Opening Address 27/06/2012 ( Biju P R) I B A Political Science

Congratulations for being a student of B A Political Science

Rare an opportunity, great an achievement, and a sky full of promises-be romantic, be a child,unlearn all what you have leant-

Read Jiddu Krishnamurti’s “Freedom from the Known”

Robert Frost-Road Not Taken-

You got to be

-great successors of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Habermass, Harold Laski,

-Students of David Easotn, Pippa Norris, Robert Dahl,

- great juniors of Barak Obama, A K Anotny,Hamid Ansary,

Karl Rove

He is frequently explained as the engineer of Bush's victory. He was the ex-consultant to President George W. Bush. His intellectual political tactics led to the triumph for the Bush government. Through his college years, he was unsuccessful to complete his graduation at the University of Utah, but moved forward to become character of the most esteemed political scientist around the world.

Henry Kissinger

Past national security consultant for Nixon's government, Kissinger was recognized for his astute and sharp policies through which he survived the notorious Watergate scandal that declined the complete Nixon administration. He is recognized with the triumphant conclusion of the Vietnam War while serving under the Ford admin.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice

She is one of the most renowned political characters who studied political science. She even trained political science at the Stanford University in California. She is the US secretary of state in the Bush administration and was a national security advisor.

Barack Obama

President elect Barack Obama is the current and 44th President of the United States of America. He graduated in Political Science from the University of Columbia. He also studied law at the Harvard Law School. 

Great Institutions

1.        Colombia

2.        Harvard

3.        Stanford

4.        Yale

Also congratulations for being a student of Govt .Brennen College

We are known by the education we get,Stephanian,JNUite,Dosco,so  is Brennenite

I wish you all the best and hope you will all have a nice time at brennen college

Here my aim is just make an introductory remarks about how to begin your reliminary understanding of Political Science

In fact we have to make a preliminary reading list in advance of the Course starting

You will get plenty os such a list eventually

But its better to make preliminary preparations

The most important thing for you to do is to keep up to date on current political issues.

The easiest way to do this is to develop the habit of reading a ‘good’ newspaper every day, and – if you’re so inclined – of dipping into some of the periodicals, such as

Foreign Affairs, The Economist, EPW,Mainstream,Seminar,World Focus,IJPS,IJPA,South Asia Politics,

And Magazines like Frontline,The Times,Outlook,News Week,

Besides news papers like The Hindu,Times of India,Deccan Chronicle,The New Indian Express etc

Politics is a very interesting subject crops in different forms

Please read In Defence of Politics (2000) by Bernard Crick.

Gerry Stoker’s Why Politics Matters (2006)

Peter Riddell’s In Defence of Politicians (2011).

Another way of ‘getting into’ the subject is through political biography – Anthony Seldon’s Blair (2005)

Anthony Sampson’s Mandela (2000),

Ian Kershaw’s Hitler (1998)–

Novels, such as Graham Greene’s The Quiet American,

Gore Vidal’s The Golden Age (2000),

Simon Walters’ Second Term (2001)

Robert Harris’ The Ghost (2007), many of which deal with political issues in an intelligent, sensitive and effective manner.

Who is Affriad of Virgenia Wolfe by Edward Albee

Tolstoy- War and peace

Mother-Victor Hugo

Poem

Pablo Neruda-.Democracy

Although this poem was written about the USA (undermining South American countries but also Arab nations) it could equally as well have been written about most Western states.

Democracy is bought by undermining other countries in order to maintain economic wealth.

1. Suck out all the resources from a nation until an independence movement starts fighting back
2. Instal a puppet government.
3. When the independence movement finally regains control of its own country, undermine the economy and then mock that nation.

Perhaps when we start giving some sort of voting rights or a say in how our nations are run (because powerful nations affect weaker nations) to individuals in other nations then we can say that we live in democracies.

Khalil Jibbran- Pity the nation

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest,
and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

For an exploration of contemporary life in an increasingly globalised world, read Thomas Friedman’s eloquent The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999).

T. H. White’s The Once and Future King (1987)

Travels in Hyperreality by Umberto Eco

Erich Fromm The Art of Love

The World is flat by Thomas freedman

Films also provide a good introduction to some of the issues we tackle in politics.

Sandhesham,sathyan Anthikkad

Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August on the mismanagement of the diplomatic crisis in 1914, makes an excellent companion to Roger Donaldson’s film Thirteen Days (2000),

Hotel Rwanda (2004),on Cuban missile crisis

The Lives of Others (2007) – about political surveillance in 1980s East Berlin – might be paired with Goodbye Lenin (2002), another film set in East Berlin at the same time, but which offers a touching insight into the human drama of East Germany’s ‘transition to democracy’. Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs (2007), or Mike Nicol’s Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) offer different takes on U.S. attitudes to events in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 2000s. Better yet, Errol Morris’s Standard Operating Procedure (2008), on Abu Ghraib and Torture.

For those who want a first taste of political theory, try Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince. And for a nice contrast, Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality. If you haven’t read Marx’s Communist Manifesto, now is as good a time as any. Francis Wheen’s biography of Marx is a surprisingly funny book. Terry Eagleton’s Why Marx was Right (2011) is witty but serious. For international relations, try either Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (a gripping account of colonialism, anti-colonialism, imperialism and revolutionary violence) or, by way of balance, Robert Kagan’s Of Paradise and Power.

Of course, you can learn a great deal about some of the key actors in politics by visiting their websites: take a look, for instance, as the sites of the United Nations (www.un.org), International Committee of the Red Cross (www.icrc.org), Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org.uk), or the US Department of Defence (www.pentagon.gov), where you’ll find reports, mission statements, press briefings and so forth – much of it raw and somewhat indigestible, but nevertheless interesting in what it can tell you about how these institutions operate and the kind of issues they are involved in.

Finally, why don’t you try some of the essays of George Orwell. Politically shrewd and committed and beautifully written. A model of what you might hope to do and be! Oh - on the economic crisis, go for John Lanchester’s Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay (2010). It’s smart, right (I think!) – and very funny.

Wish you all success

Thanking you!