What It Takes
NEED TO KNOW
What It Takes
INDIA
Does India have what it takes to become a great power on the world stage?
University of Chicago political scientist Paul Poast wrote in World Politics Review that he is skeptical.
While India’s population and economy are growing and the country appears ready to invest more to make its military top class, the massive country – the world’s largest democracy – still faces major issues, from poverty to ethnic rivalries and violence among its many different cultures, languages and ethnic communities, Post argued.
“It is not yet a great power, let alone a superpower,” he explained. “For now, it remains a sleeping giant, and there’s no guarantee it will ever awaken.”
India boosters like Martin Wolf of the Financial Times might disagree. Martin recently argued that India will rise to the top of the geopolitical hierarchy for no other reason than its population is now the largest in the world and growing.
India, noted Martin, is on track to hit 1.67 billion people in 2050, while 1.32 billion people will live in China and the US population will be 380 million.
Post was also raising questions about a “great power partnership” between India and the US, as outlined in an Atlantic Council article by Free & Open Indo-Pacific Forum President and Atlantic Council non-resident senior fellow Kaush Arha and Samir Saran, the president of the Observer Research Foundation, India. India has always maintained relations with China, Russia, and other US rivals.
Among India’s greatest challenges to achieving its full potential arguably is caste, or “the most important fault line in Indian society,” noted the Economist. As the BBC explained, the caste system is a 3,000-year-old form of social stratification that divides society into rigid hierarchical groups based on economic class, profession, family history, and so forth.
In an example of how caste sows disunity in India, the country’s Supreme Court recently issued controversial decisions on the matter, rejecting a petition to declare the traditional caste system as unconstitutional, wrote the Jurist. “There are provisions in the Constitution specifically referring to caste, to socially and educationally backward classes,” noted a justice.
They further found that officials could not fire government and bank staffers hired due to their caste even if the government had otherwise removed their castes from the so-called “schedules” that track caste statuses throughout the subcontinent, added the Hindu.
Perhaps most importantly, the court also legalized the sub-classification of folks within the castes in which they are already classified. The Indian Express was critical of the idea, saying it would cause more problems in the lowest castes as they jockey for status within the bottom tiers.
If India can overcome this problem, it has the right to be a global superpower.
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
No Respite
ISRAEL/ WEST BANK & GAZA
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Israel on Saturday night to demand the government negotiate with Hamas to secure the release of hostages. The demonstrations occurred as a Jordanian gunman killed three Israelis while Israeli forces in the West Bank shot dead an American-Turkish activist.
In the coastal city of Tel Aviv, an estimated 500,000 demonstrators gathered in what organizers claim to be Israel’s largest-ever protest, according to the Times of Israel. Another 250,000 joined demonstrations in Jerusalem, Haifa, and other cities.
Tensions between demonstrators and police flared in Tel Aviv, where protesters blocked major roads, including the Ayalon Freeway, and lit bonfires. Five people were arrested during clashes with police, and several demonstrators attempted to push past security lines.
The protests were driven by the execution of six Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip late last month, reigniting public anger toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict and stifled efforts to have captives released.
Demonstrators have become increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu’s refusal to make concessions in ongoing negotiations with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages. Critics accused Netanyahu of endangering the lives of those still in captivity by relying on military pressure rather than diplomatic solutions.
Former hostages and their families have voiced their outrage, with some arguing that military operations in Gaza are leading to more hostage deaths.
Meanwhile, violence at the Allenby Bridge border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan escalated on Sunday when a Jordanian gunman shot and killed three Israeli security officers, the Associated Press reported.
The attacker later died in a shootout with Israeli forces. Jordan announced an investigation into the attack.
Observers said the incident is connected to the 11-month-old conflict in Gaza – ignited by Hamas forces’ incursion into Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and saw around 250 taken hostage – and which has further strained relations between Israel and Jordan.
Although Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994, it remains critical of Israeli actions and policies in Gaza.
In a separate incident in the West Bank, Aysenur Eygi, a 26-year-old American-Turkish activist, was shot and killed by Israeli troops during a protest against settlement expansion, CBS News wrote.
The US and Turkish governments condemned the killing as “murder” and called for an investigation. Eygi’s death underscores the broader rise in violence in the West Bank, with at least 661 Palestinians and 23 Israelis killed in the region since October 2023.
Lack of Players
VENEZUELA
Former presidential candidate Edmundo González left Venezuela for asylum in Spain, Spanish officials announced Sunday, a move that dealt a bitter blow to the country’s opposition as the government continues its crackdown in the wake of July’s disputed presidential election, the Guardian reported.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed that González was flying to Spain, adding that the opposition politician had “requested asylum and the Spanish government will of course process this and concede it.”
Venezuelan government officials also claimed González had left after “voluntarily seeking refuge” in the Spanish embassy. They added that the decision to let him leave was designed to “contribute to political peace.”
González’s exile comes after the opposition figure hid for more than a month following the government’s crackdown on its opponents in the wake of the July 28 presidential vote.
A political crisis has gripped the oil-rich South American nation since the Venezuelan electoral council declared incumbent Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the poll with 52 percent of the vote.
The Supreme Court also confirmed the results – even as both the court and the council have come under fire for being packed with Maduro loyalists.
The opposition has accused the government of fraud and irregularities. Last month, they published tally sheets collected by volunteers from more than two-thirds of electronic voting machines used in polling that showed Gonzáles won by a margin of more than 2-to-1.
Despite the government’s claims, many Western and Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro’s reelection unless the Venezuelan government releases full voting data.
González’s predicament was exacerbated in recent weeks after he was accused of a series of crimes, including conspiracy and criminal association, which could have resulted in a 30-year prison sentence.
His exile prompted frustration and distress from the opposition and foreign politicians. Observers noted that González’s departure also further complicates the situation of Venezuela’s opposition amid the ongoing government dissent.
Attention has turned to another key figure, María Corina Machado, who remains in the country and has vowed to stay there, despite acknowledging the growing dangers she still faces.
Meanwhile, Venezuela engaged in a diplomatic spat over the weekend after security forces surrounded the Argentine embassy in the capital Caracas, where six opposition figures critical of Maduro are seeking refuge, the BBC added.
Diplomatic relations between the two nations broke down in the summer after Argentina rejected the presidential election’s outcome, resulting in Brazil representing Argentine interests in Venezuela.
However, Caracas recently revoked Brazil’s custody of the embassy, leaving the opposition figures vulnerable.
Not Our Pick
FRANCE
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of French cities over the weekend to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint a conservative prime minister – despite left-leaning parties winning most seats in the July parliamentary elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Around 110,000 people, including students and opposition politicians, marched across the country, claiming that Macron “stole” the elections and demanding his resignation.
Among their chief grievances was the appointment of Michel Barnier, a conservative from the Les Républicains party and the European Union’s former chief negotiator for Brexit.
His appointment came weeks after Macron’s ruling centrist coalition lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in the July 7 election.
The result was a hung parliament that consisted of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition securing the most votes and the far-right National Rally coming in third place as the single largest party.
The NFP – made up of socialists, greens, communists, and far-left parties – expected their candidate, Lucie Castets, to be named prime minister. But Macron rejected her, saying Castets did not have enough support in the lower house to survive a confidence vote.
Observers told France 24 that the president had to seek assurances from other parties, particularly the National Rally, over the pick for prime minister – potentially casting the far-right group as a kingmaker.
Barnier’s appointment drew ire from NFP leaders who accused Macron of ignoring the will of the French voters and empowering the far-right.
In his first interview, Barnier vowed to focus on reducing immigration, addressing France’s deficit, and raising low wages. He said he was open to discussing Macron’s contested pension reforms but maintained the changes would not be repealed.
Barnier also expressed openness to work with other political parties, but the NFP has refused to join the new government.
Leader of the far-right National Rally party Marine Le Pen said she would wait to see Barnier’s policy proposals before deciding on whether to support him.
DISCOVERIES
Star Struck
Archeologists recently uncovered what is believed to be ancient Egypt’s first known astronomical observatory, which they hailed as the “first and largest” of its kind.
Discovered in the ancient city of Buto, in the northern Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, the site dates back to the sixth century BCE and was initially mistaken for a temple because of its peculiar layout.
It had an L-shaped structure with a traditional east-facing pylon entrance that measured more than 9,100 square feet.
But the presence of key artifacts – most notably a large sundial – confirmed the site’s true purpose as an observatory.
“Everything we found shattered our expectations,” said Hossam Ghonim, head of the Egyptian archeological mission, in an interview with Live Science.
Ghonim and his team explained that the ancient building faced east and was aligned with the sunrise where a sky observer, known as a “smn pe,” would have stood to monitor celestial movements.
They added that the observatory has a carving of the “smn pe” facing the rising Sun, which symbolizes the ancient civilization’s close relationship with the cosmos.
But what stood out was a slanted stone sundial, which used the Sun’s shadows to track time, from sunrise to sunset. The researchers also found a “merkhet,” a timekeeping tool the Egyptians used to organize their solar calendar and schedule religious and agricultural events.
The findings provide some insights into how Egyptians used astronomy to determine the solar calendar, religious ceremonies, and the agricultural year. Statues of gods found around the observatory, such as Horus and Wadjet – the latter being a serpent goddess protective of the king – emphasized the spiritual and scientific roles of the site.
Perhaps most intriguing was the discovery of a stone mat inscribed with astronomical depictions of sunrise and sunset across three seasons.
“The ancient Egyptians envisioned the Earth and sky as two mats,” Ghonim said. “They mapped the sky on the ‘Themet Hrt’ – the sky mat – and the ‘Themet Ghrt,’ or Earth mat, represented their calendar, marking events like the Nile flood and harvest. This is the first inscribed stone mat of its kind ever discovered.”
Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, called the observatory a testament to ancient Egypt’s “prowess and skill in astronomy,” Artnet added.
The discovery further attests to humanity’s fascination and quest to learn more about the cosmos, even in the early days.