India...The Next Superpower?

In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, it mentions that India wants to increase its defense spending, especially technology from foreign companies. The article mentions that "on foreign direct investment in the defense sector, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion recommends tripling India’s FDI cap to 74% (from 26%) if India wants to attract state of the art technology in defense." it also mentions that ". India is the 10th largest defense spender in the world, having spent $30 billion in 2008 but imports the majority of its arms because its three major defense equipment manufacturers – Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Bharat Electronics Ltd., and Mazagon Dock Ltd. – cannot match the country’s defense demands...and [India's current military states] only 15% of the equipment can be described as ’state-of-the-art’ and nearly 50% is suffering from obsolescence."


I believe India is making the right choice in looking for more foreign investment into its military. This could really help the United States too because India will probably be looking into our technology which will help American jobs. In order to be a superpower, you must be able to have a strong defense (my last article mentions how China is expanding its military).

There are some negatives for India in this as well. It is clear that India is making leaps and bounds, but, it appears their own defense companies cannot keep pace with the rest of improvements India is making in the economy. The United States, China, and even other countries such as Russia, are not dependent on foreign military technology for their own defense. In my opinion, this shows that as India looks for top military technology (instead of their own) they are becoming a powerful nation in the world, but, they are not quite a superpower yet because, they are dependent on other nations for a quality military instead of using their own technology. The United States would prefer a strong India. Although we do have to work with China, America is more comfortable when we work with democracies, so America would be more comfortable with India "spreading its sphere of influence" in Asia over China, and for India to be able to do that, they have to become a superpower.

Sources:


Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/05/18/will-defense-ministry-increase-the-fdi-limit/

Image: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-IN476_idefen_D_20100518090707.jpg

Note: Article written for school project.

Obama Bows & Pirates are blasted off of the Bow.

As Obama finishes his first tour in Asia, as President. Here are the two stories that have received some coverage, but they should have received much more. While in Japan, Obama clearly bows down to the Emperor of Japan Akihito. This is the second time Obama has bowed to a member of a royal family, the first being the Saudi King. As other news sources have mentioned, former US leaders never bowed to the Emperor or Saudi Arabia, so why is he doing it? Not to many people can probably answer that question, but it clearly shows the United States in a weak position, and it goes against everything our founding fathers fought for us in the 1700s. They fought British tyranny, and the monarchy to create a government where everyone is equal, and not one person was "higher" or "royal" or more power. With Obama bowing, he is clearly acknowledging royalty, and status in society. There are obviously bigger issues on our plate that we have to deal with, but this personally bothers me, and something is not right here, especially since this is not the first time. So President Obama, why do you bow?

Shifting gears from Asia and heading west to the African Coast off of Somalia. As one of the first stories I wrote about on my blog, has once again arrived in the spotlight. Several months ago, Pirates attempted to hijack an American vessel called the Maersk Alabama. While they never completely gained control of the ship, and the crew was able to capture a pirate, the 3 remaining pirates held the Captain hostage on the ships lifeboat at sea. South Park would create an episode regarding the incident and pirates.

Well this week, Pirates tried again to hijack the Alabama, and this time they failed miserably. The Alabama was a few steps ahead this time, as they had private security on board. While they are keeping quite on the tactics they used, guns and LRADSs have been reported to be used as the pirates quickly retreated. Something tells me the pirates were blown out of the water, as they should be. No injuries were reported on the Alabama. Last time the ship was attacked, I personally felt ships should arm themselves with guns, and use other tactics to stop piracy. With this latest event, it seems to be working, and will be interesting if more ships follow suit.

Fox News is doing a special report on 21st Century Piracy this Saturday, November 21.