Map on Monday: MALAYSIA and SINGAPORE

PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE: GEOSTRATEGIC LOCATION, MULTI-ETHNIC, AND MULTI-RELIGIOUS

by A. Joseph Lynch

The map above depicts the southeastern Asian nation of Malaysia along with the tiny nation at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula: Singapore.

Sunni Islam came to the region during the 14th century and formed the first independent peninsular state called the Malacca Sultanate. Beginning in the early 16th century the region was dominated by Portuguese and later British imperial rule.

Although most attention is given to Malaysia's peninsular portion (where its capital, Kuala Lumpur, is located), approximately 61% of Malaysia is located on the northern edge of the island of Borneo (which itself is host to two other nations: Brunei and Indonesia). In 1963, both portions of the nation voted to forge the Federation of Malaysia and have since been one nation split between the South China Sea.

The island nation of Singapore was considered the "Gibraltar of the East" by the British Empire due to its strategic location at the eastern entrance of the Straits of Malacca. Still geopolitically important today, 25% of today's oil - along with countless other goods - passes through this narrow maritime choke point (see this Map on Monday article for more, along with another map). The Japanese capture of the area in the opening months of its entry into World War II was called the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British military history by Winston Churchill.

In the early 1960's, Malaysia and Singapore nearly forged one nation fully uniting the lower Malay Peninsula with the Malaysian Borneo coast. Racial tensions and political unrest, however, led to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia and its formation as an independent nation. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister and founding father who died last month, had desperately sought to keep Singapore within Malaysia. Singapore today has become an economically and culturally vibrant nation, hard at work and well-balanced ethnically and religiously. While trained by Israelis in the self-defense of a small nation, it has succeeded in establishing a nation where Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists thrive side-by-side.

Situated between a rising China, India, and Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are bound to be important regional players in the decades ahead.

This article was originally posted on April 4, 2015.

August 10, 2015 UPDATE: Stratfor - short for Strategic Forecasting, Inc. - has created a new video explaining Malaysia's Geographic Challenges. This video is part of an excellent series of short (~2-4 minute) videos which provide the viewer with a specific nation, along with its basic history, geography, culture, and geopolitical allies and adversaries. To view, click on the video box below. 

Religion and Geopolitics Review: Saturday, August 8

by David Pence and A. Joseph Lynch

THE TRINITY - THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH 

Whenever I hear people refer to a certain set of papal encyclicals as the "social teaching of the Church," I tighten a bit. First, because I think all of these encyclicals betray a stunted view of masculinity and the nation. They teach what Russell Hittinger calls the "scissors approach" to the State. The State should not infringe on the family which is below it, but in possession of a sacred sanctuary. The State should not infringe on the Church which is bigger than the State, and also has many prerogatives not under the jurisdiction of the state. So the State is defined by two scissors that cut off the extent of its authority. But there is no positive fraternal view of the nations or states as defined public relationships (the res publica) among men. When I think of social teaching, I think of Church, nation, and marriage as forms of communio. All these forms stem from the greatest social teaching of the Church: The Trinity.

THE CHURCH - A CULTURE IN FULL 

One of the most influential essays I have ever read was by Robert Louis Wilken on the early life of the Church: Church as Culture.

THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT 

When the problem is one of proportion, the solution is usually to be found in Chesterton by Ahlquist. And speaking about proportion, we should remember the distinction between rich man trophy hunting vs the hunters and outdoorsmen of Pheasants Forever.

A THOUSAND YEARS OF ORTHODOXY AND HER DAUGHTER NATIONS 

On July 28, 2015, Orthodox Christians of America joined the Russian government (represented by Vladimir Putin) and the Russian Orthodox Church (represented by Patriarch Kyrill) to celebrate the 1000-year anniversary of the repose of St Vladimir in Moscow. There, all could witness the Christian tie that both transcends and binds the nations of Slavic Orthodoxy. The European nations share a similar pre-national religious bond which they have ignored at their great peril. The statue of St Vladimir which will soon dominate the Moscow city-scape is not without controversy and spiritual significance.

UNDER GOD NO MORE - A DISSENT AT 'COMMONWEAL' 

Commonweal magazine is a progressive Catholic journal that was a very important venue of both literature and theology a half century ago. It is now a reliable advocate for Catholics of the feminist, homosexual, pacifist school of Christianity. They have allowed Andrew Bacevich space in their magazine before, because he brings military credibility and foreign policy sophistication to their magazine's antiwar position. It is to their credit that they published Bacevich's Under God editorial which noted that the Supreme Court decision on homosexual marriage will have a significant effect on our stance in foreign policy with nations who think doing God's will is part of a nation's spiritual calling. Almost every responder vehemently disagreed and a fraction wondered why he was published.

WHO LOVES THEIR NATION

It is a failure of love that so many Europeans (compared to Asians, Americans and men of the Mideast) will no longer fight for their country.

EUROPEANS LAMENT

An evenhanded appraisal by committed Euros of how Russia and assorted nationalisms are shattering the European myth. The authors are evenhanded, as well as soulless, in their description of their project in disarray.

TURKEY BOMBS THE KURDS, SAUDIS BOMB THE HOUTHIS, BUT NEITHER FIGHTS ISIS

Two Sunni nations are more militarily engaged in the last few months than they have been for several years. But while Turkey is fighting the Kurds in Syria, the Saudis fight the Shiite Houthis in Yemen. The salafist Sunnis of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and AQAP of Yemen are left untouched. A recent satirical article explains the situation in terms of a bizarre board-game in which the regional powers (Israel included) believe the best way to fight ISIS is to fight their religious, ethnic, or local enemies.

CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN NIGERIA

Phillip Jenkins reviews a book on BOKO HARAM.

INDIA: KILLING BY CASTE AND CREED

John Allen reports on Indian martyrs with no one to pay their way to canonization.

ISRAEL, TEL AVIV, AND JERUSALEM

The strange world of the Israeli homosexual movement -- nuances in Gaydom.

UNDERSTANDING POPE FRANCIS

To understand the Pope, understand the place of Peron in Argentine history.

Friday BookReview: Mark Twain's veneration for Joan of Arc

                         

"... she is easily and by far the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced."  (Mark Twain)

Here are excerpts from a review by Maurice Williams:

Mark Twain originally had "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" serialized in magazines, then published it in three separate booklets, then later in one combined book. It has since been published in many reprints. Mark Twain considered it his most ambitious work; covering the career of someone he admired most of his mature life. [It] was not very well received by critics, and this subjected Mark Twain to some ridicule, but he never wavered in his admiration of Joan of Arc... 

I didn’t know that he owned a publishing house that prospered when he published the notes of Ulysses S. Grant and went into bankruptcy when it embarked on an ambitious and expensive marketing plan to publish the biography of Pope Leo XIII... 

[Twain] wrote many criticisms of Christianity, even going as far as to state: “If Christ were here now, there is one thing he would not be-- a Christian.” But in spite of all this criticism, Twain appears to be a man with a sense of moral uprightness. He helped Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, to acquire a college education at Twain’s expense. He thought it correct, after filing for bankruptcy, to pay back all his creditors even though, under the laws of bankruptcy, he was not obligated to do so... 

[As for the saint's life]: After the Dauphin believed Joan and commissioned her as General-in-Chief of the armies of France, she dictated a letter of warning to the English holding Orleans on April 21, 1429. She moved with the army to attack Orleans [about a week later], but discovered that her generals had countermanded her orders and had the army on the wrong side of the river. A few days later, she approached Orleans from the correct side of the river. [Joan directed the different attacks, in one of which] she was wounded. By May 8, the siege of Orleans was lifted. An incredible success: seeing that France had been steadily engulfed by England for almost 100 years. 

For inexplicable reasons, the Dauphin then disbanded the army. Then on June 9, the Dauphin regrouped a new army. Joan liberates Jargeau, where Joan is wounded a second time. On June 18, Joan defeats the English at Patay. This broke the back of England’s one-hundred year ambitions in France, and the road was now open to have the Dauphin crowned in Rheims. There was a more or less bloodless march to Rheims. Some English-held cities let Joan and the Dauphin pass without battle, some tried to stop them and were defeated. One city, Troyes, was strongly garrisoned by English and their Burgundian allies and offered resistance. Joan defeated them on July 9. The Dauphin was crowned king on July 17, 1429. 

While in Rheims, Joan sent a message to the Duke of Burgundy urging him to seek reconciliation with the Dauphin, now that he is anointed King and do not fight against him, for, “if you do, you will surely be defeated.” The Duke sent emissaries to Rheims, and Joan thought the King would argue for a good firm peace. Instead, the King settled for a two-week cease fire, which only weakened the King’s position. Joan and the generals felt this was foolish. Since lifting the siege of Orleans and having the Dauphin crowned was the objectives of her commission to assist France, after the coronation, Joan resigned from the army and prepared to return home. Her generals convinced her to encourage the King to continue to Paris and liberate all of France, which probably could have been done in a few months, given the terror Joan’s presence did to the English and Burgundian soldiers. The King was willing at first, but later had second thoughts. He was not fully convinced that conquest was desirable at this point. He felt negotiation would be more effective. He vacillated... 

Joan’s voices no longer had anything to say about attacking Paris, but her generals and she, herself, wanted to liberate Paris. But the King still [hesitated] between conquest and negotiated peace. Nevertheless, Joan and her generals did begin an attack to liberate Paris, but, as the attack was in progress, the King withdrew his support and ordered a retreat. Joan was wounded a third time during this attack. 

Joan then spent several months in the King’s service fighting many minor battles against rebellious cities and bands of partisans. Then, the Burgundians laid siege to Compiegne, a recently liberated city near Paris, so Joan, with about 400 fighting men went to raise the siege. She charged against the defending troops who retreated, apparently a ploy to lead her and her men into an ambush. When her men realized the risk of ambush they had to force her to retreat toward the city. The captain of the city, seeing a great many English and Burgundians close on the heels of Joan and her men, quickly closed the gates of Compiegne to insure that the pursuing army could not enter the city, leaving Joan and her soldiers trapped. Joan was taken prisoner by the Burgundians, who later sold her to the English, who [then] staged a rigged trial to have her executed as a witch... 

I was surprised by Twain’s take on the life of Joan of Arc. He describes her as being “gutsy.” This is quite a compliment from someone as critical and satirical as Mark Twain. He is known to make such bold statements as: “The Bible is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.” “Our Bible reveals to us the character of our god with minute and remorseless exactness. It is perhaps the most damnatory biography that exists in print anywhere.” “If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian.” “I do not believe He has ever sent a message to man by anybody, or delivered one to him by word of mouth, or made Himself visible to mortal eyes at any time in any place.” “I believe that the Old and New Testaments were imagined and written by man, and that no line in them was authorized by God, much less inspired by Him.” “I think the goodness, the justice, and the mercy of God are manifested in His works: I perceive that they are manifested toward me in this life; the logical conclusion is that they will be manifested toward me in the life to come, if there should be one.” 

... Twain spent twelve years researching her life, including many months in France doing archival work and then made several starts until he felt he finally had the story he wanted to tell. Because of his aversion to established churches, one might expect an anti-Catholic bias toward Joan’s beliefs or at least toward the bishops and theologians who condemned her. Instead, one finds a remarkably accurate biography of the life and mission of Joan of Arc. The very fact that Mark Twain wrote this book and wrote it the way he did is a powerful testimony to his open-mindedness toward the religion Joan placed her faith in. 

In his book, here’s what Twain had to say about the church Joan remained faithful to: “Joan was deeply religious. Her religion made her inwardly content and joyous. He face had a sweetness and serenity that justly influenced her spiritual nature. If sometimes she seemed troubled, it came from distress for her country, no part of the distress can be charged to her religion.” Twain recounts that the first person Joan approached about her mission, Robert de Baudricourt, had decided that Joan was either a witch or a saint. To resolve this question, he brought a priest with him to exorcise the devil within her if there was one. “The priest performed his office and found no devil in her. The priest had offended Joan’s piety for he had already heard her confession and he should have known that devils cannot abide the confessional.” Twain relates how he understands Joan’s genius coming into play when she has the Dauphin crowned by the Church. “Now, then consider this fact, and observe its importance. Whatever the parish priest believes, his flock believes; they love him, they revere him; he is their unfailing friend, their dauntless protector, their comforter in sorrow, their helper in their day of need; he has their whole confidence; what he tells them to do they will do; with a blind and affectionate obedience, come what may. Add these facts thoughtfully together, and what is the sum? This: The parish priest governs the nation. What is the King, then, if the parish priest withdraw his support and deny his authority? Merely a shadow and no king; let him resign.” For someone distrustful of ecclesial influence, Mark Twain is certainly open to the influence of the Church in this case. 

I wonder, sometimes, why God intervened into human affairs in such a spectacular way when the man [that] God wanted confirmed as king of France turned out to be such a problem for those who went out of their way to make this happen. I think the reason goes beyond the careers of Joan’s contemporaries. It has something to do with God putting enmity between the woman and her seed (Jesus Christ) and Satan and his seed (those humans who follow Satan) when God punished Adam and Eve and Satan when God first created the human race. I think this ongoing struggle has influenced human history ever since Satan dared to tempt the human race. 

On December 30, 1905, Mark Twain was the guest of honor at a dinner given at the Aldine Association by the Society of Illustrators. Many well-known magazine and newspaper artists were present. It had been arranged that when Twain was speaking, a young model wearing armor like Joan of Arc would appear followed by a young boy carrying Joan’s banner. While Twain was in the middle of his talk, he was astonished to see this young woman approaching. Twain’s face suddenly changed. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Joan presented him with a wreath of flowers. He merely bowed and watched her as she turned and left the room. Then, his voice broken, he stunned the audience by saying: “There’s an illustration, gentlemen, a real illustration. I studied that girl, Joan of Arc, for twelve years, and it never seemed to me that the artists and the writers gave us a true picture of her. They drew a picture of a peasant. Her dress was that of a peasant. But they always missed the face—the divine soul, the pure character, the supreme woman, the wonderful girl. She was only eighteen years old, but put into a breast like hers a heart like hers and I think, gentlemen, you would have a girl—like that.” Even at this time, he still felt admiration for Joan and still felt the sting of the poor reception of his biography of Joan... 

I can visualize Mark Twain when he stood before the judgment seat of God and feeling as uncomfortable as you and I would feel when we finally are there. And while he is feeling so uncomfortable and regretting at least some of the things in this life, I can imagine Joan arriving. I sincerely think it proper that he who defended Joan so ardently in this life should have someone like her to plead his case in the next life.

The map is from this site; another fine website is here.

Here, from several years ago, are some insights of Pope Benedict XVI.

“Joan was a being so uplifted from the ordinary run of mankind that she finds no equal in a thousand years.”  (Winston Churchill)

UPDATE -- From a salute to a new statue of the saint at Fort Drum, New York (about 90 miles north of Syracuse):

"The more closely we examine Balan’s sculpture, the more we are confronted with its specifically Christian themes of Joan as a saint whose sword was her means of doing God’s will, not a contradiction to it...

"Balan has carefully sculpted Joan’s face—she is very distinct and realistic—while the soldier is more roughly handled, an anonymous face with eyes wide in pain and mouth agape. One easily imagines him partially in wonder at the lovely face looking down at him, partially in anticipation of his approaching death. This moment is very significant: it is based on eyewitness accounts of Joan comforting a soldier, who was, as it happens, an English prisoner too poor to be ransomed. When she saw her Frenchmen mortally strike this prisoner, she rushed to him, summoning a priest for the last rites.

"The scene is lovingly described by Mark Twain in his book on Joan of Arc..."

                                         

Map on Monday: KENYA

Map of Kenya (click here to enlarge)

by A. Joseph Lynch

Physical Ecology: Natural Resources and Physical Geography

At roughly 225,000 square miles, Kenya is slightly smaller than the state of Texas. Kenya is situated in east-central Africa with the equator running laterally across the heart of the nation and the mostly dormant volcano and lake-filled Great Rift Valley dividing its far west from the east. Kenya's capital city of Nairobi is located in the nation's south, placing it in the southern hemisphere. Farther south on the Indian Ocean is Kenya's major port city of Mombasa. The tropical climate on the coast turns into savanna grasslands further inland before becoming more arid in the north and east, particularly around the Chalbi desert. Kenya's west borders Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh water lake in the world. Kenya is also home to the continent's second-highest mountain, Mt. Kenya.

Kenya's natural resources includes limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, oil, gas, gypsum, wildlife and hydropower. Kenya's economy, however, is dominated by the services industry (61% of GDP) in relation to tourism, while agricultural production ranks second (24% of GDP). Despite being the most industrially developed nation in region, Kenya manufacturing totals only 14% of the nation's GDP.


Communal Loyalties: Ethnicity, Language, and Religion

Kenya may be about the size of Texas, but its population of 45 million is roughly equal to the populations of Texas and New York state combined. Moreover, 73% of Kenya's population are under the age of 30, placing an already populous nation in the middle of a boom. The ethnic population of Kenya is more or less divided among two major groups, the Bantus (who comprise two-thirds of the population) and the Nilotes. Within the two groups are approximately 69 different languages spoken despite the fact that English (due to Kenya being a British colony from 1888-1962) and Swahili are Kenya's official languages.  Kenya is 83% Christian (48% Protestant and 24% Catholic) and 11% Muslim (8% of these are Shiite and 73% are Sunni). As a Christian nation, Kenya soundly rejected the lecturing of President Obama on the topic of homosexuality.


Geopolitics: Political Geography and Foreign Policy

Kenya borders Tanzania to its south, Uganda to its west, South Sudan and Ethiopia to its north, and Somalia to its east.

While Kenya resists the "ideological colonization" of the atheist West, Kenya is geographically situated on the civilizational fault line that divides Africa's Islamic north from its Christianizing south. Due to a porous border with Islamic Somalia, Muslim terrorists belonging to Al Shabaab often attack Christian Kenya (recall the 147 Christian Kenyans killed this past April). As a result, Kenya has at times been forced to launch military operations in Somalia (see our past Map on Monday posts regarding African terrorism and the Horn of Africa for more).

Kenya is a founding member of the East African Community with its five member nations consisting of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. As 76% of the population in these nations are Christian, it is no wonder that Islamic Sudan's application to the EAC was rejected in December 2011 while Christian South Sudan is considered to be the most likely next member nation. Other nations which may be integrated into the EAC include Malawi (68% Christian), Congo (95% Christian) and Zambia (98% Christian and constitutionally-declared Christian). Although Islamic Somalia seeks integration into the EAC, the decision to allow it entry has been deferred since last February.

Religion and Geopolitics Review: Saturday, August 1

by David Pence and A. Joseph Lynch

IRAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND CHRISTIAN REALISM 

The debate on the Nuclear Deal with Iran pits all sixteen Republican candidates against the deal, as well as almost all of the conservative press with the exception of 'The American Conservative.'  Christian public intellectuals could help by fostering a real debate. That hasn't happened yet. At all too many Catholic forums, philosophical and theological reflections are strangely disconnected from the historical life of the nations. The antiwar political left has proven a mute ally for the President and Secretary Kerry.

AOA advocates a Christian Realism which examines the religious dimensions of a realignment in the Mideast (see: Religion and American Foreign Policy and Christian nations and the Persecution of Christians). Understanding our duty to protect Christians would put America in a de facto alliance with the Shiite states capable of facing the Salafist purification movement now splitting Sunni Islam and targeting Shiites (see: The Shiite-Sunni war - are we on the wrong side?). Understanding the religious debate within Sunni Islam will clarify our need to form alliances with true "moderates" of the Sunni world - starting with the Hashemites of Jordan and including the many non-Arab Sunni nation states which have developed over the centuries within the Islamic civilization. We would treat Israel as an essential ally but not our State Department. Christian realism would  treat Russia as a Christian nation fighting a common enemy. We would reverse the militarized rejuvenation of NATO as an anti-Russian alliance. (see: Religious Nations or the Atheist West). Most vigorously we have tried to challenge the reigning silence about Saudi Arabia as the spiritual center of Islamic terrorism in the religious and civic public media.

TOO LARGE TO FAIL, TOO SMALL TO SUCCEED

One response to the 2008 financial collapse was the Dodd-Frank Law. The jobs that followed for lawmakers as regulators were one benefit of the law for a small group. Not so fortunate were the many small banks and institutions that were driven out of business by the regulatory overhead. They were too small to succeed. Barney Frank keeps showing up in all these stories.

WHEN EUROPE BOMBED SERBIA

The State of Kosovo was formed after the high-altitude punishing of Orthodox Serbia by the "West" in a President Clinton/Secretary Albright attempt to "punish genoicide" in the Christian-Muslim war fought in the heart of Serbia in the 1990's. Kosovo became an independent Muslim-dominated state. Here is a look at an apparently criminal regime by a 'NY Times' reporter who has covered them since the Kosovo war. One of the major arguments of the NATO commander in explaining why Russia should be considered Europe's most dangerous enemy is that it broke the post-WWII agreement that no states would be formed by force (Crimea annexation). However, the NATO bombing of Serbia (certainly a use of force) produced a state of its own: Kosovo.

THE WARRIORS OF WWII AND THE NATIONS THEY FOUNDED

When we asked which soldiers of the greatest generation won WWII we are told that the Russians lost the most men. Now we are reminded that the British Army was very Indian. An excellent review of a book on the military of the British Empire. And as always after men fight for a country they come back thinking they should participate in its rule. The partition of Pakistan and the rise of its first leader, Muhammed Ali, spring directly from a military role in WWII.

A POWER COUPLE TO KNOW

Patriarchy and Fraternity are the public forms of Christian love in the Church and nation. Covert kinship deals like the power couple Nuland-Kagan are our nemesis. To overcome them we must first understand them. We don't usually reference Lew Rockwell who runs a website we tend to deplore. This entry though is a very good synthesis of a story well known to Washington insiders but off the radar of the American public and most journalists. Visit for the entree, don't stay for the meal.

KILLING GOD, MARKETING BABIES

Bishop-elect Robert Barron grounds the "dignity of the human person" in the existence of God. The "dignity of the human person" is a phrase which could allow 7 billion tyrants to live out their lives as their passions find best. Or "the dignity of the human person" is a God-centered reality which bespeaks a world of gratitude, solidarity, and obligation. Pope Francis calls the new individualists "atheistic libertines." He situates the real dignity of the human being in a God-centered ecology -- most notably in his encyclical "Laudato Si."