By Prafull Goradia
Speaking on CNN last week, well known American columnist and TV personality Fareed Zakaria was pessimistic about the prospects of Ukraine in its current clash against Russia. Zakaria felt that for the next several decades, India would have to face China’s hostility. New Delhi should, therefore, align itself solidly with the US. In any case, the Ministry of External Affairs should forget its old habit of dancing with neutralism. Coming from a former Indian, Zakaria’s advice must be taken as earnest.
However, it would be advisable to look at America’s record as an ally; written, spoken or implicit. Towards the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson promoted the establishment of the League of Nations, headquartered at Geneva. Its function was to be similar to that of its successor, the United Nations Organisation. The League functioned to the extent of conducting an exchange of population between Bulgaria and Turkey, as well as Greece and Turkey. Unfortunately, the American Senate based at the Capitol in Washington DC refused to endorse the unnecessary involvement of the US in Europe’s affairs. That, effectively, was the end of the League of Nations, an idea that had been conceived and actively promoted by an American President.
World War II broke out on September 1, 1939, when Germany’s Wehrmacht invaded Poland, which had a written treaty of alliance with Britain and France, according to which if any of the three countries were to be attacked, all three would fight together to defend one another. Yet, in September 1939, Britain and France did nothing other than expressing sympathy for Poland, which was overrun in its west by Adolf Hitler and the east by Josef Stalin. Never before had history witnessed horses being butchered by battle tanks, a fate that befell the cavalry units of the Polish Army when German Panzer tanks were unleashed on them. So much for the value of an alliance!
The US is racially an Anglo-Saxon nation. The cultural bonds between the US and Britain are fraternal and close. Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s mother Lady Randolph Churchill was an American. After the Battle of Britain, the crucial clash between the Air Forces of Britain and Germany in the summer of 1940, Churchill realised that there was no way for his country on its own to overcome Nazi Germany. He flew to Washington DC to appeal to President Franklin Roosevelt as well as the US Congress to come to the aid of their British brethren.
Else, the fear was that western civilisation would go under the Nazi jackboot. Churchill returned empty-handed, save for an American promise to supply arms on a rental basis, called the Lend Lease. This was despite Churchill’s stirring appeal to Washington: “Had my father been an American and not my mother, would you not have helped me?” Such was the ‘fraternity’ between the two Anglo-Saxon partners.
Washington didn’t anticipate that Japan would soon sail across half the Pacific undetected and destroy Pearl Harbor, America’s vital naval base, on December 7, 1941. The US then declared war on Japan, which retaliated with a similar declaration. The Axis alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan required that if any of these countries were at war, the other two would join in immediately. Consequently, Germany and Italy declared war on the US. It was thus only in December 1941 that this European conflict, which had begun more than two years ago, truly became a world war, leaving no option for the US but to join it. In other words, the US entered the fray only when it was attacked; it did not fight when its brother was desperately in need.
Taiwan, another country that is an American ally and faces an expansionist China, to a considerable extent, is ethnically Chinese but its leader Chiang Kai Shek was allied to the US until his defeat at the hands of Mao Zedong in China’s civil war that ensued from 1945 to 1949. It was Chiang who led many of his followers to the island that is today Taiwan. The country’s political system is democratic, while its economic ideology is free and liberal.
Taiwan was not only admitted to the UN promptly, but also continued as a member of the Security Council. When the threat of war from mainland China grew graver, a security agreement to protect Taiwan was signed with the US. That agreement, the Taiwan Relations Act, is still in force although in 1972, quite casually, Taiwan was removed from the Security Council and its seat was given to communist China, which is now considered an adversarial nation.
This American habit of engaging in a tango for change is a source of apprehension to potential allies. Fareed Zakaria is oblivious of such changes, he cannot be in any position to be advising India’s foreign policy moves. In any case, for a large country, it is desirable to be self-reliant and flexible towards the changing tunes of international affairs. The economic benefits that could accrue from a wealthy ally would be too small for a large country, while the US willingness to come to the aid of allies is doubtful. (Courtesy: The Pioneer)
