Eriposte, Good article.
I understand you are just pointing out how conflict in Mizoram was handled in India. The root cause in the areas of Palestine or Kashmir are they want to be independent and there are external forces that are contributing to the terrorist activities in these states.
In Mizoram, there were minimal aid from external countries to the terrorists. The same happened in Punjab. Kashmir isn;t so successful because Pakistan is always behind one or the other problem that arises there. Also India is a secular country and cannot be compared with Israel or other middle eastern countries.
People in Punjab and in Mizo looked at other areas in India and how that was developing and decided to stay with India. That also happened in Kashmir with recent local elections and all. But again, Pakistan would not let it go and until these external aids are taken care off, Kashmir problem will not solved and will be the case with palestine too.

BKK,

As you will see in one of my upcoming posts, the Mizo conflict did receive significant external help and Mizos also sought independence. The issue is more complex than you have laid out. I will address these points in subsequent posts.

I certainly will read the subsequent posts of yours. You are doing a great job.
Couple of other things on Mizo. It is not like other states in India, the population there is educated (80%). Of course they had support from Pakistan. When Bangladesh was formed there was no one to help them and as I said, people are educated there and can reason than other parts like Kashmir. Kashmir and Palestine problems can relate to each other as Muslim population in India are not that educated and so is the case in palestine.
Anyhow, I will wait for your subsequent articles on this regard. Thanks

The expectations of President Elect Barrack Obama are huge but so are his limitations as the head of his Administration. True test will be how he forges his Cabinet team and delegates authority but assumes all responsibility of results. e.g. Can he use President Clinton's goodwill to engage in the pressing problem of Kashmir an issue embroiling two close allies in Asia.

India, an emerging power has to be given due recognition it deserves. Gone are the days when India through Indira Gandhi belonged to the Soviet orbit. Secretary of State (SoS) Rice has recognized that through the nuclear agreement it has forged with India. So balancing India with military aid to Pakistan is the thing of the past.

President Elect Barrack Obama needs to assign President Clinton as special envoy to South East Asia and delegate authority to him to do the ground work to remove the sore thorn of Kashmir out of the two strategic nulear powers like allies that are India and Pakistan.

Then Secretary of State Clinton can cement a deal between India and Pakistan that will bring comfort and security to the two nuclear nations and help the US to deal with Al Qaeda in the North West Frontier of Pakistan with full force and might of Pakistan at its disposal.

This is the time to seize the opportunity and spear ahead a Kashmir detente between India and Pakistan which only the Clintons can manage for Obama on the world stage today.

I agree that today economic recovery is the most engaging issue for our domestic and international consumption and it should be dealt with the greatest urgency and care.

However our preoccupation with Middle East has left the two formidable Nuclear powers of Asia on a very tenable situation pregnant with dire consequences.

Pakistan though democratic of recent has yet to take root with its judiciary in tatters and corrupt military with the over arching influence of ISI which sometimes acts in a rogue manner. They may have a stake in keeping the two powers at bay and in confrontation.

People in the US are often fed the stakes in the oil politics of the Middle East but geopolitically we have to shift our focus on the almost failed state of Pakistan and reinforce it by solving the Kashmir crisis way before anything is done for the state of Palestine in the Middle East.

Somebody has to focus on the crisis of Kashmir before an uncertain terrorist event explodes into a full scale Indo-Pak war. Hence my suggestion of using President Clinton as Kashmir envoy BEFORE he may be used with his great expertise of the Middle East problem.

In my opinion, the root causes for most if not all the conflicts that are happening both now and in the past is organized religion. Every religion feels that it is the ONLY religion and if you do not adhere to their beliefs then you as a nonbeliever are not really "human" and therefore are not really deserving of a free life. I know it sounds simplistic but it what I believe.

"...areas of public policy that interest me the most - foreign policy, ..."

You are already off the beam. There is no such thing as foreign policy. All of our interactions with other nations are allegories for domestic factional politics. This will never change.

The problem is political theater. The problem is the universal use of symbol and metonymy, such that the debate about X is never about X, but always about something else.

This is what cannot be tolerated any longer. The first step (and every subsequent step) is to drop the symbolic and metonymic frames and call out the substance behind each shadow (or the fact that there is none).

The main distinction between the resolution achieved in Mizoram and Punjab v/s lack of such in Kashmir is the religion of the people India was dealing with. The Mizoram people were Christians and Punjabis were Sikhs. The Kasmiris are muslims and it is not possible to rationalize with muslims.

Muslims refuse to live in peace with other religions. They always want to be independent. That is how Pakistan was created out of India. After they are independent, they will fight amongst their sub religions such as Sunnies and Shias. With muslims there is no such thing as peace. There is always conflict. Just like it was in the life of Mohammad.

BKK,

I doubt that education had much to do with the final resolution in Mizoram. Let's discuss in subsequent posts.

Chris and Suresh,

Religion is not always the key factor or even a factor. That is an over simplified view of conflicts - precisely the kind of thing we need to avoid and precisely why I'm going to start approaching these discussions with a broader perspective.

Suresh,

The Kashmir issue is not just about Muslims. I will discuss it when I cover it in more detail in the coming months.