Vinayshil Gautam
Between 1945 and 1960, world order changed dramatically. Not only did empires crumble, following the conclusion of World War II, but unprecedented forces were released, realigning, not only empires but also conglomerate of states, which included the Chinese land mass.
During this period, Chinese military and political leader, Chiang Kai-Shek, sought refuge in the island of Taiwan and the People's Liberation Army got China on a trajectory of moving from strength to strength. In less than three years of the communist take over (1949) of mainland China, the statesmen of that country started looking at the boundaries which were open to question because of various legacies. From Japan to Tibet, even in the face of unsettled domestic situation, the Chinese leaders were pushing beyond the conventional existing maps.
A classic case was that of incorporation of Tibet as a part of China with an obliging leadership in the neighbourhood. Because of a self-styled iconoclast as the Indian Prime Minister, the agreement on Tibet was easy. Further, the permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, which could have gone India's way, was gifted to China.
The issue, however, was of crumbling empires, redefining boundaries and contentious posturing. There is a common thread weaving through all this disintegration, reintegration, redrawing of boundaries which provide a thematic unity to the times. Indeed, it was not always armorial power which defined the day. In some cases it was just the clarity of purpose or statesmanlike, proactive, moves clinching the issue.
In this period, much of the British empire ceased to exist. French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch colonies got freedom. Residue and dust would take long years to settle. Much of Asia was in the throes of border disputes. However, this is not the place where these disputes can either be analysed or sorted out or explained. But one thing is obvious. Communities, which had clear thinking and little gap between aspiration and action, carried the day and held sway.
This hypothesis on overlap between aspiration and action having their way is an important one because much else then follows the suit. In an unstable world order, where there is a gap between aspiration and action, self-driven enunciation of standards and conforming the same becomes the reference point. A stable global world order requires enunciation and sharing of these standards.
Perhaps the setting up of United Nations on the ashes of the league of nations was a step in that direction. However, the nature of conflicts, particularly in Asia, heightened the role of amoral superiority and commerce in armaments. The economists don't usually flag this but the economic world order also rode to prominence on the back of regular and irregular arms deals. Dealing in arms opened the flood gates of fight over resources. A struggle for control over energy resources, mineral wealth, resources of every conceivable order created a new world order grappling with controversies The rest, as they say, is history.
Sometimes the gap between aspiration and action leads to battles, and on other occasions, wars. In some cases it produces a revolution, and on others military coups. And the list can be added on. However, in the ultimate analysis, the social fabric almost all over Asia was severely strained. The generation which was born during the 1945 to 1960 period in this part of the world, faced tumult and turmoil as few generations in history before them had faced.
This was not easy to bear because it threatened the traditional social fabric, family relations, definitions of marriage and contours of personal happiness. Immigration got flagged as an evil if it crossed a measure not to the liking of receiving communities. These issues made it inevitable that the turmoil of developing countries spilled into the mother countries of former empires.
When convulsions of this order take place, there can be no winners or losers. There can be only shared sense of disquiet, disruption with some rear guard action in the name of order and regulation. The time has come to distil from the turmoil, the under pinning causes of this turmoil. For a commonly shared approach of reasonableness, alone can mark the beginning of a road, which is bound to be long.
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