The American Raj

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Firangpolicypundit Fareed Zakaria notes that the American strategy of playing off Shia vs. Sunni in Iraq resembles that of British India (via Amardeep Singh):

The intractable security problems in Sunni areas coupled with some success in Shia ones might lead the Iraqi government (and Washington) toward a “Shia strategy” in Iraq… In many of its colonies the British would often favor a single group as a quick means of gaining stability. Almost always the results were ruinous—a trail of civil war and bloodshed.

4 thoughts on “The American Raj”

  1. uh, not to nitpick, but it seems like Zakaria is cautioning against a potential issue rather than an actual “American strategy of playing off”?

    In Iraq, the one truly pleasant surprise so far is that there has been little religious and ethnic bloodshed. Many of the experts who counseled against an invasion predicted that after Saddam’s fall, the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds would tear each other apart. Nothing like this has happened. The problems—of resistance, nationalism and anti-Americanism—have been quite different. But the balance is fragile. If the United States and the Iraqi government play a sectarian strategy, things could unravel.

  3. I’ve liked Zakaria’s writing in the past, but since our ‘So Called Liberal Media’ hasn’t been paying attention since the “Democracy Fairy” told them that the transition was done in July, I get my info from Juan Cole. I’ve been reading his blog for a while and he has a lot info on the all local politics.

  4. I am a proud Indian! But we Indian’s don’t learn from history. This is the same “divide and rule” policy the Britishers applied at us only 60 years ago. We have to be very careful. If we go into war in Pakistan, we will be cleaning up America’s dirty work. You have to understand we are in the middle of a “revolution” this globalizing economy.

    This flattening of the hierarchy is at stake if India goes to war we will be pulled back (Remember the first rule of war, 1 year war = 10 years of economic prosperity). If we run this emotional high we will be pulled into a 5-10 year war just like American’s were pulled into the war on an emotional high right after 911. This is a game of chess, think 10 steps ahead. India has always been hampered by this Indo-Pak and Indo-China war, this is only time we have an advantage over this American heirarchy that is just full of hot air.

    The first question I would ask is who benefits from this war? From both ends it is America. We may end up cleaning their dirty job by going into Pakistan. We will pull ourselves further back into a rivalry that is started to cool off a bit. Remember the argument of Hitler burning his own Parliment. These wars are all created!