ALSO BY ASIAN WARRIOR
THE NEW GLOBAL ORDER (2016)
When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.
Frederic Bastiat
Copyright 2018 by Naveen Tomar.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher (Copyright holder), except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator.
Asian Warrior
www.asianwarrior.com
mail@asianwarrior.com
ISBN: 9781543937015
First Edition: 2018
Cover Design by:
Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Aakar Architects
Foreword
We live in interesting times.
G lobalization propelled by rapidly evolving technology has taken giant strides. Exchange of goods and services across the globe and people to people ties are at an all-time high. The new inter-connected world should therefore have been a more peaceful and harmonious place to live in.
However, the world is now confronted with the rise of an increasing number of nationalist authoritarian leaders who have one leg in the future and one in history. The contradictions are galore; on one side they are embracing new technology and greater trade; on the other they are embarking on imperial quests to right historical wrongsreal and perceived resulting in a greater number of prolonged regional conflicts. Well-known and well-tested methods of conflict resolution are proving to be inadequate in the face of new, aggressive leadership in some nations.
Of the many current regional conflicts, the Korean Peninsula presents a clear and present danger to global peace and security. The reasons are many. It is perhaps the only conflict theatre apart from Afghanistan where three major powers, the United States, Russia and China are directly involved. The Korean peninsula shares borders with Russia and China. It also hosts a prominent US military base in the south with proximity to Japan; and a rogue nuclear nation in the north that is known as Chinas conjoined twin under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-un who is not averse to the first use of nuclear weapons to achieve his goals!
While the world is well acquainted with South Korea due to its technological prowess, the isolated North remains an enigma. North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un have commanded a fair share of media coverage in recent times due to brinkmanship on the nuclear issue. Yet, many details remain unknown.
Hence, when Naveen Tomar sent me the manuscript of a book on the Korean Peninsula that he and his team of Navroop Singh and Himja Parekh had written, I was curious and pleasantly surprised. I have had a chance to read their first book The New Global Order. Their analytical capabilities, understanding and unbiased judgement was well reflected in that book. So when the manuscript for this book came to me, I knew that they would present a fresh perspective about the Korean tangle.
The book is built on the premise that most wars have been about trade and the thirst for resources. The book starts with talking of the doctrine of Neo-Confucianism that existed in undivided Korea. It is fascinating to learn about this doctrine that became the state ideology of the Koreas in the 13th century. It was this doctrine that determined the Korean Peninsulas foreign policy of remaining a Hermit Kingdom defying international trade which led to its downfall and eventual Japanese occupation. Interestingly, even today, Chinese society is based on Confucian values of authority and obedience which have given the Communist Party a stronghold over the country while North Korea under Juche has manipulated the same ideology to exercise complete control.
The book also dwells on the power play that Japan, the United States, France, Russia and China engaged in, leading to the division of the Korean peninsula in mid-20th century. Redrawing borders has never brought peace as history has repeatedly shown us and the division of the peninsula was no different. The antagonism between the North and the South and their proxies has resulted in one of the longest running conflicts of the 20th century that has spilled over to the 21st century and there seems to be no respite.
The authors have explained complex geopolitical and geo-economic atrocities of the peninsula pre and post division in a simple yet engaging manner taking the reader on a whirlwind journey. The Changing Dynamics section sums up todays complex environment well and is crucial to any kind of conflict resolution on the peninsula from military to diplomatic. It is followed by the hypothesis where the authors talk of the different scenarios that could emerge on the peninsula.
I commend Asian Warrior for their ability to think differently and handle a subject that is relatively untouched with a remarkable ease of understanding.
Nitin A. Gokhale
New Delhi
March 2018
About Asian Warrior
A sian Warrior was born in 2012 with a team of like-minded young people working towards the common goal of understanding the dynamic global patterns. Consisting of individuals from various streams of life, it endeavours to understand the absolute truth about reality to help make the world a better place. Asian Warriors primary focus is geopolitics to discover social, economic and political patterns related to foreign policy and national security along with the study of their impact and significance on humanity in the times to come.
Globalization and unprecedented connectivity have ironically brought about an increase in issues that plague society and threaten global peace making it difficult to reach a universal consensus on important issues. This has made it necessary to examine conflicts through the lens of history entwined with social, political, cultural and other factors from a fresh perspective. Asian Warrior seeks to understand countries, cultures and people of influence in a non-biased way and objectively offer solutions to enable cooperation.
Coming from a wise and ancient civilization which believes in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam meaning the world is one family; Asian Warrior respects and is sensitive to the cultural differences between geographies to bring people to a common platform where dialogues and solutions of betterment to aid companies and governments can be facilitated. After all, society is not a group of individuals, rather a sum of interrelations.
Asian Warrior prides itself on its ability to understand, forecast trends and predict global behavioural patterns due to its 360-degree approach. It also seeks to educate the public, train society, offer ideas to further its cause in a non-partisan way and welcomes collaborations and partnerships from all corners of the globe.
Asian Warriors first book, The New Global Order provided a multidisciplinary angle on the world we live in, to find solutions for a peaceful way forward. The book explained how geography has shaped the world in the past, continues to do so today and will in the future as well without being biased towards the national interest of any particular country. After all, kings and kingdoms come and go, empires are created and ground to dust, democracies imposed and communist movements created, but the geography remains the same!
