For Prosperity and Power

The US delegation to the People's Republic of China affirms the obvious: the interest of big business is the national interest. The United States understands this and deploys its imperial might to promote its corporations. Here, it has come to negotiate with its greatest challenger in order to secure a smoother field of operation for them. I do not intend to criticise this reality, but to highlight what prudence demands.

A nation must ease the conditions of doing business at home to the optimum extent and promote its corporations' operations abroad. That is the path towards the intertwined goals of prosperity and power. At the next level, it must ensure that power and wealth remain fairly distributed within the country. The national ecosystem should enable widely held shareholder companies and cooperatives to rise into global corporations. It is fundamentally about the rule of law and fair, facilitative rules of the game.

Simultaneously, insofar as their rules permit, Indians must raise, and be allowed to raise, their stake in the shareholding of global companies to feasible and safe limits, and benefit from the operations of multinational giants.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Politics for Folks

Politics affects everyday life, regardless of the level at which it operates: local, regional, national, or international. Therefore, politics at any level, and especially international politics, must be a matter of general concern. The state of international politics has always been anarchic, but the present times appear unprecedented when considered in light of humankind's evolutionary stage.

What emerges from this scenario is that national power becomes critical for a nation’s well-being, security, and territorial integrity. Every nation must therefore have a balancing strategy not only against its immediate rivals but also against the world's most powerful countries. Otherwise, a stronger nation may dictate terms, occupy territory, forcibly extract natural resources, or compel others to pay tribute. Tragically, this remains the reality of the world today.

Among the factors that determine national power, technology is the most critical, with artificial intelligence in particular becoming decisive. Technological superiority has always influenced the outcome of conflicts, and today, with the flick of buttons, a country can overwhelm others through AI and autonomous, automated, intercommunicating machines.

However, something more human and more fundamental lies beneath this: how people live together within a polity. It concerns the quality of collective life and the management of common affairs. When people live in unity and harmony, with a shared sense of purpose, a nation becomes difficult to defeat. This depends on rationality, fairness, and mutual care. It also explains how even smaller nations can possess a strength that appears disproportionate to their geography, resources, and demography.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Universities for National Strength

Impactful higher education requires single-campus universities—ideally designed as townships—that conduct research and training across all major fields of knowledge. These institutions must be built on binding conventions that uphold rational inquiry, excellence, and the public good as enduring principles, regardless of changing circumstances.

In today’s global context, higher education must make a dedicated effort to strengthen national power. A strong, capable nation is best positioned to make a lasting and positive contribution to the advancement of humanity.

In this context, it is a fact that the role of native big corporations is vital for national power. Large-scale corporations, through their constant pursuit of efficiency and innovation, churn people's potential into agency; therefore, higher education must contribute to this goal. Higher education must repurpose itself strategically to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship and impart the necessary skills for various roles in corporations. To add another point: in this era of fierce international competition and conflicts, having formal entities incorporating the functions of both universities and business corporations would give a clear edge to the nation.

To support this vision, training in sciences, technology, and engineering must be rigorous, hands-on, and outcome-oriented. Institutions of higher learning must be well-resourced and foster a focused and positive academic environment. Achieving excellence requires individuals to fully dedicate themselves to their chosen fields.

Niraj Kumar Jha