Reflecting Upon Our World...As the New Week Dawns....

What "IF": A Broad Brush of The World....

Is "What if" the right question to ask, though?

Source: http://www.outsiderviews.com/what-if-a-broad-brush-of-the-world/

Our World continues to be dangerous and challenging. As children have gone back to school and as wars continue to rage, I can't help but wonder about the future.

South Africa is in a state of Flux. China is slowing down. Russia continues to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. India's UPA II Government is in a perilous position after a key regional ally pulled out and the Prime Minister has yet again embarked on another ambitious round of reforms to further open up the Indian Market. Brazil, though, continues its' transformation process as it tries to save the Amazon. Beyond the so-called B(razil) R(ussia) I(ndia) C (hina) & S (outh Africa), there is of course the continued economic and political calamity in the United States as it approaches the pivotal date of the election--November 6. As the US election season has ensued, The UN General Assembly has begun too, along with the Clinton Global Initiative. Everyone is in New York right now.

One of the most under-reported stories has been the transformation in the Canadian Province of Quebec. The student movement against tuition increases caused the liberal government to lose and lose badly. It has put the question of the Unity of Canada in play yet again. This is as Stephen Harper continues its' US-Style neo-Con remake of Canada. Beyond Canada, there is the influence of Israel and the push by the Israeli Prime Minister to force a war on Iran. If the attack happens, the whole region will explode and it will be very hard to contain it. Bibi needs to answer what happens the day after the attack that he proposes to do.

The "fog of war" is yet to be lifted, though. Iran has begun and is in the midst of finalizing its' plans for a so-called "National Internet" that has been pursued by the likes of North Korea. The reports I have just reviewed note that Google is slated to be blocked. What is also unreported is the fact that a defacto cyber war has indeed taken place for a number of years in addition to the assasinations of Iranian Nuclear Scientists. The annual military parade in Tehran reflects current Iranian thinking.

The US Election is upon us. I have written about it extensively. The media frenzy in the United States continues to be in over drive. The Public Affair Shows in the United States on Sunday had both campaigns, their surrogates and the usual cast of commentators lay out what they believe is going to happen. This is as October will see three debates at the Presidential Level and one Vice Presidential Debate lay out the visions. I found it funny when Robert Gibbs of the Obama Campaign tried to dampen expectation as the Romney Campaign also tried to note how the President is a great debater. What I also found quite striking was how the  Romney Campaign tried to change the narrative by releasing the 2011 Tax Return. People again jumped on it by noting that some of the tax moves can be basically reversed by amending the returns. The tax moves by Romney reminded me of the story when he was spotted at a Wal Mart picking up gifts for his grand children. Although the New York Times narrative a number of months ago noted how Romney was not "sure", my view is that he was committed to go after the Presidency. Despite the disagreements I have had with Governor Romney, I am with Ann Romney when she noted in an interview recently that "...it is hard". It takes nerves of raw steel to be in the public limelight.

There is a lot to be pessimistic about. I took comfort in this Kipling Poem that a friend of mine recently shared with me which underscores why one should never, ever lose hope or focus:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

The journey continues........