And don't forget the USA could potentially contribute to new countries. Governor Perry of Texas periodically like to threaten to secede from the union.

And there has been a Puerto Rico independence movement.

This is how things may eventually form, but it will take time for it to occur.

The issue is how. In South Sudan it will depend upon the reaction by the government in Khartoum. No government, much less a dictatorship wants to lose territory and/or access to resources.

The game with Russia and China has to be played out as a give and take. They will have certain realms of influence (South Ossetia, Abakhazia) as Western nations work on the general entropy of self-determination.

The author failed to mention examples where separatist/rebellious movements were more or less decisively defeated, such as the LTTE in Sri Lanka and the FARC in Colombia. While it is true that reflexively resisting separatist impulses is mistaken, it is equally irresponsible to blindly support the myriad of separatist groups worldwide. For one, most separatists do not really have a good record or program of governance should they gain power. Also, since most rebel groups nowadays are not fighting for ideological purposes (I am excluding religious extremists here because it is unclear whether they want to actually control territory or not), they are ethnic based. Hence, it is probable that whatever new states are created will experience ugly conflicts involving forced relocation of minority groups. It is entirely possible to simply destroy separatist groups, and then to implement effective policies to address legitimate grievances.

In some cases its not merely breaking up states...its also reintegrating them with already existing bretheren.

While I agree that the current number of states will not remain so, it doesn't necessarily mean it will explode way into the 2000 or so states that would come about if every secessionist in the world had their way.

First of all, merely becoming independent, while it fulfils the philosophical bit about self-determination, says nothing for how they will survive as independant states.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia for example: Abkhazia is bigger, more populated, with clearly delineable borders, and most importantly, it has a coastline with a port to trade with. South Ossetia is ill-defined, with less people than the total capacity of the Bird Nest stadium they used in the Beijing Games, and would only exist in the manner its people want to if it joined permanently with the Russian federation and North Ossetia.

Then one has to wonder, if a particular group feels maligned but the neighboring country with the same group treats that group better or, indeed, is run by that group, why would there need to be seperate states permanently?

The countries of the East African Community have the right idea to create a nation based on their shared geography around Lake Victoria, and around the swahili language. They are slowly starting to pool their resources and become quite powerful as a single unit based not on conquest but on consent. They are currently working toward political federation and there has even been talk of South Sudan joining them due to ethnic and religious affinity between South Sudan and Uganda, and economic close ties with Kenya.

Now this doesn't remain true in all cases. Somaliland is a good example of a nation that just needs to seperate and be done, perhaps taking Somalia's position in the UN and everywhere else. All I'm saying is people should also look into the idea of integration as well as seperation, not just the latter.

Whether the author would like to admit it or not, in Israel there is no such thing as a 1967 border. They were arbitrary cease fire lines created after a war and had nothing to do with borders. So, recognizing a state based on non-existing borders and rather cease fire lines will not help it become a state, rather it can re ignite a conflict and make it lose even more land. There is no border there because what does it border? A state? no.

The article made no mention of water issues, which have-been/are/will-be the most important aspect of these separatist movements: the main reason for water company executive Levi Eshkol's storming of Golan and occupation of Samaria and Judea in 1967 was water (why y'think Ben Gurion handpicked him?); Eritrea has to kiss Ethiopia's butt for every drop; Darfur would/will be a land of camels and UN water trucks--like most of Judea and Samaria today.

Fresh water is the most important natural resource on Earth. Any discussion of the sort this article addresses MUST include water issues.

Wow you forgot to mention the creation of new countries named KASHMIR, NAGALAND and MEZORAM????

Without going into a litany, I have been thinking that the United States is too big to manage effectively and should be broken up into 2 or 3 countries. It is so hard to achieve any kind of consensus with wide regional differences and beliefs. The coastal cities have little in common with the middle plains states. I would like to see an effort to imagine how a break-up of the USA would work. Even as an exercise in creative destruction. Perhaps Lincoln was wrong--the south should have been allowed to secede from the union. Perhaps they still should.

this article is a joke

Khanna's analysis is interesting, but extremely naive and unrealistic. Every major power in the world, Eastern or Western, democratic or authoritarian, has separatists, from the Basque separatists in Spain to the IRA in the UK. Sovereignty does not always lead to peace, it can also result in more instability and violence, as new regimes try to "purify" their countries of the ethnic and cultural groups supported by the previous regime. Like the violent Shiite mass retaliation against the Sunnis after the Iraq War. Imagine if the IRA had succeeded, what would have happened to the Protestants of North Ireland? Do we really want to see a replay of the Troubles?

Khannna, you dont forget to mention Pakistan, But are unable to see your home country, on the verge of brink day by day,,,,,

Dont forget KASHMIR, VAST TRACT OF LANDS UNDER CONTROL OF NAXALITES, ASSAM, SIKKIM, KHALISTAN, NAGALAND, CHHATEESGARH, MANIPUR, MIZORAM........

These are just few on the list and dont forget number of others, including 90 % of your population who earns less than a dollar a day!!!!!!

Forget about all other nation falling apart, KEEP THE INDIA ON TOP OF REST OF THE SO_CALLED FAILING STATES....

New nations have been a rarity and they will continue to be. They are also not necessarily a good thing. I've written a longer response at my blog called "The Asianist" at this website: http://asianist.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/should-we-get-ready-for-more-south-sudans/. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Like Most Indians Parag Khanna is insecure and patient of dimentia.
Here is the medicine for him and those like him. FP is won't publish my piece because it does not fit their Neo con line.

Here is a very detiled logical discussin about the main real estate which ought to meet the fate Khanna is avoiding to talk about including Kashmir.

This article has already been published and read by several thousands of readers all accross the world.

Balkanization of India.
(Millions of Slum-dogs need be emancipated)

The idea of Balkanization of India is silently creeping to the
fore from different quarters and schools of thought. Fast
changing regional and global dynamics also demanding a serious
and conscientious attention towards this crucial issue, which
entails far and wide ramifications for the region and the world.

This is such an important issue that intellectuals, academicians, and policy strategists should treat it above any sentimentality, nationalistic or partisan attitudes to reach a purely logical and plausible conclusion.

First of all let us shed some light on the history of the Indian Sub-Continent so that a rationally and logically sustainable ground could be established for this discussion.

Historically, about 72 % of the current Indian population is originated from Aryan race. Prominent historians and Dravidians consider Aryans as foreign invaders to India. The Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) was postulated by eminent Oxford scholar Max Muller in 1882 and later advanced by several western and Indian historians. According to latest research however, which repudiates the invasion theory, they seem to be the natives of the Northern region.

There is a consensus among various Historians that there was little known of Indian Continent or of its people before Muslim conquest of the area. Muslims therefore being the first historians of the area. (Gustave Le Bon). Arabs like Mohammad bin Qasim. and Tariq bin Ziyad were the very firsts Muslims who conquered the area which brought Islam to the region. Indian sub continent was then invaded by the Russian Tatars like Ganges Khan and Kublai Khan, who later converted to Islam. Historically it had been a monotheistic society as per the Puranas and Vedas and Sanskrit literature. In nut shell this area had been fairly developed with communal, social and political institutions. Al Bairuni (borne in 973 in Uzbekistan and died in 1048 in Ghazna now Ghazni, Afghanistan) being the very first Muslim Prominent scholarly figure. The continent flourished to the optimum under Muslim rule and it used to be called the “Golden sparrow”, before it was robbed by the British.

To discern the reality of India as a country it would not be out of place to quote here the noted author Mr. William Dalrymple, who has done much work on the area and authored many books.

“In the world's media, never has the contrast between the two countries appeared so stark: one is widely perceived as the next great superpower; the other written off as a failed state ….He further adds, On the ground, of course, the reality is different and first-time visitors to Pakistan are almost always surprised by the country's visible prosperity. There is far less poverty on show in Pakistan than in India, fewer beggars, and much less desperation. In many ways the infrastructure of Pakistan is much more advanced: there are better roads and airports, and more reliable electricity. Middle-class Pakistani houses are often bigger and better appointed than their equivalents in India. Moreover, the Pakistani economy is undergoing a construction and consumer boom similar to India's, with growth rates of 7%, and what is currently the fastest-rising stock market in Asia”.

Any one with common sense can see the direction towards which India is headed. Far from being the next superpower or the sole ruler of the entire Indian Ocean, India is a country at the brink of disintegration. The reason for that is not only because she has earned enemies due to its hostile foreign policy towards neighboring countries, and its desire to create hegemony in the region with the hope to expand her boundaries to include countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ceylon, Burma, Nepal and more to create a huge Indian empire, or Vishal Bharat. Most importantly, It’s her internal fractures that are most likely to drive India towards a fate similar to that of Soviet Union.

On the onset of decline of Ottoman Empire, East India Co barges in as a trading co and manipulates acting on behest of the emperor.
In August 1858 the British Parliament abolished the English East India Company and transferred the company’s responsibilities to the British crown. This launched a period of direct rule in India, ending the fiction of company rule as an agent of the Mughal emperor (who was tried for treason and exiled to Burma). In November 1858, in her proclamation to the “Princes, Chiefs, and Peoples of India,” Queen Victoria pledged to preserve the rule of Indian princes in return for loyalty to the crown. More than 560 such enclaves, taking in one-fourth of India’s area and one-fifth of its people, were preserved until Indian independence in 1947. India started out as more than 500 states.

The British Indian Empire, informally, the British Raj (r?j, lit. “rule” in Hindi) or simply British India, internationally and contemporaneously, India, was the term used synonymously for the region, the rule, and the period, from 1858 to 1947, of the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent. The region included areas of British India directly administered by the United Kingdom (contemporaneously, “British India”) as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown. The princely states, which had all entered into treaty arrangements with the British Crown, were allowed a degree of local autonomy in exchange for protection and representation in international affairs by Great Britain. The British Indian Empire included the regions of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and, in addition, at various times, Aden (from 1839 to 1937), Lower Burma (from 1852) and Upper Burma (from 1886) until 1937, British Somaliland (briefly from 1884 to 1898), and the Straits Settlements (briefly from 1819 to 1867). The British Indian Empire had some ties with British possessions in the Middle East; the Indian rupee served as the currency in many parts of that region. What is now Iraq was, immediately after World War I, administered by the India Office of the British government. The British Indian Empire is said to have begun in May 1858 when the British exiled Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II to Rangoon in then independent Konbaung Burma after executing most of his family, thus formally liquidating the Mughal Empire. At the same time, the British abolished the British East India Company and replaced it with direct rule under the British Crown. In proclaiming the new direct-rule policy to “the Princes, Chiefs, and Peoples of India”… The Viceroy of India announced in 1858 that the government would honor former treaties with princely states and renounced the “Doctrine of Lapse“, whereby the East India Company had annexed territories of rulers who died without male heirs. About 40 percent of Indian Territory and 20–25 percent of the population remained under the control of 562 princes

INTERNAL “INDIAN” CAVITIES:

India is no more a country than the Equator’. Winston Churchill
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” Plato

Balkanizing Cracks in “India”: Naxalite insurrection shows severe cavities in India. Why is the press silent about the rebellion in 100 districts of India?–this constitutes about 40% of the country. The swathe of land from Nepal all the way down to Andhra Pradesh is in rebel control. The seven sisters in the Northeast are almost totally out of control of the center which does not seriously challenge the writ of the local leaders.
The central government is weak, corrupt, ineffective and impotent. Kashmir is on fire, as is Assam and Bihar. 250 million Dalits do not feel “Indian”. The 150 million Muslims have been so mistreated that they are in abject generational penury. It will take more than 3 centuries to pull the poverty stricken out of destitute living. The media focuses on “Incredible India”, a figment of the imagination of the West.

Is India is a failed state? The maps show the more than 89 insurgencies that are raging in India.
The Naxalites have a force of approximately 15,000 cadres spread across 160 districts in the states of Orissa, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal. They operate primarily in the lawless, dense forested areas of India’s interior, with some estimates saying Naxalites control approximately 10.03 million hectares (about 25 million acres) of forests nationwide. They also have an active campaign to recruit students and other youths to help spread their left-wing extremism into India’s towns and cities. Thus far, however, the Naxalites have not demonstrated the ability to operate in urban areas.

Kashmir: 100,000 civilians killed
White Widows: 50, million women ostracized from society and incarcerated in temples
East Punjab: Brutal suppression of Punjabi insurrection. Thousands killed
Tamil Nadu and Mizuram are in flames seeking independence
Tamil insurrection in Sri Lanka led by Tamils Terrorists in India
Bihar: Major suppression of Biharis and problems with Bangladesh
West Bengal in Communist hands fueling Naxalites.
Gujrat: Serious Hindu Muslim riots perpetuated by Mr. Moodi. 3000 burned.
200 -300 million Untouchables have little or no rights
150 million Muslims are at the lowest rung of the ladder:
India the only island of penury in Asia keeps the Subcontinent poor More than 560 states were forced into the union they did not want to be part of.

Tamil Nadu and Mizuram secessionist movement are live and hot.
THE SEVEN SISTERS: June 29, 2008 a bomb rips through a market place in a village located in the northeastern state of Assam. According to initial reports, eight killed and 45 injured, some critically. So was reported in the media. But the mess in Assam and other regions in the northeastern part of India have a much more violent history than the blast on June, 29, the most recent of many since the conception of India as an independent country.

The responsibility for the blast was taken by ULFA, United Liberation Front of Assam, one of more than two dozen militant groups, fighting for either an independent homeland. In the past 25 years as many as 10,000 people have lost their lives in the violence. Thousands more have been displaced; now living in refugee camps.

The tensions have never seemed to subside; while certain militia groups did make deals with the government which brought some calm in the region; other armed groups have continued with their separatist activities. The year 2006 saw a spate of bombings by ULFA until August when the government agreed to stop its military operations in the region. The truce only lasted till September, and in November the military operation resumed. There have been constant attacks on politicians, security forces and railway construction workers ever since. Like Assam are six other states with equally fierce movements calling for more autonomy, known as the Seven Sister States of India. They are situated in the northeastern part of the country, comprising of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura states. The states are joined to rest of India by a narrow piece of land, called the chicken’s neck.

The region is marked by multiplicity of tribes, ethnicities, cultures and religion. it is home to around 400 tribes or sub tribes. The whole of northeast India is marred with conflicts, including infighting amongst various villages, tribes and other warring factions, all for secession for their districts, villages and tribes. Violence is also pitted against migrants of Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal.

Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya are relatively more peaceful than the rest. Nagaland is the oldest of insurgencies of India and is believed to have inspired almost all the ethnic groups in the region. More than 20,000 have been killed before a ceasefire was announced in 1997. They demand a separate homeland comprising of mainly Christian dominated areas of Nagaland along with certain areas in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The region is endowed with oil reserves worth billions. A state owned company – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was forced out of the area until 2006, when it was allowed back in.

The government has been trying to ease tension in the region by striking deals with the rebel groups but no real breakthrough has been made to ensure a long term peace in the area. Manipur has been fighting for an independent country since 1974. The Indian army took control of the state in 1980. Lack of education and job opportunities has forced many to join separatists groups. Army has been carrying out operations to tackle the insurgency but that has only added to the sufferings of the locals. Some 6000 people have been displaced because of the operations and rebel fighting

The last of the seven states Tripura, has been a refuge for many Bengalis after the war of 1971, when Bangladesh was carved by India and USSR out of West Pakistan. The influx of refugees and the building of a fence by the government along the border of Bangladesh have prompted attacks by the two major rebel groups, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). With thousands homeless and harsh living conditions, life is miserable for the local population.
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The Naxal movement of India was inspired by the revolutionary ideology of Mao Zedong. The movement feeds on a similar philosophy to that of Nepal’s. It first originated in the 1960’s in a remote area of West Bengal, Nexalbari. Today it has under its influence eastern Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar, popularly known as the Red Corridor. Naxalites (also known as Maoists and Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries) pose a serious ideological threat to the state of India. Earlier this year, Indian PM Manmohan Singh, described the rebels as "the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country.”

The PM had good reasons to grant Naxalites the title of the single biggest internal security challenge ever. They have been involved in ruthless train hijacking, jailbreaks and murder of local politicians. They have refused to accept anything other than independence, a Naxalite leader has been found saying on record Talks are a part of our tactical line. Naxalism is not a problem, it is a solution.' With a strong army of 15,000 soldiers, the Naxalites control one fifth of India’s total forests. They have grown into 160 off 604 administrative districts of India.
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“India’s single biggest internal security challenge ever faced” – Indian PM on naxal rebellion

Hinduism, as an extremist dogma.

Present form of Hindu religion is basically an evolved (one can also argue distorted) version of the initial monotheistic religion which prevailed here. As the class system progressed , from North South divide; where Northerner seems to be having an edge over their Southerner counterparts, the poor were kept from the religious teachings. The recitations and meditations were performed in separated setting barring the lower class from having access to teachings. The fear of the poor or untouchables “Shooders” still, some how, getting access to the teachings forced the upper “Brahmin” class to adopt “signs” (which is translated in Arabic “Surahs”) for the teachings and thus developed thousands of gods and present form of Hindu religion.

Abraham Lincoln had illustrated the spirit of democracy in the words, of the people, by the people and for the people.

The authenticity of any country’s democratic status is measured against this set criterion. That said it is not difficult to determine that there is nothing democratic, or even secular for that matter, about India.

One of the leading political parties in India is the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]. The party was in power between 1998 and 2004. It is widely accepted as a radical right wing political party. Those who share similar radical ideologies with this political party include the nationalist organization which goes by the name of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS] and Sangh Parivar. Another such political party is the Shiv Sena of Maharashtra headed by Bal Thackeray. What’s common between all these political and nationalist outfits is the radical doctrine of Hinduvta, which dictates (as mentioned in the "The Struggle for India's Soul," World Policy Journal, fall 2002) that India is "not only the [Hindu] fatherland but also ... their punyabhumi, their holy land." To Hindu extremists, all others on this land are viewed as "aliens" who do not belong there.

Recently The Hindu, a national daily carried comments of Bal Thackeray which invited Hindus to organize suicide squads in response to the Islamic terror threat to India. The plea was made after a bomb planted in a movie theatre by Hindu terrorists had failed to explode. Thackeray was pushing them to make more powerful bombs.

Sociologist Dipankar Gupta explains the mindset of the members of the Shiv Sena club:

“A good Hindu for the Shiv Sena is not necessarily a person well versed in Hindu scriptures, but one who is ready and willing to go out and attack Muslims … To be a good Hindu is to hate Muslims and nothing else.”

(Citizens versus People: the Politics of Majoritarianism and Marginalization in Democratic India, Sociology of Religion, Spring 2007)
John Dayal while commenting on the book titled "Religious Demography of India" disrobes the Indian propaganda (forwarded by the said political parties) of inciting public opinion against Muslim and Christian minorities of India. Much has been said about such schemes in this commentary and the one that preceded it. Selective pieces from Dayal’s observations only reaffirm all that has been said.
The 2002 Gujarat attacks against Muslims were appalling to say the least; they generated a strong reaction from around the globe. The stories of violence and bloodshed were so dreadful that even the international media, which otherwise maintains silence over such issues, couldn’t turn a blind eye to the occurrences in Gujarat.

A human rights watchdog reports the events in a manner all too well known to the Muslims who survived the atrocities of 1947- The looting and burning of Muslim homes, businesses, and places of worship was also widespread. Muslim girls and women were brutally raped. Mass graves have been dug throughout the state. Gravediggers told Human Rights Watch that bodies keep arriving, burnt and mutilated beyond recognition.
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The investigation also brought out the fact that those involved were the members of the Sangh Parivar. The BJP tried to erase traces that bore marks of their involvement in this mass murder. But their sins were so ghastly no amount of cover up could hide the truth. So much so that some within the country were forced to speak against the then government and their heinous criminal activities.

Muslims are not the only targets. Christian minorities too have had a taste of this vicious campaign which is bent on cleansing India of its alien (non Hindu) population. Attacks have been made against priests and nuns, also including institutions like churches, hospitals and even charitable organizations associated with Christians. Such assaults occurred most frequently under the BJP regime. More than 40 churches have been burned and Christian priests and nuns lynched. The assurance by the PM Vajpayee, that these attacks were isolated incidents and not an indication of an ethnic war against Christians, convinced but only few. For these attacks were simultaneously accompanied by hate literature that was widely distributed. The compilation included not just quotations, which wrongly established Christianity as a religion that encourages violence against non Christians but also carried suggestions as to how to harass them.

In Tamil Nadu alone, 45 special types of “untouchability” are practiced by the higher caste Hindus. Translated in other words, the high class Hindus deem themselves too high to share their temples, cremation grounds, river bathing points or even their barbers with dalits and when these boundaries are transgressed, the punishment is severe.
As quoted in a report prepared for the Washington Post by Emily Wax; Anup Srivastava is a researcher with the People's Vigilance Commission on Human Rights in Varanasi. His job requires him to investigate complaints filed by Dalits about discrimination among neighbors, in schools, at hospitals and at work. He says, "India is not a true democracy. The country is independent. But the people aren't. How can there be a democracy when there are still people known as untouchables who face daily discrimination?"

To cite references from another article authored by an Indian named, V.B.Rawat, he protests, “All those who talks of "great democratic" India and non violent and tolerant Hindu community must address to this issue as where were they when Dalits were being butchered by the Hindu Upper castes. Also, “The Hinduism that is being preached these days is in fact Varnashram dharma which believes in caste hierarchy…. And this caste system makes India as world's biggest practising racist country, worst than the South Africa of apartheid period.”

Desperate, most Dalits are forced to convert to other religions, hundreds every year. But now the silence is being broken. The nobodies of India are taking on the government, be it through an interview to a foreign magazine or protest on the streets. They have also found strength in the aphorism majority is authority.
But of all, violence against women is the most brutal practice justified as a religious duty in accordance with the teachings of the Hindu Holy Scriptures. The Hindu texts sanctify the killing of infant girls, by parents who deem themselves not capable of shouldering the responsibility of having a girl child. The Hindu holy book Bhagvad Gita clearly calls women embodiment of the worst desires and justifies the killing of women.

Here is an excerpt from Hindu book which allows killing of women;

“Killing of a woman, a Shudra or an atheist is not sinful. Woman is an embodiment of the worst desires, hatred, deceit, jealousy and bad character. Women should never be given freedom.” Bhagvad Gita (Manu IX. 17 and V. 47, 147)"
Similarly another holy script of Hindu religious book preaches looking down upon women by terming a woman equal to a dog, crow and shudra (a low cast poor Hindu who has no rights in Hindu society).

“And whilst not coming into contact with Sudras and remains of food; for this Gharma is he that shines yonder, and he is excellence, truth, and light; but woman, the Sudra, the dog, and the black bird (the crow), are untruth: he should not look at these, lest he should mingle excellence and sin, light and darkness, truth and untruth.” – Satapatha Brahmana 14:1:1:31.

In ancient Hindu society new born girls were buried alive while the practice is very much prevalent in the so-called secular, democratic India even today. The killing of newborn babies and the abortion of women fetuses in India is a common practice. In all cases, specifically female infanticide reflects the low status accorded to women in most parts of India.

India has had wars with all her neighbors
India has lowest per capita GNP in the Subcontinent
Indian poor are poorer than Sub Saharan Africa.
More than a 1000 districts in the hands of the Naxalites
India has more people living under the poverty line than those living in the whole of Africa and Americas together.

INDIA AS A FAILED STATE: India is a failed state for failing to provide food shelter and clothing for her citizens. India has bloody borders. By harping on the “failed state” mantra the bigoted Indian commentariat wants to surround “Akhand Bharat” with small Balkanized mini-states like Sikkim, Bhutan, Sri Lanka. Any hegemonic power achieves its goal in the region by sabotaging the integrity and sovereignty of the neighbors. India wants to surround itself with a “Warsaw pact” type of string of obsequies and subservient states. Pakistan is big hurdle in India’s hegemonistic policy of Westward expansion. Since the West never faced “India” in combat, they are unaware of the (South) Indian aggression that was encountered by Southeast Asia (Laos, Cambodia, and even Indonesia). China and Pakistan working together have arrested the advance of the sepoys of Delhi.

UNTOUCHABLE DALITS EEK OUT A SUB HUMAN LIVING IN INDIA:

Between 150 to 250 million Dalits or Untouchables live in utter sub-human conditions. A population as large as the United States lives in conditions that are below and worse off than that of Sub Saharan Africa. The dalit websites shed some light on the plight of the Dalits. EU says “India is being ruled by castes, not laws”-Indian state machinery supports License to kill Dalits

East Punjab: Brutal suppression of Punjabi insurrection. Thousands killed
Tamil Nadu and Mizuram are in flames seeking independence
Tamil insurrection in Sri Lanka fled by Tamils in India
Bihar: Major issues in Biharand problems with Bangladesh
West Bengal in Communist hands.
Gujrat: Serious Hindu Muslim riots perpetuated by Mr. Moodi
200 -300 million Untouchables have little or no rights
150 million Muslims are at the lowest rung of the ladder:
Goa remained Portuguese enclave untill 1987, and even after Indian annexation it was called Federally administered Area. In 1961 a resolution was tabled in United Nations by USA and UK against the Indian aggression which was vetoed by USSR. Goans, even while under Indian hegemony, went to referendum and demanded the autonomy, never accepted to be integral part of India.

Economic straits of India.

A brief look will abundantly expose the facade of the Indian economy; which will collapse at the first signs of uncertainty or instability. In 2008, its external debts increased to around $221 billion. In 2007, Indian exports stood around $145 billion, while imports were around $217 billion; a deficit of $72 billion in a single year. Its factory output account for 27.6% of the GDP and employs 17% of the total workforce. Rest of the workforce is largely dedicated to the agriculture sector. According to a 2008 World Bank report, 75.6% Indians live on less than $2 per day. It suffers from higher rates of malnutrition than Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 70% of its population is either illiterate or educated below the primary level. Indian tourist industry is 1/6 of Las Vegas. Recently, Standard & Poor’s announced, India risks a downgrade from BBB-minus rating to the lowest investment-grade rating. Clearly, Indians are hardly in a financial shape to even contemplate on waging a war.
A brief look will abundantly expose the facade of the Indian economy; which will collapse at the first signs of uncertainty or instability. In 2008, its external debts increased to around $221 billion. In 2007, Indian exports stood around $145 billion, while imports were around $217 billion; a deficit of $72 billion in a single year.
Its factory output account for 27.6% of the GDP and employs 17% of the total workforce. Rest of the workforce is largely dedicated to the agriculture sector. According to a 2008 World Bank report, 75.6% Indians live on less than $2 per day. It suffers from higher rates of malnutrition than Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 70% of its population is either illiterate or educated below the primary level. Indian tourist industry is 1/6 of Las Vegas. Recently, Standard & Poor’s announced India’s risk rating by downgrade from BBB-minus rating to the lowest investment-grade. Clearly, Indians are hardly in a financially tenable situation to even contemplate waging a war.

Sudra Holocaust: Genocide of 1 million Dalits in India since 1947: About three million Dalit women have been raped and around one million Dalits killed from the time of Independence. This is 25 times more than number of soldiers killed during the wars fought after independence. That is why Dalits do not need Aryan culture or Hindu Dharma based on caste any more. …” [Dr. Tulsiram]
India: More than 75% live below Sub Saharan poverty line India: 3500-yrs of massacres of Dalit-Sudra Blacks by Arya-Brahmins Eat Rats: Indian officials ask starving Indians to eat rodents (BBC) Indian girl Infanticide-Female Foeticide: 1 million girls killed before or after birth per year

Mr. Paragh Khanna says that India has missed the boat of becoming a World Power soon, and China has left the penury stricken island of poverty in Asia (Bharat) in the dust. India is the poorest country in Asia, and in terms of GNP, the poorest in South Asia. More than 150 million Dalits live is abject destituteness. India has more poor than Sub-Saharan Africa and Americas together. It will take more than three centuries to pull these poor out of a sub-human existence.

Minorities.

About 20 %, or 200 million, are religious minorities. Muslims constitutes 138 million or 13.4 5, Christians 24 million or 2.3 %, Sikhs 19 million or 2 %, Buddhists 8 million or 0.8 % and Jains 4 million or 0.4 %. “Others” numbered 6.6 million or 0.6 %. According to Mr. Tahir Mahmood, an Indian Muslim journalist, “The 2.3 % Christians in the Indian population cater to 20 % of all primary education in India, 10 % of all the literacy and community health care, 25 % of all existing care of destitute and orphans, 30 % of all the handicapped, lepers and AIDS patients etc”.

Discrimination against Minority Muslims.

Recently, Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee report admitted that 138 Million Muslims across India are severely under-represented in government employment, including Public Sector Units. Ironically, West Bengal, a communist ruled state reported 0 (zero) percent of Muslims in higher positions in its PSUs! It has found that the share of Muslims in government jobs and in the lower judiciary in any state simply does not come anywhere close to their population share. The only place where Muslims can claim a share in proportion to their population is in prison! (Number of Muslims convicts in India is 19.1%, while the number of those under trials is 22.5%, which exceed their population ratio). A note sent on January 9 by the army to the defense ministry in 2004 says that only 29,093 Muslims among a total of 1.1 million personnel - a ratio of 2.6 %, which compares poorly with the Muslims’ 13.8 % share in the Indian population. Officially, Indian Army doesn’t allow head count based on religion.

Amnesty International (AI) 2008 report on issues within India: http://rupeenews.com/2008/05/29/amnesty-int-2008-report-excoriates-horrid-india
It may surprise many, but the one of highest concern is not Kashmir, but the rising tide of communalism, Anti-Christian, Anti-Dalit, and Anti-Muslim. The Naxalite insurrection led by Dalits and Maoists spreads over more than 40% of the landmass of the country. Three major groups - Maoist Communist Center, People’s War Group and CPI (ML) - have merged to form a united outfit called CPI (Maoist). It affirmed: The revolution will be carried out and completed through armed agrarian revolutionary war; that is, protracted people’s war with the armed seizure of power remaining as its central and principal task, encircling the cities from the countryside and thereby finally capturing them.”

Kashmir was concerned as the biggest threat to the country’s unity but in recent years, many in New Delhi thought that they had swallowed Srinagar. Kashmir is in fever pitch. This year’s insurrection caught them by surprise. The Divide between Jammu and Kashmir now is irremeable and even the puppet Farooq Abdullah who sold his soul to Delhi for a few Dollars and a title, says “Kashmir will go on a platter to Pakistan.” Paper Tigers: Indian tenuous “hold” on Kashmir is slipping fast
The third area of security concern for New Delhi is open rebellion in the Northeast. These insurrections do not make it to the daily headlines on CNN, but the fact is the New Delhi has very little control of Assam and the seven sisters that lay East of Bangladesh. Even Chinese occupied territory mislabeled “Aranchal Pradesh” has a huge body of rebels that want nothing to do with Delhi.
Communalism is a big threat to the so called “secular” country. Brahmans in Jammu in 2008 led a boycott of Kashmir forcing the Kashmiris to strive to trade directly with Pakistan. Church burning in Orissa is problem exacerbated by the separatists who strive for freedom from Delhi. The Gujarat’s Hinduvata massacred 3000 Muslims and hundreds of thousands are scared to go back to their homes.

The land of Gandhi, the secular state is falling apart.
95 % of the women in Madhya Pradesh in commercial sex are due to family traditions. So are 51.79 % in Bihar,’ said the study. While 43 % of the total women trafficked are minors, 44 percent of the women are into flesh trade due to poverty. Of the total women who are into sex work in the country, 60 % are from the lower and backward class, which indicates the pathetic living condition of the communities. In Madhya Pradesh, a political bastion of Hindu right wing party, 96.7 % of the women sex workers are from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
India has 4 million prostitutes nationwide and 60% of the prostitutes are from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes or other backward caste

End to Indian day dreaming.
The relationship between the “world’s largest democracies” -India and USA- has been sacrificed once again for the sake of financial assistance and the other small irritant in West Asia–aka “defeat in Afghanistan”. India finds itself on the wrong side of history once again. For the first half century of its existence India supported the Evil Empire-USSR. Then in the 80s when the USSR imploded and Yugoslavia imploded, the Indian policy makers worked overtime to come up with a strategy of survival on this third planet from the sun. Egged on by a Democratic Congress, Mr. Clinton encouraged India to explode a nuclear device. The Pokran explosions had an affect on India like the world has never seen. It allowed the youthful nation to begin thinking big–beyond the confines of reality and beyond the realm of imagination. Within a decade of meager growth, Indian had not only proclaimed them a Superpower, but also convinced themselves of the death of Pakistan, the subservience of Bangladesh, the destruction of Sri Lanka and the erosion of Nepal as a political entity. In this dream world, Bollywood stopped filming movies in India and brought world capitals, skyscrapers and modern amenities into the theatres and homes of ordinary Indians. Pretty soon a fog enveloped the nation–they actually started believing the Bollywood baloney and got swollen heads. Like the Michelin’s man full of air, the Superpower began to think of its borders beyond Uzbekistan and it’s Navy beyond the Pacific and Atlantic. Obama has taken a page from Richard Nixon’s policy of developing relations with China at the cost of India.

India’s faltering $41 Billion IT economy cannot salvage the lot of the poor. While a triumphalist media discusses the “growth of the Indian middle class”, the reality of India’s penury stricken population is very different. The higher the number the worse off the country. India ranks below Cambodia and Burkina Faso in terms of hunger. It is slightly better off that Haiti, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Pakistan’s fares much better and is not listed on this chart. Cuba has taken care of its population and eliminated malnutrition, hunger and child mortality. It has done more with less and is the example that needs to be followed. Cuba produces more doctors for less and offers free medical education to citizens of the world. 1000 Cuban doctors served in cold Azad Kashmir and helped the victims of the earthquake.
India scored worse than nearly 25 sub-Saharan African countries and all of South Asia, except Bangladesh,” the report says.
When Indian states are compared to countries in the Global Hunger Index, [the central Indian state of] Madhya Pradesh ranks between Ethiopia and Chad,” it says.
India is long known to have some of the highest rates of child malnutrition and mortality in under-fives in the world.
According to the Indian government statistics two years ago, around 60% of more than 10 million children in the state were malnourished (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) along with Welthungerhlife and the University of California)

2009 is perhaps the time when China finally has started to speak softly, though may have prevaricated its real intentions in pious homilies. Now the Chinese have spoken softly on Afghanistan asking Ms. Clinton four things. Stop destabilizing Pakistan. Resolve Kashmir. Stop the war in Afghanistan and work with Russia. These few requests made at a time when Ms. Clinton was visiting China asking for huge favors from Beijing have a very strong effect on world affairs. Of course the US cannot refuse its banker.

Obama’s China policy renders obsolete the Indian strategic calculus built around the US containment strategy. Hardly two to three years ago, the Bush administration encouraged India to put faith in a quadrilateral alliance of Asian democracies - the US, Japan, Australia and India - that would strive to set the rules for China’s behavior in the region.
According to reports, State Department officials had originally proposed that India be included in the itinerary of Clinton’s current first official tour abroad, but she struck it out. As things stand, Clinton meant every word of what she wrote last year in her Foreign Affairs article that “our [US] relationship with China will be the most important bilateral relationship in the world in this century”. Asia Times. India grapples with the Obama era By M K Bhadrakumar. M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey

The US cannot ignore the Chinese. The battle between the dragon and the elephant has come to a head. There is a tectonic shift in international relations. China has woken up and for the first time in a couple of centuries can dictate terms. Khrushchev is probably sitting up in his grave to take notice. He once said “We will bury you”. Karl Marx predicted that “capitalism would be sent to the dustbin of history”. Mao Ze Dung called the US “a paper tiger”. The British once said referred to China with the prodigious warning “Don’t wake the sleeping giant sleep“. Well according to the signal—the Red Dragon in Beijing has woken. Those who thought that Communism was dead and Capitalism is kicking butt take a look at four cities–Beijing, Moscow, New York and London. There is celebration in two and malaise in two. The World takes note.

Dennis Blair, the newly appointed director of national intelligence, in his testimony before the US senate intelligence committee on January 22, struck a fine balance when he said,
While the United States must understand China’s military buildup - its extent, its technological sophistication and its vulnerabilities - in order to offset it, the intelligence community also needs to support policymakers who are looking for opportunities to work with Chinese leaders who believe that Asia is big enough for both of us and can be an Asia in which both countries can benefit as well as contribute to the common good.
However, this is precisely where a serious problem arises for India. In the Indian perception, South Asia and the Indian Ocean just aren’t “big enough” for India and China. Asia Times. India grapples with the Obama era By M K Bhadrakumar. M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.

The possible federation or unity, which possibly could be envisioned are: Pakistan, Afghanistan, mainly Muslims concentrated areas, up to Delhi . Bengal merged with Bangladesh which would quell the insurgencies in the area. Balkanization would settle the Kashmir’s independence issue for good. Smaller independent states thus emerged shall be safer in the absence of Indian state bullying them. There could also develop a Block of the Muslim states on the pattern of European Union.

There is sheer abundance of facts and figures which justify the Balkanization of India for a better world and emancipation of about 1/5th of the people of the world, with A huge dividend for the west also in terms of its security and prosperity.

Acknowledgement: in the preparation of this piece some of the contents have been quoted from site: rupee news.

Your argument, Shakir, is full of half-truths and ideologically-driven normatives masquerading as positives. Logical fallacies flow from your post like birds falling from Arkansas' skies. Ignorance's full flowers weep in the shade of misconception.

I won't say that some points are not valid, especially the historical aberration that most of Africa's borders are, but as I think most of the comments point at, this is only, at best, half of the truth.

Economically, it is counter effective to seek partition unless you are an already rich region, within an Common Market (the only valid example being the EU) or have very strong ties with a nearby power. If none of those apply, the new country will not be viable, and most probably will have to depend on foreign aid, just as most of the centralized failed states do now. How is that progress though? I understand that it's better to be poor and independent than poor and under the rule of a far-away central government with whom you don't share the color of your skin, religion or whatever...but how independent can you ever be if you're poor anyway? Infrastructure, indeed, is far more important than political independence.

A point was made about failed states having no common "ethos", but who gets to define the one of the new state? Is there any room for minorities (ethnicity, religion, opinion) in that new state, is said state is supposedly based on its specificities?

An overlooked point is that, once you start with partition, where do you stop? Are we really looking forward to going back to city-states? How will they manage their security, social services? How will they make their voice heard at the international level? Did I just read "an independent Darfur"? Is that a realistic option, even in the long term? Those who would benefit from this movement of divide and conquer wold obviously those who won't go that road: US, EU (as a whole), China.

Another point that was overlooked was, what about developed countries? What about Flanders, Catalonia, the Basque Country, North of Italy...why would those regions stay pat when new countries all popping up all over the globe? You surely know that autonomous movements are already very much at work, and more often than not with some link to the extreme-right (North Italy, Flanders). Is that what we are promoting here?

Separation, in my opinion, should be an option only when there is a clear exploitation from one part of a country by another, or clear evidence of oppression. Southern Sudan, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Palestine, Western Sahara, Tibet (was Tibet even mentioned in the article?) apply, among others. But the point about economic viability remains the central one, no use in gaining the same type of independence that most African countries got in the 60s. Other regions (mainly in Europe) striving for independence are mostly based on extreme-right "purity of the nation"-type rhetorics and some kind of economic selfishness (coincidentally, those are the richest regions in their respective countries).

That would be a good thing. The United States is not united. The south remembers the slaughter for the crime of wanting separation. Many think the Civil War was over slavery. Wrong. The Emancipation Proclamation ONLY covered those states that were still in rebellion to the US as of 1 january 1863. Prior to this, none other than the US military would capture slaves and return them to their captors. New York City had the highest number of slaves than any city in the country. The auctions were held at the infamous wall on Wall Street.

All things considered this was a very good and thought provoking article. I would, however, like to point out that it is not solely within Iraq's gift to grant Kurds their own nation, even if Iraq wishes to do so (a highly unlikely scenario).

Traditionally, the Kurds have considered their homeland to include, along with the Kurdish portion of northern Iraq, parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran. In order to create a Kurdish state, without continued bloodshed, all four nations would have to accede to Kurdish claims. The obstacles involved are too numerous to mention here. Even if Kurds initially accept a rump state in northern Iraq, irredentists will continue to press for all of the disputed territory.

Neal Stephenson made some interesting points about this sort of balkanization in 'Snow Crash' and 'The Diamond Age'. MIchael Resnick also made a decent argument about this sort of splitting in 'Kirinyaga' and Leo Frankowski had a good rebuttal for this sort of argument in the series beginning with 'A Boy And His Tank'.

If we can guarantee equal infrastructure access and human rights there's no reason not to let every single extended family group/tribe/village become its own independent nation-state. Without that access and human rights guarantee wouldn't we basically be ghetto-izing the world?

As Sudan goes, so might the rest of us. The "super powers" have not gotten to big to fail. They may consider planning a degree of decentralization from overbearing beaurcracies to more manageable, logical sub-divisions. A central government can still be one of representation. Giving power to regions/tribes simply brings about better results.

Can now begin a new wave emergence States. I think that the new states will emerge in the future. Probably really went the new process of self-education. People are beginning to unite for public understanding. And may occur to those States which are listed in the article. Although it seems to me that it is necessary depletion. After all this power. Thanks to the author of college paper a interesting article.