Gain position of Strength

Technology is the key to winning wars. The capability of winning wars is the key to effective diplomatic posturing. If you have military capability backing you, your diplomatic manoeuvres gain far greater legitimacy.

Germany’s early gains in the WWII were due to the iron that they melted to make tanks and other armoured vehicles and even planes. Hitler commissioned the Luftwaffe. But this aeroplane squadron still could not overrun Britain, though this time the English Channel that protected Britain even from the Napoleonic avarice could not have protected Britain from the brute air power of the Germans. It was the discovery of the Radar, which gave Britain the strategic capability to defend its territory against aerial attacks.

Interestingly, it was the Radar invented by Watson Watt that protected Britian from the Luftwaffe. Yes, Watson belonged to same family as the inventor of steam engines – James Watt. Sometimes, the almighty gives too much to just some and too less to many. Seems that the Watt family was one such example.

It is well established that the best inventions have been prompted by military mandate or the compulsions of war. The internet is one example. Infact, a bewildered Britain, toiling hard not to supplicate before the brute German advance, set the pace for the discovery of computers, by designing a machine that could break the German code. The code that they used for internal communication.

The Jet engines were also discovered during the same period, surprising by-standers who watched in bewilderment the flight of an aeroplane without propellers. Whittles invention of Jets of course did put the propellers made by Rolls Royce in disuse, yet it brought in a new paradigm in flight technology.

It is just child logic, if a cop comes to you with a begging bowl in hand, you would never listen. Whereas, some advanced countries have a police very polite and highly sensitized to the needs of the people, yet, their uniform has symbols of power and authority, sometimes even arms, that gives them a legitimacy.

Due to the criminal neglect of armament and technology the regional hegemony that India could have enjoyed by now, by its sheer size and the traction of its economy is lost. In the ‘60s the military might of India and China was pretty much at par. Similarly, though we continue to enjoy superiority over Pakistan in conventional weaponry, they have more than offset that advantage by creating a significant nuclear arsenal. But, corruption and more than that, the traditional rivalry between the brass and bureaucracy has damaged the fine balance that was supposed to exist. In this the bureaucracy is the clear winner but the country is the clear loser. Defence is a priority area even in spending, and the babu cannot deny Defence expenditure, so he delays it. He though establishes his over arching dominance on the brass but in the process the country loses. But who cares.