Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech to the US Congress today and the tone of the speech was quite friendly to US interests. Historically, India has tried very hard not to align itself with the great powers, reflecting the suspicion of the politics that was responsible for the colonization of India by the British. Modi was open to increased contact with the US, including closer military and strategic relations. The shift in Indian foreign policy is based largely on its growing concern about Chinese power in the region.
Prime Minister Modi Before the US Congress
One of the reasons why globalization accelerated so sharply at the end of the 20th century was because communications and transportation technologies made far-flung supply chains feasible. Because components of manufactured products could be transported efficiently, producers of those products simply found the lowest wage areas suitable for producing each component. With increasingly automated and roboticized production processes, labor costs have become significantly less important in more recent years. With reduced labor costs, production is now taking place in areas that offer other cost advantages, such as reduced environmental protection costs, lower taxes, and better infrastructure. In some sense, globalization has brought about its own demise.
The Global Peace Index 2016 has just been published and it suggests that the world is becoming less peaceful as violence spreads to more countries. According to The Telegraph: “There are now only 10 countries considered completely free from conflict; Botswana, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Mauritius, Panama, Qatar, Switzerland, Uruguay, and Vietnam.” Since 2015, 81 countries have become more peaceful, and 79 countries have become more violent. Unfortunately, the rise in violence outweighed the more peaceful variables.
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