Hi there, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam responses? If so how do you protect against it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy s…

I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Outstanding work!…

Hello! Quick question that’s entirely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when viewing from my iphone4. I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to resolve this issue. If you have an…

RISING CHINA AND THE NEED FOR U.S COUNTER STRATEGY

With a population at 1,330,044,605, as estimated by CIA (July 2008 estimated), China leads all nations by it human capital. China boasts a literacy rate of 90% though official figures as to accessibility to Internet are not available. As far as U.S is concerned, it has a very high rate of accessibility to Internet. The entire U.S society is now logged on to Internet by one way or the other. A life without Internet in the U.S is unimaginable and any disruption of the free flow of information would pose a grave political and commercial consequences. The entire U.S Government machinery functions on information technology(IT). IT infrastructure is so crucial that it is linked to U.S allies in Europe as well. The protection of IT infrastructure is of paramount importance.
China recently demonstrated that it has the ability to take on an ailing satellite and China was successful in destroying the Satellite. This is an alarming development and had wider corollary for U.S National Security concerns. Does China have the capacity to destroy U.S Military satellites? Does U.S have the ability to counter Chinese capacity to target U.S Commercial and Military satellites?. These are vital U.S National Security concerns. Has U.S ever conducted War Games in the absence of a network of Satellites?. Almost all the War Games hitherto conducted have been to test the effectiveness of plans and weapons and its high technological efficiency. Never has there been a War Game to prepare U.S for a situation where there is a total breakdown of communications. Communications play a central role in governing a country and without which a Military High Command cannot function and it would put the entire country at risk. There have been reports that China had constructed a secret sub marine base in the Hainan Island primarily to counter U.S. military presence in the Pacific. India too had expressed concerned as the base was not very far from the Indian territory and India would be vulnerable to submarine launched ballistic missiles. This is a clear manifestation of Chinese grand intentions in the region. China is a secretive society unlike U.S where public affairs are conducted every hour on the hour using high technology through mass media channels.
Chinese products keep penetrating markets world wide at an alarming rate. The products range from footwear to machinery. Chinese construction companies have in the recent past, made inroads into traditional markets receptive to U.S and European companies. European designs have been extensively copied by Chinese entrepreneurs and it would be difficult for an unsuspecting individual to differentiate the Chinese product from original handcrafted quality footwear from a U.S or European product. China had invested heavily on industrial espionage and Chinese nationals have been caught in the very acts of espionage. Chinese domestic political landscape is so interwoven that people can be mobilized at will by the State, unlike in U.S, where civil and political rights have been guaranteed by the Constitution and conscription would be politically suicidal for the Government. Chinese domestic political situation is a far cry from the U.S system and molded on the needs of the military necessities.
The Chinese construction companies have been awarded construction projects world wide especially in the Middle East region without weighing the pros and cons of engaging a construction company with a track record. In some cases cost aspects have taken precedence over quality and safety matters rendering the project vulnerable to catastrophes. The Cost of engaging a Chinese company is much cheaper than employing a U.S Company. A group of Chinese engineers could share a congested room at a construction site whereas an American or a European Engineer would require a fully furnished apartment with frequent travel to home base an additional facilities such as family packages to compensate for working outside the U.S territory. These factors keep U.S and European companies from competing with Chinese companies. This has been so due to societal norms in the U.S. But to counter rising China, U.S needs a much more holistic approach that should encompass its traditional U.S. allies and India in particular. U.S must have a political dialogue with India as India is the only country that can be pitted against China. What U.S should now be doing is to empower India and its people to face the reality before it is too late. It would be difficult for U.S to deal with China given the current social, cultural and political considerations to mount a campaign to withstand Rising China in about 20 years time. The panacea for countering Rising China should ideal be to:
- Launch a political dialogue with India taking advantage of its vibrant democracy.
- Assess the industrial and commercial opportunities in India vis-à-vis competition with Chinese products.
- Initiate an internationally accepted Quality Assurance/ Quality Control regime/ convention so that Chinese products will be required to comply with such -international standards and this will enable the signatories to comply with the requirements of the convention.
- Introduce a mechanism whereby Chinese manufacturing could be subjected to international inspection for compliance.
- U.S and European manufacturers must invest heavily in the Indian domestic market for production of Motor Vehicles, machinery, and other hi-tech products solely for export markets so that it would deter Chinese products making inroads into markets traditionally receptive to U.S and European products.
- Empower Indian nationals taking advantage of its English Speaking community and English must be delivered to every Indian with the assistance of the Government of India. A comprehensive educational program should be undertaken to produce the leaders needed to achieve the results envisioned.
- Increase the level of cooperation between U.S and Indian academic institutions on advanced research.
- Introduce a joint patenting procedure for joint research.
- Holistic approach to bring Indian manufacturing standards in line with U.S Standards (including higher education so that Indian Engineers could be employed by U.S Companies at a fraction of a cost of hiring a U.S Engineer. This will enable U.S companies to mitigate the costs).
- Forge greater strategic cooperation with Indian Defense establishments and on defense research.
- Invite India for participation in the Anti – Missile Defense shield. -Russia is a good partner for U.S provided a domestic opinion and a sound economic and business environment are created in order to upgrade the standards of business operations within the Russian law. Russia lacks sophistication in Commercial laws and rigors of doing business under general principles of law and this needs to be modified and brought to an accepted level on par with the west. If Russia is taken on board the western bandwagon fully, it would further strengthen the U.S position. Russia needs to get over its cold war obsessions completely in order to play a greater role in the world of commerce. It has got huge reserves of raw materials and needs to partner with West in order to position itself in the global market. This would obviously entail a special public diplomacy initiative catered to Russian alone. I am sure with the involvement of young entrepreneurs U.S would be able to garner support from the young Russians rendering the old guard ineffective.