21 June 2020, Kathmandu
Nepal must remain neutral as it is stuck between China, a state that claims to be socialist but is not socialist, and India, which is systematically dismantling democracy, said Prof. Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned and celebrated American linguist and philosopher.
Speaking at a webinar organized by Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE), he said that the concept of China becoming a hegemon is misleading as despite its rise as an economic power, it remains a poor country when measuring social welfare as per the United Nations Human Development Index.
He argued for the need of the world to transition towards “progressive internationalism” as mentioned in his latest publication ‘Internationalism or Extinction’ where he highlighted the repercussions of the world turning more authoritarian by the day.
Prof. Chomsky argued that all major crises that we face now- climate change, health pandemics, nuclear wars, racism, etc.- are international in nature, the response to which cannot be national.
He advocated the erosion of borders, similar to the integration project of the European Union but on a much larger scale, to ensure coordinated global response to threats, while at the same time preserving globalisation.
Discussing on the emergence of a new world order post-COVID-19 at NIICE on 20 June, he examined the threatening systematic erosion of democracies spanning all countries at the peak of this pandemic.
He mentioned examples of Trump’s America First Policy, Indian regime under Modi as well as the 350 years of parliamentary democracy being torn down by Boris Johnson in England by suppressing democratic voices on fundamental decisions.
He highlighted the catastrophic management of the pandemic in USA under the Trump administration as America, similar to India continues to exhibit symptoms of fascism in a non-fascist ideology.
