Do it yourself

The recent violence in Los Angeles, California, stemming from protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids starting June 6, 2025, has evoked strong responses from global communities. The militarized response to what began as localized unrest has triggered a much wider debate, both within the United States and internationally. The deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops and the placement of 700 U.S. Marines on “high alert,” coupled with the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and curfews, has drawn sharp criticism. This heavy-handed approach is not entirely unexpected, given President Trump’s experience with the 2021 Capitol Hill riot, which underscored his administration’s preference for forceful responses to civil unrest. The ensuing tension between the California state government, led by Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, and the federal government has raised further concerns about governance, human rights, and the risk of escalating conflict. The global r...

  Last year, the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated while he was addressing a public meeting. This is perhaps the first of its kind of act of violence since assassination of Inejirō Asanuma, the then Chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, in 1960. The visuals of Abe’s assassination may have shattered the image of Japan, most people would be carrying in their mind, viz., the image of most courteous people showing remarkable patience and calmness in their public behavior. The post WW2 generation had only witnessed Japanese people who were extra polite, patient, courteous, and cooperative. These Japanese were very different from the pre-WW2 Japanese, who took pride in their martial and imperialistic traditions. Political assassinations were commonplace. The Japanese Army was considered one of the most brutal forces. The imperialist Japanese occupied parts of Russia, China, and Korea; plundered their wealth, and enslaved their women. The 1945 nuclear attack on...

In the past 6 years, several significant events have occurred that would shape the new global order in the next decade or two. I would particularly like to mention the following ten events that in my view could potentially prove to be transformative for the global order: 1.      Incorporation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party. (2017) 2.      Abolition of time limits, allowing Xi Jinping to remain General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission for life. (2018) (After winning an overwhelming majority in the 2020 elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin is also eligible to stay in office until 2036.) 3.      The Exit of the UK from the common European market (the EU) (2017-2020); and the elevation of the first non-white person (Rishi Sunak) to the office of Prime Minister of the UK in 2022. 4.      The ...

  In a paper published in 1988 researchers William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser highlighted that a large majority of people have a cognitive bias against change in their present conditions. In their research, they found that “people show a disproportionate preference for choices that maintain the status quo.” They referred to this trait of human behavior as “status quo bias”. Several other researchers have added subsequently to the findings of Samuelson and Zeckhauser. In my personal life, I have noticed several instances of status quo bias whether it is ordering in a restaurant, making investment decisions, buying vehicles, choosing healthcare professionals, or even voting in the elections. I find that status quo bias is particularly strong during periods of stress or crisis. I have observed that during periods of stress or crisis (actual or perceived) people generally avoid trying new things, people, or places, etc. They prefer to trust their existing captain when the waters ...