Spineless statesmanship
Arindam Lahiri
International Tax Specialist | Tax Planning, Litigation Management and Advocacy
In September 2017, Michael Porter and Katherine Gehl had published their research findings in an article in the Harvard Business Review – Why Competition in the politics industry is failing America. It’s a fascinating description of the American political landscape and the consequences thereof. In the said article, the authors concluded that the political system in America is not broken. It is doing what it is designed to do. Joe Biden is the product of same American political system. He is a spineless statesman with no understanding of world order, feeble in mind, selfish to the core, sub-optimal in cognitive orientation and above all, demonstrates pathetic leadership.
A leader is one who can think and strategize ahead of others. He needs to lead. That's why this skill is called 'leadership'.
Defeat of the West in Afghanistan was a shot in the arm for Comrade Putin:
Let’s accept it - American soldiers and diplomats had to run away from Afghanistan. They had to leave arms and ammunition behind and flee for their lives from a country in which America had invested billion of dollars over the last decade. This was the result of poor execution and failure of intelligence. The West could not protect democratic values in Afghanistan and left the people of the country to mercy of Taliban. What a complete waste of resources, drainage of taxpayers’ money! Dictators and potential land grabbers all over the world received the signal that the so called ‘most powerful nation’ has been relegated to a paper tiger. They also started to believe firmly that their noble (diabolic) intentions would fructify soon.
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You are alone in this battle - nobody will come to your support:
The Ukrainian crisis is showing what is obvious i.e. how vulnerable we are before the whims and fancies of a crazy political dictator. As a result, innocent citizens will undergo immense sufferings for no fault of theirs and nobody will come to their rescue. Comrade Putin has no respect for freedom and liberty. But do the leaders of the West have any respect for the same causes? The whole world is watching annihilation of Ukraine because their selfish self interest prevents them from taking action.
“Over the course of the Project, however, we found that Washington is making virtually no progress – and hasn’t made any in decades – in addressing any of these steps. Meanwhile, many other countries are getting better. A similar failure to progress has also afflicted the nation’s social agenda, where America has fallen from being a leader – and often a pioneer – to a position well behind most other advanced countries.”
Putin knows that the European countries needs gas. He knows that America is no longer a superpower and is having its weakest leadership in history. He also knows that Europe is fragmented in reality and cannot initiate consensus action. There could not be a better time to crush democracy! Over the last many years, Europe and America have emboldened Russia. Even after the invasion of Ukraine, no sanctions could be imposed on Russian gas and oil. Revenues from export of oil and gas is providing financial wherewithal to Putin to wage war and crush democracy. Every time the price of oil goes up, Putin gets an adrenaline rush. Globally, there is no focus to move towards green energy. There are no stretched targets to give up fossil fuel. We are happy to burn oil and run our cars. We are happy to burn Russian gas and keep us warm. Thus, we also need to pay a heavy price for the lackluster approach towards the environment. ?
Poor global political leadership will result in more land grabbing, keep watching:
Dictators are having a field day in this world of spineless statesmanship. They are emboldened like never before. Chinese communist party should be planning its attack on Taiwan. Putin will target other East European states and install his puppets there. The whole world would keep watching from their Lenovo laptops and Xiaomi cell phones. If you feel frustrated, please pick up a glass of Vodka!
“By placing confidence in violent means, one has chosen the very type of struggle with which the oppressors nearly always have superiority.” Gene Sharp, From Dictatorship to Democracy
EPM Specialist| FCCS Program SME|| Ex PWC |Ex TCS, RBS, Tata Steel|EPM with Multiple Industry exposure
2 年Well articulated…But that feeling of helplessness is so petrifying…
Senior Tax Professional |Ex-Amazon, PwC, KPMG
2 年Very well said..Nice read. Arindam da!!
Corporate Taxation | Cross border Structuring | Tax Litigation | CSR | FCRA | Legal | Solution oriented | International Taxation
2 年Well articulated!
Associate Partner, Pricewaterhouse & Co LLP
2 年Hard hitting article!