National governments should be concerned about the influence of the multis, British historian William Dalrymple, who will give a lecture at the MCC Festival starting today, told Mandiner. Details from the interview.
Why come to the MCC Festival ?
I have always enjoyed coming to Hungary, and the festival is an excellent opportunity to do so again.
The title of his presentation is "Bigtech versus the free world". Where did the fight begin?
The presentation will be based on my latest book on the East India Company, entitled The Anarchy . The British East India Company was the first multi-company in the world to lay hands on all of India, wage war against China, and sell opium to the Chinese. And it was not a state, not a country, but a corporation. Its operation is a very terrible example of large multinational companies, such as Google or ExxonMobil today.
As an Asia expert, how do you see the decline of the West?
This is not a question. For most of history, the world's two largest economies were India and China. Europe was relatively poor until the end of the Middle Ages, and then that changed. Now, in post-colonial times, China and India will once again take their rightful place on the world stage. India will be slower but just as powerful as China. Europe will decline in relative terms, of course we will not be poor, but we will have a secondary role. The European Union has an essential role to play in protecting Europe's place in the world. This is also why I regret that my country left the EU, too bad for Brexit. It is a very important change that China is catching up militarily and economically. This is the beginning of a new era. China is a totalitarian dictatorship, so we live in dangerous times. At the same time, Chinese military technology is catching up with that of the West, and the balance of power in the world is changing. We are entering a period similar to the Cold War.
The epidemic held back globalization, and everyone tried to keep strategic industries active at home.
We do not yet know the long-term impact of the epidemic. The East is rising, India is rising more slowly than China, but will rise in the next thirty years.
What will your next book be about?
About how Indian culture influenced the world. Few people know about the global influence of Indian culture, even though it is important. In another panel at the MCC Fest, I will talk about Indian spirituality, after all both Buddhism and Hinduism have had a strong influence on the world.
Read the full Mandiner article
Author: Gergely Szilvay
Image: Wikipedia.org
