The events of the past few days have been very educational in terms of American foreign policy, especially if one happens to be a starry-eyed liberal who believed Joe Biden was the best thing to happen since sliced bread. Nevertheless, the past few days have managed to turn even the staunchest of Biden supporters into lukewarm enthusiasts.
After Joe Biden won the presidential elections with Kamala Harris on the ticket, there was great elation among liberals in India. They hailed the election of Joe Biden to the White House as the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Thus, when it became evident that Joe Biden was blocking export of vaccine raw materials to India amidst the raging pandemic, they pretty much had eggs on their faces. Screenshots of their tweets went viral on Indian sections of social media and they were forced to make several tweets saying how disappointing it was.
But was it disappointing really? To those unaware of history, perhaps. But people who have observed American conduct in recent decades would have realised that it was perfectly in sync with American foreign policy.
Unlike what liberals in India would have us believe, American foreign policy cares very little about human rights. Indian ‘journalists’ and ‘intellectuals’ have quite clearly fallen hook, line and sinker to the USA’s own narrative about itself.
Thus, we have an entire cohort of Anglophiles in the elite opinion-maker class of India who genuinely believed that with Joe Biden as President, human rights will once again become the focus of American foreign policy. Such belief was born out of sheer ignorance or financial benefits but whatever the reason may be, no one has been more embarrassed by the current fiasco than western shills in our country.
Historically, the USA has been extremely antagonistic towards India for varied reasons. While the relationship between the two countries has improved vastly since then, old suspicions continue to linger. That is precisely why it is even more perplexing that the Indian liberal class was so enthusiastic about Biden’s victory.
For instance, the USA has been the major backer of Pakistan, despite knowing fully well that our neighbouring country harbours, nurtures and funds terrorists. This is by their own admission. Pakistan committed a genocide of Bengali Hindus in 1971 and yet, suffered no consequences from the USA.
That was in 1971. In this century, they have bombed countries into slavery and plunged an entire region into chaos while facilitating a genocide in Yemen. All of this should have made it clear to liberals in India that human rights is the least of American concerns.
Now, they are embarrassed and forced to admit that the US decision to send vaccine raw materials to India should have been taken long ago. We could agree on that. There is good reason why the Indian liberal class is so enamored by the West.
Part of it is just basic influence of money. The West spends a great deal of money to influence media coverage abroad and shape the narrative about itself. The NGO industry in India is financed mostly from the USA and rich European countries.
The money spent on NGOs and the media naturally tends to influence opinion in other areas as well. The donations come from, both, private actors and government funded institutions in the West. It is not only Christian evangelism that is financed by money abroad, liberal evangelism receives a boost as well.
The other part is the fact that American dominance in global culture is absolute. The American entertainment industry, fashion, technology and even fast food, the USA has a domineering lead in all such fronts. And in the United States, liberalism is the ideology of the ruling elite. So, naturally, the ideology they popularise either by design or by the virtue of their own endorsement is liberalism.
Therefore, in developing countries such as India, especially in sectors closely aligned with the West such as the media, the overarching influence of their American counterparts is almost oppressive. And in the West, the media went all in to support Joe Biden’s candidature for President.
In order to gain approval of their American counterparts, with respect to whom Indian liberal media feels a definite sense of inferiority complex, Indian media devoted themselves entirely towards a glowing coverage of Joe Biden without the faintest of a critical outlook.
It is understandable that American media worked in tandem with Democrats to ensure Trump’s defeat, why would Indian media’s coverage of American politics make them come across as an ‘IT Cell’ of an American political party? Simple, because they are desperate for their approval.
The current embarrassment that Indian liberals have suffered should ideally give them cause to look at the West through a more critical lens. There is no reason why Indian media should give the USA a free pass while focusing, rightly, on human rights violations in China and elsewhere.
Indian mainstream media has allowed the West to lecture other countries on human rights while turning a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis the USA has perpetuated in the Middle East. Indian mainstream media has allowed the West to lecture other countries on press freedom without offering the slightest bit of criticism for the inhuman manner in which they are treating Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Too many from the Indian liberal class are either professionally or financially invested in the US Liberal Complex and their livelihood and reputation is dependent on upholding the American narrative abroad. Therefore, it is hopeless to expect them to reverse their stand anytime soon.
But those who genuinely look up to the West as a shining beacon for human rights around the world, it is well past time that they open their eyes and smell the coffee.
