Even Tech Giants Can Be Non-State Actors: RSS's Ram Madhav On New World Order

The world in 21st Century will be multipolar instead of bipolar and would come with a new set of global institutions, non-state actors and challengers, said Ram Madhav - ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor, in his new book - "The New World: 21st Century Global Order and India".

"The world we are entering into will be very different from what we have lived in for last seven decades," Ram Madhav told NDTV in an exclusive interview, pointing out that while many are saying so, no one has yet defined it. 

"I proposed in this book that we must understand that the world in 21st century will not be bipolar. It will be multipolar and it will be heteropolar. Heteropolar in the sense that while countries will rise as important poles -- we have risen as an important pole. World recognizes that. So is Russia today. So is Turkey today," he said.

The first very important change, he said, will be the rise of China "and at the same time, a decline in influence of the western powers especially America".

"When I say decline, I am not at all saying that probably America will disappear or it will no longer be there as a power," he added.

There are other nations that are rising as well, including India, and as long as they do not come into their own, there could be a cold war between these two power centres. What would eventually emerge is a multipolar world, where nations would play a key role in their immediate and extended neighbouhood, he said. 

In this multilateral world, global bodies too, would be multilateral, he said. 

Pointing out that China has recently announced a new arbitration arrangement for nations with Hong Kong as headquarters, he said, "What will happen to International Court of Justice in The Hague? Because now countries if they prefer, they simply can go to Hong Kong and China will mediate and solve your problems. New institutions are coming up".

The new world order would also come with its own set of non-state actors and challengers -- including religious, media, big tech organizations that will become big enough players to affect sovereign nations, Ram Madhav said. 

"Beyond multipolarity is heteropolarity. In multipolarity you have multiple countries as rising as middle powers... In heteropolarity, non-state players of different natures will rise," he said, giving examples of Syria and Afghanistan where those called terrorists till recently are ruling.

"You know, in India also, some of our people in my movement call George Soros a danger to India. Ford Foundation a threat to India. They are posing certain challenges. I don't deny that. But are they countries? Do they have armies to pose challenges? They are just NGOs," he said.

But for some, even someone like George Soros could be a challenge, he said, recalling his visit to Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban had counted the billionaire investor as a "biggest threat" his country faces.

"We are seeing in Elon Musk what he is doing, the challenge he is throwing to a person like Trump. This is the kind of world we are entering into where tech giants can be important players. They can challenge your sovereignty," he said.

To survive in this new world order, India, he said, has to eschew romanticism and be pragmatic, break new grounds in education, research and development and hone talent..

"The government understands it. That's why government has introduced certain very pragmatic measures. I talked about, you know, strategic autonomy policy of the government. It's a very important policy at a time when the world is transitioning," he said. 

Today, between expectation from America and China also that India should join them, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a principled stand of strategic autonomy.