Netters might note that our fellow netter Prof. Sanjib Baruah is currently with the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, where Stephen Cohen presented the following.
cm Eminent scholar Stephen Cohen in the city on Thursday. (Sentinel) By a Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Oct 30: "As far as the political response to the September 11 attacks is concerned, I believe that the Bush administration over-reacted in declaring a `war on terrorism'. The language used by the Bush Administration in defining their policy on the issue of terrorism was actually not useful. Global and Islamic terrorism cannot be dealt with as a form of total war," said Professor Stephen P Cohen, an internationally respected scholar on South Asia and a top advisor to the US Government on foreign policy matters, while delivering a talk entitled "September 11: New Research Agendas", in the city today. Professor Cohen, Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program of the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and a consultant to various foundations and US Government Departments on international security matters, delivered the talk at the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development here. "Prior to the September 11 attacks, global terrorism had not been a priority for the Bush administration. Their number one strategic concern had been the rise of China as a potential threat to US interests. There had also been some thought about India as a counter-balance to this growing Chinese presence. However, the September 11 attacks changed all that," revealed Professor Cohen. On the effect of the September 11 attacks on US attitude towards terrorism in other countries, Prof Cohen said: "After the attacks, Americans became more interested in countries such as India, which have facing terrorist activities for quite some time. I believe now we have greater sympathy and understanding for the problems in other countries." On the current state of Indo-US relationships, Prof Cohen felt that after the attacks, "the Indian government hoped that the US government would fully side with them against Pakistan. However, this has not happened, since there are limits to which the US can pressurize Pakistan to give up support to terrorist activities in India." However, Prof Cohen added that both the US and India shared a vital interest in ensuring that Pakistan did not become a 'jehadi state'. "Academics and policy-makers in the two countries should look for common concerns, since I believe that, by and large, your country has been successful in reconciling many complex differences, such as caste, religion and language. I believe there are lessons for US policy-makers in your handling of separatist groups," he added. Refusing to classify all terrorist activities under a single head, the South Asia security expert instead drew a line between "idealistic terrorism, violent activities against real or perceived injustices, and criminal terrorism, under which a god cause is used as a cover for criminal activities." "However, we have never been able to come to a universal definition of terrorism, since as Ronald Reagan has said, `one man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter." _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
