to delete the pasts of Hazaras, there have been systematic efforts to distort their past through creating ambiguity. In short, Archeology, language, cultural traditions and genetic studies are still reliable sources that invite for research into history of Hazaras. Having said that, I should acknowledge that so far history has been mostly composed of narratives. As a Hazara, I have my narrative of my history. Through my interactions with other people, I have noted several characteristics of Hazaras and these characteristics become even more distinct when we compare Hazaras to neighboring nations and those are the diversity of Hazaras' physical morphology, language, culture, a long history of migrations and ease of acceptance and assimilation to those who took refuge in them and adaptations. My narrative of my history comes from talks of my elders, my observations and history of the area and somewhat also of genetic studies. You may take it as my perception of my history but it is not just perceptions but RISE OF A NATION FROM ASHES...

Pakistan’s geographical position and globalization: Opportunities and challenges

Summary

Globalization has regional characteristics which determine the trends of globalization. How globalization is proceeding in Pakistan is dependent on the geographical position of Pakistan. Pakistan is connecting Central Asia to West Asia the two major centers of fossil fuel. The immediate neighborhood of Strait of Hormuz make geographical position of Pakistan a strategic one for growing economies of South China Sea who are heavily dependent on the Strait of Malacca especially for China who has also land connection with Pakistan. Geographical position of Pakistan has shaped the process of globalization in all three stages of globalization. In Eastern globalization being in the middle of Silk Road and Indian Ocean mercantile system as well as having fertile lands along Indus river surrounding by Khyber and Bolan passes, it attracted many major invasions from all notable nations Aryans, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Afghans and British. These invasions evolved culturally plural society which has extended its cultural relations beyond the South Asia to East and West Asia. In Western globalization, Indian mercantile system attracted Danish, French, Portuguese, Dutch and lastly British Colonial powers to area and the Khyber and Bolan Pass made British Empire to strengthen its hold in present day Pakistan to maintain its monopoly on Indian Ocean mercantile system as well as to limit the Russian Empire. The geographical position of present day Pakistan in Western globalization and its cultural make up evolved during Eastern globalization resettled society based on Muslim nationalism which led to creation of Pakistan. International globalization revived the vitality of Indian Ocean and Silk Road not by demand of Silk and Spice but by demand of Oil and cheap skilled labors. Being in the Middle of the new revival of the Indian Ocean Pakistan faces several challenges as well as opportunities that are extended beyond its geographical borders due to international globalization. These challenges based on their regional concentrations categorized into different arcs, arc of fossil fuel, arc of Muslim countries, arc of rising powers, arc of skill and investment dislocations, arc of nuclear conflict, arc of crisis and political disability and arc of terrorism. Certainly these regional challenges as well as regional opportunities could be handled best through regional organizations like OIC and SARRC and to do this we need smart governance. Smart governance is the only way that Pakistan can stand in new trend of globalization which stresses on projection of smart power.

Pakistan’s geographical position and globalization: Opportunities and challenges

Introduction

Two phenomenons have shaped the post Soviet Union World namely, globalization and clash of civilizations. These two phenomenons are at same time complementing each other as well as cancealing each other. Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations?” first appeared in 1993 in Foreign Affairs magazine. Though Huntington was not the first person to propose the concept of Clash of civilization but, perfect timing (soon after collapse of USSR) made it widely popularized. Globalizoth is discussed both in context of clash of civilizations and integration of civilizations into a global civilization. Every region and country of the world has responded differently to phenomenon of globalization. As it comes to Pakistan, globalization is not new for this country. It has both historical and geographical roots in globalizations (not globalization).

Before I begin to discuss the phenomenon of globalization in the context of geographical position of Pakistan, it is better to introduce ourselves with two important aspects of globalization,

i- Globalization is an answer to clash of civilizations. As cultures are not genetically inherited but they are learnt so globalization is process of unlearning cultural faults by learning about them.

ii- Another aspect of globalization is the process of “deglobalization”. The most dominant characteristics globalization is the mobility of people across nations. Two important factors, one is economical and other is political have slowed down the mobility of people. The economic factor is global economic depression and political one is global terrorism. These two factors have even started a process of “reverse brain drain”.

As decolonization resulted into shift of globalization from one phase into another so “deglobalization” is also a shift of globalization into a new phase. The term of globalization has popularized during 20th century. As globalization is a phenomenon of the interconnectedness of nations and people of world through trade, investments, education, social and cultural interactions and travel so it is not a phenomenon limited only to 20th century and has its roots in history. Based on the place, time and active zone of the globalization we have divided the history of globalization into three eras,

I-Eastern globalization

II-Western globalization

II-International globalization

The geographic position of Pakistan is very unique in all three eras of the globalization. By studying the previous eras of globalization in the context of geographical position of present day Pakistan and the opportunities and challenges they had been providing are also providing lessons and understandings for present day globalization and its opportunities and challenges.

I. Eastern globalization

Asia comprise 30 percent of the land mass of the earth. It was the scene of the first empires and first civilizations of human being. The rise of earlier civilizations in great river valleys of Southwest Asia along Fertile Crescent (Tigris and Euphrates), Northwest India along Indus valley and North China along yellow river indicates that these regions of Asia had surplus grains and products to offer so these offerings resulted to exchange of materials or trade between them. The earlier trade routes linked different earlier civilizations called Silk Road. Silk Road was the birth place of globalization and as it was situated in Asia so it is called Eastern globalization. We can still observe the results of developments of earlier civilizations and following globalization in the form of heavy population of Asia (3/5th of world’s population, 4.05 billion in 2008).

A- Characteristics of Eastern globalization

Eastern globalization had two phases. Phase one that is the birthplace of globalization is Silk Road trade route that is started around 200 B.C and continued to around 1000 A.D. The second phase of Eastern globalization of mercantile system of Indian Ocean that started around 1000 and were dominated Silk Road trade till 1500 A.D.

a- Silk Road (200 B.C to 1000 A.D)

The Silk Road started by the search of Chinese for allies in central Asia against Mongol nomads but these searches started a trade route between China and central Asia. Later on Persian involved in this trading that extended this route to Western Asia. By participation of Romans in trades of through this routes extended it further to Europe and North Africa. Han dynasty of China, Parthia dynasty of Persia and Roman empires built roads and provided the political stability to flourish the trade through these routes. Silk Road was a network of routes connecting people of China, central Asia, South Asia, Western Asia and Mediterranean regions through trade goods, new ideas, arts, cultures and religions from 200 BC to 1000 AD.

1- Silk Road and spread of Buddhism

The traders of the Silk Road were not only trading Silk, Porcelain and precious stones but also trading cultures, arts and religions. The missionaries traveled with Silk Road traders helped spread Buddhism to South Asia, Central and East Asia. The spread of Buddhism is the most significant characteristics of early globalization through Silk Road. Buddhism helped reshaping every aspect of lives of people of these regions into a common global culture of Buddhism ranging from dietary, arts, world view and structures of their societies.

b- Indian Ocean (1000 A.D to 1500 A.D)

The sea trade has seen a rise in Indian Ocean from 1000 to 1500 AD especially between South Asia and Middle East. The sea travel was safer, required little time for travelers as well as less expensive so it helped to transport the items of the daily usage also. The establishing of the maritime system in Indian Ocean soon dominated the trades over land and it resulted in Abandonment of Silk Road trade routes. The flourishing of trade route through Indian Ocean evolved the globalization as it not only helped spreading of Islam to East Asia but also attracted Westerner traders and Kingdoms which later on resulted in Colonization of Asia and Africa.

Two main Straits helped flourishing the Indian Ocean including,

i- Strait of Hormuz

ii- Strait of Melaka

The Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Malacca were connecting the city ports of Hormuz on Persian Coast to Cambay on Northwest of India, Calicut on Southwest of India, Malacca in Malacca Strait and African city States like Mombasa and Kilwa on East Africa making a vast and global mercantile system in Indian Ocean. The exchange items increased compared to Silk road trade which were dominated by exchange of Silk, Porcelain and precious stones to Spices of East Africa and Indonesia, gold and tin from Malaya, carpet from Java, textiles from India, Gold from Zimbabwe and Silk, Porcelain and tea from China. This diversification of the trading transformed Malacca a real cosmopolitan city where traders from different nationalities like Arabs, Persians, Indians, Chinese, Turks, Jews, Armenian, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Javanese, Burmese, Ethiopians, and Egyptians had settled and were active traders in Malacca.

2- Indian Ocean and spread of Islam

From 1000 to 1400 AD Muslims dominated the Indian Ocean mercantile which has connected the North Africa, Spain, Malaya and Indonesian archipelago, South China ocean countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, China, South Asian Countries like India and Sri Lanka and Middle eastern countries like Persian and Arabia and through Mediterranean to Europe. Dominance of Muslim traders helped them spread their faith in the trading regions and hence spreading Islam to East Asia, South Asia and North Africa.

B- Position of Subcontinent in Eastern globalization

Due to several factors the Subcontinent had a central position in both stages of the Eastern globalization. Plenty of grains in fertile lands along Indus and Ganges rivers, Important passes like Khyber and Bolan Pass that were connecting Central Asia, China with West Asia and religious and Cultural hub of Buddhism provided it a central position in the early stage of Eastern globalization that is Silk Road.

Similarly, Textile and spices along with Cambay and Calicut ports gave it a central position in second stage of Eastern globalization as it linked East Asia through Malacca Strait and Ceylon to West Asia through Hormuz Strait and North Africa through Red Sea.

The role of Chinese is important in both of these phases of Eastern globalization is important related to position of Subcontinent. Though all notable nations invaded subcontinent but Chinese didn’t. Chinese were the most dominate nation of this area in terms of trade, population, knowledge, area and technological achievements and the continuous flooding of Yellow river were causing cycles of food shortage and even famines. There were plenty of grains, trade and docile people in Subcontinent but still Chinese never invaded the Subcontinent. The reason was the geographical barriers that were stopping China. The Himalaya ranges, Gobi desert and the Sea were the barriers to Chinese invasion.

a- Opportunities

i- Though the Silk Road were not contributing much in terms of commerce and trade as it were heavily relied on Silk, porcelain and precious stones for elite classes of Western Asia and Mediterranean regions to be profitable but it was the first form of globalization which helped flow of arts, culture, religions and new ideas.

ii- As Trade could flourish only under political stability and facilitating of caravans so it helped in flourishing of strong dynasties and infrastructure and social developments in the Silk Road.

iii- The Silk Road provides routes for exchange of knowledge and scholars. The Scholars from different regions come to Chinese, Persian and Roman courts to serve and spread their knowledge. This was the earliest form of the brain drain phenomenon.

iv- The propagation of Buddhism and Islam through trade routes resulted in reconciliations of different cultures, and tribes and increased the interconnectedness of the people living in these areas.

b- Challenges

i- Though trade routes helped spreading religion and cultures developed in Subcontinent to other areas of Asia but it also provided a route for invaders. The fertile lands around Indus and Ganges rivers were producing enormous amounts of grains and populations which were basic needs of empires so it attracted invaders like Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Mongols and British.

ii- These routes helped spreading of epidemic diseases through Caravans.

iii- Trade routes attracted thieves and Bandits and increased insecurity which resulted in abandonments of these routes.

iv-Sea trades also attracted Westerners which later on resulted in colonization of Africa and Asia.

C- Shift of globalization from East to West (The role of Mongolian Empire in transferring globalization from east to west)

In a century from 1250 AD to 1350 the Mongols conquered China, Siberia, Tibet, Korea, Russia, much of Eastern Europe, Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, and parts of Arab civilization in the Middle East connecting Europe, North Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia and East Asia with each other. The security provided by the Mongolian Empires increased the trade and cultural exchanges in large amounts that history had never seen. West Europe remained unconnected because Western Europe was too much underdeveloped to attract Mongols. This extensive globalization made for the first time to export Gun powder, rockets and mortars invented in China into Europe. Introductions of these war machines helped Europe to develop them further and after weakening of Mongol Empire by help of these war machines colonize the Africa, Asia and America.

II. Western globalization

Europe is an extension of Asian landmass has the third largest population (730 million people) among continents. The small land mass of Europe as well as its high lands, with cold winters and mild summers provided earlier Europeans less grains to establish notable civilizations so they lived under the dominance of Mediterranean nations like Greeks and later Romans which had sea access and trade to North Africa and West Asia. The pressure of populations as well as contacts by Asians through crusades, Mongol Empire and Trades lead Europe into Renaissance, reformation, explorations, colonization and enlightenments which caused mass migrations and settlements of European nations to America, Australia, Africa and dominance over sea and overland trades. These series of historical developments led to interconnectedness of European nations stretching from Middle East in the East to America in the West is called Western globalization.

A-Characteristics of Western globalization

a- Crusades activated the shipments of crusaders and trading of supplies to crusaders which resulted in introduction of new social groups of traders in Europe. These newly become wealthy traders financed trades and explorations in Indian Ocean mercantile which were dominated by Muslim traders.

b- These trades fueled consumerism in Europe at first for spices, precious stones, art crafts, arms and exotic zoological and botanical specimens to Aristocratic families and later for newly wealthy merchants and others.

c- Crusades, expulsions of Jews and Muslims from Spain and the demands for oriental art crafts in Europe opened the doors of European cities for Oriental artists and artisans. These cultural resettlements led to cultural pluralism of European societies.

d-The dominance of Muslims especially the Ottoman Empire in Ocean and overland trades of East forced newly rich traders-bankers to cooperate with each other and construct companies to finance explorations of new trade routes in Ocean.

e- The expansion of Mongol Empires from Central Asia, China, India, Parts of Arabia, China and Eastern Europe encourage trading overland and Oceans. Through these trades three important factors of European dominance introduced to Europe via China, namely Magnet, Gunpowder and Printing.

i- Magnet enabled navigations in Open Ocean and also in unexplored areas and helped in discovering new lands and also new routes out of eyes of Ottoman Empires to Indian Ocean mercantile.

ii- Gunpowder enabled first Portuguese, then Dutch, British and Spanish to colonize the Africa, Asia, America and Australia.

iii- Wealth from trades and colonization helped spreading mass printing which led to renaissance, reformation and enlightenments. Quest for wealth and knowledge led to Western globalization which influenced other nations also.

f- Industrialization fueled by colonization and Scientific advancements led to rise of nationalism and economic ideologies. The Western world allied themselves on the basis of nationalistic and economical ideas which resulted in two world wars.

B- Position of Subcontinent in Western globalization

The mercantile system of the Indian Ocean was so important for Europeans that several European nations developed East India Company to dominate the trade in Indian Ocean. British East India Company, French East India Company, Dutch East India Company and Danish East India Company are companies that traded and involved in colonization of Indian subcontinent. During Mongol Empire the Indian cities were rich and industrialized to standards of that time as they were exporting textiles and other art products through Indian Ocean mercantile system. The East India companies was established to promote the mercantilism a policy in which the amounts of exports has to be kept higher than imports under the strict government supervision and control. Due to the policy of mercantilism the local industries of subcontinent damaged very badly. Many artisans left craft works and joined the agricultural sectors so the percentage of people related to agricultural works increased from 63% to 75% from Mongol empire to British Empire.

Mercantilism policies of British Empire led to American Revolution. The weakening of control due to mercantilism as well competitions among colonial empire led to free trade concepts but to importance of subcontinent as a source of raw materials and large markets the British Empire resisted to free trade and continued the mercantilist policies until 1930.

C- Shift of globalization from Western globalization to International globalization

Five main processes which shift Western globalization into International globalization is as follows,

a-Decolonization: The mercantilism policies of the colonial empires left limited chances of trade and economic developments which led to the rise of nationalistic sentiments. These nationalistic movements weakened the hold of colonial powers over their colonies. The Second World War added to these weaknesses which resulted to decolonization process. Due to decolonization many new nation states born and the free trade promoted and expanded. Though decolonization helped in development of international globalization but it had serious regional obstacle and weaknesses.

b-United Nations: Second World War was so disastrous that to stop further wars and to resolve the conflicts more peacefully an organization was built of state nations. Still United Nations was so weak that couldn’t stop the realignments along the Capitalist bloc and Communist bloc and hence the threat of war remained alive in the Cold War period. Though UN was an important step towards international globalization but still it was too weak to liberate the nations and lead the world.

c-Collapse of Soviet Union: The Collapse of Soviet Union was one of the key mile stone towards the international globalization as more free nations introduced to world and the interconnectedness and free trade increased. It also melted down the polarity of world and led the nation state to follow their national dreams.

d-World Trade Organization: After World War Two the demand for freer trade was strongly felt to rebuild the economies damaged due to war and long colonization. In 1948 the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) a treaty and International Trade Organization signed by 23 nation states. The purpose was to reduce protectionism and promote free trade. In 1995 GATT was replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) which was the real step towards international globalization as it had 142 members in 2001. Though WTO was a broad based organization for worldwide free trade but still it was not a true agent of the International globalization as it still couldn’t stop protectionist policies of the nation states.

e-World Wide Web: World Wide Web the first true agent of the international globalization as it provided a cheap and effective means of the communication to individuals in all corners of world. Unlike other mediums of communications like newspaper, radio and television it was a decentralized means of communications. Individuals around the world could share and exchange knowledge, information and doing commerce with fewer interventions of governments. World Wide Web has transformed the world into international globalized world.

III. International globalization

A-Characteristics of International globalization

Earlier in position of subcontinent in Eastern globalization we have concluded that the reason that China didn’t invaded Subcontinent was geographical barriers. By reemergence of China as a power in the international globalization China is struggling to overcome those geographical barriers by constructing Karakorum Highway and developing Tibet to cut the Himalayas, by developing interior Mongolia to cut the Gobi desert, and to develop Xinjiang to reconnect itself to Fergana valley as well as Caspian sea oil and gas region. By developing string of pearls it want to overcome the Indian Ocean barriers. If China succeeds to overcome this geographical barriers and the railway networks evolves from South, west and central Asia, Eurasia to European and trans American railway network then certainly the world enters in the second phase of international globalization.

a- Reemergence of Indian Ocean

The Malacca Strait, once again become alive by rapid growths of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Most dominantly China. Similarly the Strait of Hormuz involved in more extensive transportations of trade goods by fossil fuel exports as well as by rapid growth of UAE and Iran. The rapid growth of India had almost completed the mercantile system of Indian Ocean during its golden period of Eastern globalization. Indian Ocean links the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean hence it works like a highway for the transportation of goods to all over world. More than three quarters of the transported goods is of extra-regional demands. One of the most essential commodities is oil that all countries need uninterrupted supply of them for proper running of their economy.

b- Reemergence of Silk road

Though highways are poor in Central and Southwest Asia but the countries like Iran, Turkey, China, India, Pakistan, Central Asian countries and Russia have extensive networks of railway lines which are connected to Europe via Turkey. The Trans-Caspian, Turk Siberian railway lines are promising for reemergence of Silk Road and overland trade. Iran has connected its railway line to Pakistan-India railway line through Taftan-Zahidan network. As Iranian railway network is connected to Turkey and Turkey to European railway network as well as Central Asian network so the Iranian railway line is connecting Strait of Hormuz to Central Asia, South Asia and to Europe via Turkey. The extension of Iranian and Turkmenistan railway line to Heart of Afghanistan, are connecting Afghanistan also to these networks.

c- Rise of Soft power (President Clinton’s era)

By collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 the cold war ends and the threats of communist bloc vanish out. It was the time that new democratic president Bill Clinton become the President of the USA the sole global power. Bill Clinton promotes the policy of non interventionism and the next 8 years USA enjoys a constant economical growth. The projection of US values and cultures and economy in this period despite of its military might is known as Soft Power. The space left by both USSR and USA made favorable conditions for grouping, growth and projections of arms bandits who have fought against the USSR and now they have turned their face to West and Islamic countries allied to West. In President Clinton’s period several attacks on US Embassies and other positions occurred. In the same time Taliban emerged in Afghanistan which intensified the extremism.

d- Rise of Hard Power (President Bush’s era)

The 9/11 terrorist attack on USA in 2001 made USA to realize that soft power has weakened its global position so US started following a new policy of projecting the military power of USA. It was the start of global war on terrorism started by President Bush. The dependence and focus on military power declined the soft image of USA in the whole world and especially in Islamic world. It also affected the world trade and was one the factors of global economic depression.

e-Rise of Smart Power (President Obama’s era)

The new President of Barack Obama is not only a change of face and tradition in US but also hoped as a change in policies also. Secretary of State Clinton has spoken of Smart Power that is a conversion of both Soft Power and hard power to increase advantages and decrease the disadvantages of both soft power and hard power used alone. According Professor Joseph S. Nye Jr. it is easy for a country to change policies instead of changing its culture and values. The purpose of projection of the smart power is defined to achieve a broad array of goals,

i- Self determination

ii- Human rights

iii-Free trade

iv-Rule of law

v-Economic development

vi-Neutralizing weapons of mass destruction

Certainly both the policy of smart power as well as its goals are agents of promoting globalization and as Pakistan is on the list of key focal point so we need to answer the projection of the smart power by US through projection of smart governance. With having elected government and restored judiciary it is time to focus on smart governance to become able to project our own smart power and solve our problems.

B- Position of Pakistan in International globalization

Pakistan’s geographical position has made it a key state in the international globalization which at the same time providing opportunities as well as challenges. Opportunities come from being on arc of fossil fuel exports, Islamic countries, rising powers like China and India, dislocations of businesses, skills and investments. Challenges come being on arc of nuclear powers, arc of crisis and arc of terrorism which are threatening the stability as well as the very existence of Pakistan.

a- Opportunities

1)Arc of fossil fuel exports

The demand for fossil fuel is increasing in rising industries of China and India. Both China and India want an uninterrupted supply of fossil fuels to ensure the consistency of their developments. The dependence of China on the Malacca Strait for Persian Gulf Oil threatens for flow of oil in the time of crisis with India or USA, so the China looks to Gwadar Port as an alternative supply route especially during the crisis. Gwadar port is part of famous string of pearl strategy of China to counter the threats to supply of fossil fuel. Gwadar is the most strategic port as it is close to Strait of Hormuz. To counter the efforts of China and to strengthen hold on the Hormuz Strait India is developing the Chah Bahar Port of Iran. Pakistan could be a high way for fossil fuel linking Iran to India and China via land. Similarly it could become a highway for Caspian fossil fuel via Afghanistan to Gwadar port.

2)Arc of Islamic countries

There are 57 Islamic countries with estimated population of 1.5 billion people which speak 60 different languages with diverse ethnic backgrounds. These Muslim countries are concentrated in Central, South, West Asia and North Africa with extensions in East Asia and East Europe. The Extended regions of Islamic countries are rich in fossil fuel and surround the Key locations on Indian Ocean the third largest Ocean but central in international globalization. The Muslim countries have an international organization by the name of OIC. Pakistan was one of the founder countries of OIC along with Saudi Arabia and it let Pakistan to play a key role in solving the problems related to Muslim world through OIC.

Though OIC is a representative organization of Islamic world but it has failed to play its role in the international globalization. There are many factors but as in this paper we are discussing the role of geographical position in the globalization so we look to OIC in the view of geography. Geographically Muslim world is composed of nations in central Asia and Eurasia dominantly of Turkish origin. South Asia and South China sea nations dominantly of Indian and Indo Asian Origin, Middle East and North Africa dominantly of Arab origin, and beside there are other notable nations like Iranian and African origin nations of Africa. The key players in Islamic world were always, Arabs, Turks and Iranian. A fourth is added and that is people of Indian and Indo Asian origin. As the Turkish people were contained by Russian and British empires in the previous century so the balance of power in Islamic world was imbalanced. The oil boom in Gulf widened this imbalance of power. As Arabs societies were more conservative and rigid than Turkish societies hence the dominance of Arab over matters of Islamic world resulted in spread of extremism in Islamic world. Pakistani culture was developed and its social structures were deeply influenced under long Turko-Mongol rule so the Pakistani were more inclined to Turkish people and were moderate in nature. But the imbalance of power let Arabs influence Pakistani society and result to spread of extremism.

Pakistani government can play a key role to moderate in Islamic world to rebalance the powers of Islamic world and hence help both Islamic world as well as itself. By inclusion of Turkish people back in Islamic world the extremism in Muslim world will decline as People of Central Asia and Eurasia are progressive Muslims and they along with Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Bangladesh and Pakistan can help Arab societies to pave towards democracy and liberate their people to become benefited from oil boom as well as strengthen Islamic world by popular participation in every aspects of Islamic world. A small comparison of Pakistan with other Islamic countries make clear both challenges it faces as well as opportunities that Pakistan has to play through OIC.

Until now we have focused on the role of Pakistan as a sole Nuclear power Muslim country as mightiest in Military power and stress on the size of our large population as Pakistan is the second largest populous country in Islamic world after Indonesia but it is not only military power that determine the role but the economy and technology to project that might is also necessary. As in start of new Millennium we have focused on research and higher education so here we focus on the comparing Pakistan and other Islamic countries in the related fields.

Areas which Pakistan face challenges:

a- Pakistan has 101 to 300 researchers per million people which is far below than Turkey, Tunisia, Azerbaijan and Lebanon’s 1001 or more researchers per million people and Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Brunei’s 501 to 1000 researchers per million people.

b- The share of Pakistani women in total research is 25% compared to Azerbaijan’s 52% and Tunisia’s 45%.

c- Pakistan spend less than 0.5% of total GDP on Research and related issues compared to Tunisia spending 1% and Turkey, Morocco, Malaysia and Iran spending more than 0.5% of GDP on research and development.

d- Pakistan’s high technology export is between 100 to 1000 million US $ which is far below than 5ooo million US $ and More of Malaysia and Indonesia.

i- Malaysia export high tech items worth 63.4 billion US $ which is about 87% high tech exports of all Islamic countries.

ii- Malaysia and Indonesia’s high tech exports comprise 95% of all Islamic countries high tech exports.

Still there are two areas that Pakistan is leading in Islamic world.

a- Pakistan lead in articles published in international journals along with Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Brunei and Malaysia with 200 and more.

b- Pakistan is third in patent activity after Malaysia’s 4800 and Indonesia’s 4606. 1800 Pakistanis apply for patent but almost all of them are non residents.

3)Arc of rising powers (China, India and Iran)

Robert Rowthorn, the economic faculty of Cambridge University starts his paper, THE RENAISSANCE OF CHINA AND INDIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ADVANCED ECONOMIES, this way “Using simple convergence equations, this paper projects that by mid-century per capita incomes in China and India will on average be about half the US level. In terms of total production, both countries should overtake the USA by 2050.

We may not agree with Robert Rowthorn’s predictions as the variations like the current global economic crisis make the predictions erroneous but one thing is clear that no one can deny the rapid growths that China and India made. The rapid growth of China and India like all other major economies will affect the neighboring countries. The economic growth increases the demand for fossil fuel which will increase the role of countries like Pakistan which is going to be the highways for energy transfers. Similarly by raising standards of lives in these countries the textile industry of Pakistan will be in great demand more from China, Iran and Gulf countries than India.

4)Arc of Skills and trade dislocations

Just what happened in West is going to happen to East. By raising the standards of living the pays for workers also raised so the companies searched for cheap laborers which found their places in East Asian countries. Cheap skilled labor attracted investments, businesses and transfer of technology. As the pays in China and other Eastern countries are raising the businesses will be forced to shift their businesses further east, especially Pakistan as it has the largest skilled cheap labors in the regions after India. The dislocations of skills, knowledge, investments, technology and businesses will shape the face of the Pakistani society. The greatest obstacle that caused that we fail to get our shares of these dislocations is weak governance especially law and order and political instability. By developing smart governance we can attract a big share of business and investment dislocations.\

b- Challenges

Seven key challenges of globalization in Pakistan are governance, energy and resources, Infrastructure, equity and meritocracy, security and terrorism, ecology and discontinuity of policies. More serious challenges that threaten our very survival are nuclear war, political instability and terrorism.

1- Arc of Nuclear conflicts

The struggle of Russia and China to modernize their nuclear weapons and missile systems as well as struggling of India and Pakistan to weaponize their nuclear capabilities is pushing the region to threats of nuclear war. The bitter experiences of Iraq-Iran war as well as bitter relations of US and Israel with Iran are leading Iran towards getting nuclear capability. This is extending the nuclear arc to Middle East. In turn Arabic countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan who are fearful of Persian dominance in Middle East are also struggling to get nuclear capability. This is showing an era of nuclear race which are intensifying by US insistence on deployment of missile defense shield which are providing reasons for an arm race in region. The worsening point is deteriorating relations of India and Pakistan who have already fought conventional wars and their attitudes are unpredictable. This bitter relation is a constant threat to both countries.

2- Arc of crisis and political instability

The arc of crisis is stretched from Burma in the East, Including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Middle East including Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Israel to North Africa, including Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, etc. Pakistan being neighbors, linker and member of regional organizations like OIC and SARRC is directly get effects of this regional political instability. These political instabilities are the greatest obstacle in the proper functioning of the OIC and SARRC which are affecting the trade, social and economical developments of the region.

3- Arc of terrorism

Being bordered with Afghanistan as well as having a border that divide the tribal people into two countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan made Pakistan vulnerable to any kind of change and developments in Afghanistan. Soviet Union invasion, Civil war, Taliban and US invasion of Afghanistan all have played roles in militarization of people living in the shared tribal regions as well as attracting terrorist from Central Asia, Middle East, North Africa and East Asia. Terrorism is spreading as the connectivity and the experience and capability of the terrorists are increasing. Terrorism is not only damaged the image of Pakistan but it is growing to threat the stability of Pakistan.

As Arc of terrorism Nuclear Weapons, political conflicts and instability as well as terrorism are regional problems and threat to whole region so the regional organizations like OIC, SARRC and ASEAN are needed to be empowered, cooperate and integrate with each other to solve and tackle these problems.

References

1- Shi Hongtao, “China’s ‘Malacca Straits,’” Qingnian Bao, June 15, 2004, Foreign Broadcast Information Service (hereafter FBIS), FBIS-CPP20040615000042

2- Lee Jae-Hyung, “China’s Expanding Maritime Ambitions in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean,” Contemporary Southeast Asia 24, no. 3 (December 2002): 553-554.

3- Freeman R (2005b). China, India and the doubling of the global labor force. http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=8167§ionID=1.

4- Needham J (1954). Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 1. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.OECD (2005). Economic Survey of China.

5- UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre.

6- WIPO, Statistics on Patents.

7- World Bank, World Development Indicators, Online Database.

8- ISI Web of Knowledge, Online Database.

9- Nye, Joseph S. Jr. "The U.S. Can Reclaim 'Smart Power'." Los Angeles Times (January 21, 2009).

Open sourcing as 99%'s technologies

To me 99% is not just an economic movement but a global individualistic movement that have been inspired by power of internet. There are growing awareness and agitation against monopoly of corporations over creation and distribution of wealth and technology and inspired by spirit of internet, open sourcing are becoming as a means for global resistance. Rationally speaking, corporations are responsible for availability of technologies and world need them for bringing newer ones but at the same time, their unchecked monopoly are creating new classes in society. To check their monopoly and keep the individuals' information integrity and freedom, open sourcing is the technology of 99%.

As technology stands at the core of both creation and distribution so people try to come up with innovative ideas. If Wikipedia and Wikileaks are efforts to liberate information, the bitcoin (I am not sure about its credibility yet so I am just curious how next generation digital peer to peer exchange technologies will evolve; Just for sake of information I have provided a video at the end of this knol). The experiments of the alternative and decentralized currencies have not been successful yet because of their limited usage yet they provide space for thinking out of the box. Besides who knows if a peer-peer technology emerges that totally change our concept of currency or wealth. Seems very idealistic but as Sherlock Holmes (character) says, "I suspect nothing and I suspect all" so we can appreciate these ideas by considering who knows....

Reprap printer, again an open source technology for designing and manufacturing plastic goods are another effort to make people manufacture things and lessen their dependencies. I am not sure how future technologies will help in liberating individuals but meantime this device is a must have for schools where students want to nourish their creativity and put their innovative ideas in practice... (I would appreciate if you share more open source technologies with us)

RepRap from Adrian Bowyer on Vimeo.

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Can I.Q level become a measure of governance?

I.Q level is used as measure of intelligence. Though there are many disagreements on its credibility but still it is a measure of use of intelligence. Especially when we apply it to a group of people we can link it to certain issues. For example it could be a measure of progress of people as progress means more reliance on brain than body. We know the technologies are replacing physical works but at the same time the amount of mental works increased. As much reliance on technologies are increasing so the reliance on mental works are also increasing. Reliance on mental works is evolving brain. As I.Q is a type of mental measurement so it could be an indication of level of progress but here is another problem and that is spread of technology. As technologies are marketed massively into markets around the world with great diversities so these technologies are included in lives of people massively. This is also a factor in reliance on mental works. So it makes the position of I.Q as a weak measure of governance. Besides, weak governance make people on their own so people struggle harder in weak governments than strong governments, so here it is another factor that make position of I.Q weaker. As we saw there are many variables to I.Q which can affect the application of it in governance. However, one aspect that dominantly affects the I.Q level is education. Besides, it is not only education which affect I.Q level but educational standards that affect most. Hence the I.Q level dominantly could measure governance even in presence of variables like presence of technologies and struggles of people.

It is not only problem of technologies and educational services but certain other factors also which questions the application of I.Q levels. We know that I.Q has been used for political purposes especially in racist politics. I.Q has been used to prove the supremacy of a race over other. We know that a depressed person can’t use all potentials of his mind to a confident man. Similarly an oppressed group of people lose confidence to oppressors, so here oppressors can use the measurements like I.Q to legitimize their acts. When it comes to politics the science and scientific data are used to take favor of a public opinion. So, question arises, whether intelligence is a genetic adaptation or is the effects of environments. If it is genetically adopted then it is natural that genetically related groups, e.g., a race would remain backward. In this case progression is a natural act and these races couldn’t be helped. On contrary, if intelligence is the effects of environment then it is environment of people that caused them to be backward. We can help these people by changing their environment.

When we come to comparative studies, then the brain sizes is a very clear evidence of the intelligence. We know that reptiles are less intelligent than mammals and mammals are less intelligent than Homo sapiens. Certainly, brain sizes are correlated with intelligence in reptiles, mammals and Homo sapiens. Brain sizes are increasing respectively so are intelligences. As in case of Homo sapiens there are slight differences in brain sizes like brain size differences between men and women but the environment has greater influences as we have seen more intelligent women than men whose had better environments of educations and cultural learning. Black African Americans are socially and economically backward than white American, so the I.Q was used to correlate their backwardness with their low levels of intelligence. Anyone familiar with history of USA can easily correlate backwardness of Black African American to socially unjust treatments that had. They were brought to America as slaves so they were no educated and given rights to progress. Still when the slavery abolished from USA, again they were not given the rights to vote and they were treated as second citizen. It was the civil movements of 60’s that changed the course of lives of Black African American. Now in 2009, the world is evident of a Black as a president of USA. The history of Black African American is a clear evidence of effects of environment on intelligence beside slight genetic differences in humankind.

Until now, we are in position to conclude following results about intelligence:

1- Brain sizes are correlated with intelligence as it is evident in differences between brain sizes of reptiles, mammals and Homo sapiens. There are very small differences in brain sizes of human like difference between brain sizes of men and women.

2- Intelligence is an act of environment. Society can affect the intelligence of a group as it is evidenced from history of Black African American.

3- Intelligence could be learned as it is evidenced from rate of neuron connections to levels of use of brain areas. Certainly a geologist is more intelligent than others in identifications of rocks and minerals as he has practiced identification of rocks and minerals so his brain areas related in identification of rocks or minerals. May be this example confuse some individuals so we give a clearer example. Take example of an artist or a graphic designer. He is more intelligent than common men related to colors. They are more conscious about colors and shades of colors. Their brain areas related to identification of colors are like other people but with more neuron connections. The use of particular areas of brain increases the neuron connectivity and hence those areas of brain process the information more rapidly and hence one becomes more intelligent in those areas.

From these three first hand conclusions we can make a second hand of three conclusions as follows:

Intelligence is a function of:

a- Genetic adaptations

b- Social adaptations

c- Individual adaptations

As there is very less differences in genetics adaptations of men so the main reasons for the differences of intelligence in humankind is social adaptations and individual adaptations. Can government help its citizens in developing their intelligence? The answer is a clear YES. Before World War II the Japanese had 10 points less I.Q levels than white USA citizens. After the World War II the I.Q levels of Japanese rose 10 points higher than USA citizen. Certainly in this short time the genes can’t be evolved. Genetic evolution requires very long times in terms of human lives. What was the reason of rising of Japanese I.Q? With no doubt, the social reforms in Japan caused educational, technological and economical progress which raised the intelligence levels of Japanese. We can track back the intelligence levels into medieval ages and ancient times also. We can find particular ages in history of nations when they produced great men but later as their civilizations fall there no significant great men. The most noticeable example is that of ancient Greece. In golden times of ancient Greece, when there was real democracy in Athens, great philosophers and mathematicians born this shaped the human knowledge. But after fall of Greece to Romans the Greece failed to produce noticeable philosopher or mathematician till present times.

Conclusion: From our brief discussion, now it is evident there the I.Q could become the measure of governance. By introducing a standard educational system and providing equal but competitive opportunities the I.Q levels of people will raise. Better governance makes people able to focus on progressive works and hence people will use the education they got to become an active part of progression.

Judging Culture

Calculated Discipline's Epistemology (Part: 3)

Culture is collective judgments of a group of people over a large time. A group of people which creates a society is comparable to an organism which adopts certain factors by accepting or rejecting certain factors. These acceptances and rejections are based on collective judgments. What are collective judgments? Collective judgments are composed of three basic judgments which we have discussed in part 1 and 2 of the calculated discipline’s epistemology are as follows,

a- Practical judgments (Everyday life judgments). In everyday life our sensations though receiving data from environment but send selective information to brain to make life easier.
b- Artistic judgments (The judgments of appearances). It is detailed observation, especially to creative composition of objects related to concepts and ideas. Here colors, shades, timing and perspectives are important.
c- Aided judgments or instrumental judgments. The scientific judgments or use of instruments like microscopes, mass spectrometry etc for judgments of objects beyond our senses.

Studying societies through collective judgments provides us great insights in understanding the society in their very nature. Following are some points which make it more elaborate,

1- It provides us a tool to analyze evolution of a culture as we can logically and historically deduce that,

i) Practical judgment was first to evolve and it must influenced dominantly, the beginning cultures.

ii) Artistic judgments were second and it influenced the practical judgments by being more impressive and unique.

It was artistic judgments that put the foundations of real civilizations. Artistic judgments evolved from artistic observations to artistic compositions which had great economical, social, political military, philosophical and scientific impacts over societies. The effect of arts and art crafts are well documented and well researched. The human history is divided as Stone Age (Due to developments and use of stone instruments), Bronze Age, and Iron Age etc. These words are showing importance of tool making or art crafts which are results of developments of artistic judgments. The search for cultivable grains, extractable minerals and their use in different products requires artistic observations into earth, water, air, life and their cycles. The products that were results of artistic observations enabled ancient people to create empires that are mostly quoted in studying history.

iii) Aided Observation lead to scientific revolution that crossed the cultural boundaries and created a global culture. Aided judgments provided a base for all cultures to become more harmonized. The most quoted shift of cultures to more harmonized beliefs with the aid of aided judgments is shift from earth centric to sun centric views then from soul centric to biological centric shifts. Evolution of subatomic particles, elements, compounds, organism and simply cosmic evolution have made clear position of men in universe and in earth which have harmonized and brought closer the cultures to more global and humanist culture which still to have a long way to go to become a true humanist culture but are at least on the way.

2- Collective judgments create world views. It is the most wanted piece of information in analyzing and defining culture. Once we know what the source of world view is then it becomes easy to define and analyze cultures. World view not only steer the opinions and behaviors of individuals but also the progress and evolution of cultures. From perspective of world view we can go back to origin and evolution of cultures.

i) Collective judgments help us appreciate the differences as natural phenomenon and make intercultural dialogues with clear understanding and accepting of differences.

ii) It helps us to set up an educational system that nurture the minds of generations based on futuristic needs. A student attached to his society nourishes both his creative/emotional/artistic judgments and scientific judgments.

iii) It helps educators to divide their focus based on developmental stages while planning and deciding about educational programs and policies.

a- Early stages: Development of practical judgments by focusing on sensual and cultural education

b- Artistic judgments: Development of creative judgments by focusing on arts education

c- Scientific judgment: Development of rationality and critical thinking by focusing on scientific and philosophical education

3- It provides a tool for psychoanalyze a personality based on his biography based on his exposures to collective judgments. When we compare and analyze the composition of collective judgments of a culture or a society we focus on ratio of richness of its judgments or in other words we focus on composition of judgments. We can a personality’s works based on his reactions on the times he has been exposed to the collective judgments. The influence of the collective judgments in a time is key to judge the developments of his works.

4- Composition of collective judgments tells us about levels of organization in a society. Organizations and institutions define and shape the composition of the collective judgments. Certainly, lack of artistic and scientific organizations and institutions result in lacking of artistic and scientific judgments. The lack of artistic and scientific organizations also shows lack of social organizations. It is the loose and weak social organizations which fail to or feel fewer needs for setting of organizations to develop artistic and scientific judgments. Strong judgments, lead to higher levels of social organizations and artistic and scientific organizations.

5- We have seen the divisions of cultures into higher or lower levels of culture, natural or synthetic cultures and cultures attached a class group of society. Usually this division is done on levels of refinements of the judgments. Refinement of judgments is especially important in artistic judgments as artistic judgments are unique and individualistic. The uniqueness of artistic judgments is more elaborated by symbolic expressions. The symbolic expressions of artistic judgments are more powerful than world views. Most of the times it is symbolic expressions of the same ideas within people of common beliefs or common language that distinct them and their culture.

6- Composition of collective judgments also indicates the economic conditions of that culture at that time. Economically improved cultures have richer expressions of artistic and aided judgments. Though pure arts express world views but art crafts tell us the important tools of economy and economic conditions.

7- Collective judgments are composed of three basic elements of judgments. Though the compositions of judgments differ from culture to culture but as the elements are same so they make common humanist judgments also. We can find geographical and historical factors that influence distinctness and uniqueness of compositions in each culture.

8- Culture is becoming very important in modern societies. The reason for increasing importance is era of information and more competitiveness of businesses and financial activities. The judgments are very important in progressing as well as sustaining the progress of societies. Societies are struggling to develop the levels and diversities of skills, knowledge and imaginations. Societies with weak levels of organizations suffered from emigrations of their skills, knowledge and imaginations in a process known as brain drain to societies where higher levels of social organizations promised more sustainable progress. It is not only the underdeveloped or developing countries which suffered but some mistakes of developed countries also causing shifts of technologies and investments. The cheap skillful and knowledgeable work forces as well as cheap commodities, accommodations and lower taxes made some businesses to shift their businesses to other countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc. The modern world is evidence of importance of role of judgments and its composition in lives of people and in shape of societies. In modern world only those cultures will lead the world which generate and attract individuals and organizations with best judgments. Brain drain and business dislocations will shape the faces and identities of cultures and societies...

(NOTE; This knols was part of my series of efforts during 2004-2008 to build a Philosophical system which I left incomplete for a better time to return...)