I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to
study mathematics and philosophy. John Adams (1735 - 1826)

CROUCHING TIGERS AND HIDDEN DRAGONS

Journalism by Other Means - About This Blog

We live in a world of change and uncertainty.

America has arguably never been so powerful - and yet so weak - as it is today. Russia, both emancipated and emasculated by the revolutions of 1989, continues to seek her role in the post-Cold War order. Meanwhile, the grand experiment of the European Union continues - but day by day the project becomes further riven by conflict.

In the Islamic World, the so-called War on Terror has inflamed and inspired opposition to the West. Look further east again and a new elite is emerging in the Indian subcontinent, Westernised and Western-looking, though all around them the masses bicker on in a leviathan melee of deprivation and poverty.

And lastly, China: ever on the rise, though how long it will be able to maintain its development in the face of huge social inequalities, voracious demand for energy and materials, and a ravaged environment remains to be seen.

Despite the birth of a new arena of global interaction, a supranational space we are only beginning to understand - the Internet - time and resources are running out. At the end of the day we must all live together on a planet that is under greater threat than it might on the surface appear.

The aim of this Weblog is not to solve all of these problems, far from it. But they are all interconnected. 'Other Means' therefore intends to analyse the stories of the day not in isolation but in context, to explore the wheels within wheels that spin within the categories mentioned above.

This not a blogger's blog, but a private initiative of the author. An online notebook of commentary, analysis and experience. Journalism by other means, if you like. The linking policy is therefore only to blogroll those other writers with whom the author has had some kind of personal contact, and not to get involved in an undignified scrabble for hits.

In order to remain focussed, 'Other Means' takes as its key references only four sources, but arguably the three best examples of Britain's 'Old Media' embracing 'New Media', with Asia's best thrown in too:

    a broadcaster - BBC News Online;
    a newspaper - Guardian Unlimited;
    a magazine - Economist Online;
    and a website - Asia Times Online.

I have tried to be balanced in this selection, from the right-leaning Economist to the liberal Guardian, with the BBC standing inbetween as relatively apolitical and Asia Times providing alternative voices from the East. Not all of these publications have easily accessible web content - Economist Online is subscription only, BBC News Online is blocked in countries such as China - but hopefully the blog itself will do the talking.

The Weblog also seeks to explore not only International Relations as they happen, but also the grander theories beneath. Thus for the 'Thinking' category, I will attempt to relate non-fiction material that I'm reading at the time to the events that unfold in the news. Or at least I'll try. Check out also the Tag Cloud for a more detailed survey of the topics 'Other Means' covers.

Why write this Weblog? Because I myself am a product of globalization, born in North America to an Asian father, yet raised in Britain as a European. Secondly, since it is with issues like the ones above that we must learn to deal, and because in order to be a better journalist and writer I wish to better understand them.

Furthermore, in February 2006 I began an MSc in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam. This blog is thus an attempt to record and clarify my thoughts on global politics in anticipation of the academic study ahead. It also serves as a travel diary (eg. for my trip to India from November 2005 to January 2006), so it's got a lot going on. [Click to see where I've been in the world so far - places of residence in dark red, places I've visited for 48 hours or more in light red].

And finally, because as the second President of America said, we study war and peace that future generations may study mathematics and philosophy. We ignore the past and present at the peril of our future.

Many thanks for reading, and I hope that you continue to visit as 'Other Means' unfolds.

Philip Sen
1 November 2005

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed - Mao Zedong
War is the continuation of politics by other means - Karl Von Clausewitz