Foreign Policy list reflects Western anxieties

The late Samuel P Huntington who founded Foreign Policy in 1970 would be quite proud of the way the magazine continues to reflect his ideas, particularly his famous "clash of civilisations" thesis. Every year Foreign Policy compiles a list of 100 most influential global thinkers which, to put it crudely, often ends up being a list of the world's good, bad and ugly from western eyes.

This year's list is no different as it appears to have been shaped by the dominant anxiety in the West. For instance, consider the fact that the list of "Agitators" fall under two clear categories: Jihadist and Russian/Pro-Russia. Unsurprisingly, the list is topped by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of the ISIL. Foreign Policy describes him as having "brutally redefined 21st century terrorism". He is joined by three other Jihadi figures including Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. The Jihadi contingent is hardly surprising as this brand of terror has been central to western anxieties in the past two decades.

The other set of villains are more interesting inclusions: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian expansionist thinker Alexander Dugin and the Alexander Borodai, the pro-Russia former Prime Minister of the breakaway Donbass region in Ukraine. Clearly, the rise of Russian expansionism and the rise of Putin as a 21st century Czar represent a new set of fears for the West.

Two of the inclusions in the list of "Decision-makers" are in some ways, "good guys" who are standing up to the villains mentioned above: German Chancellor Angela Merkel "for parrying Putin" and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani "for leaving the door open". The door, obviously, refers to the possibility of engagement with the West and of  some sort of cooperation in the battle against Jihadi terror.

Also finding a place in the list of "Decision-makers" are the two most powerful men in India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Their inclusion in the Foreign Policy list shows that the West has been quick to realise that this is the duo that will be calling the shots in Indian politics at least for the next five years. The period might be much longer if the two Gujaratis have their way. Of course, the West would be hoping that the two don't go the Putin way, in which case we might be seeing them in a very different list in a few years from now.

There are eight more Indians in the overall list of 100. Two of them are an interesting juxtaposition to Modi. Economist Partha Dasgupta and atmospheric scientist Veerbhadran Ramanathan have been hailed for their work on solving a problem that Modi believes doesn't exist: climate change.

The other Indians are: Mylswamy Annadurai - the brain behind Mangalyaan programme (in the category "Innovators"), Shubhranshu Choudhary - founder CGNet Swara  and transgender news anchor from Tamil Nadu Padmini Prakash (both in the category "Chroniclers"), Deepak Kapur - Chairman, India National PolioPlus Committee (in the category "Healers"), Biocon head Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and  State Bank of India Chair Arundhati Bhattacharya (both in the category "Moguls")

The unexpectedly less number of individuals from China reflects a sense of caution on the part of the West and perhaps also an acknowledgement that in a polity with a strong drive towards centralisation and homogenisation, it is difficult to identify individuals that stand out. Unsurprisingly a significant inclusion are Benny Tai and Joshua Wong, Cofounders of Occupy Central with Love and Peace which is protesting for democracy in Hong Kong.

Be it the fear of Russia and admiration for China (and to a lesser extent India), the underlying narrative for Foreign Policy seems to be declining American hegemony. The belief is that under that the US under Obama administration, has stopped behaving like a superpower, which has allowed other powers to emerge as serious challenges to American domination. Introducing its list of 100 influential thinkers for the year, Foreign Policy writes, "When history is written, 2014 will be remembered as a year when remarkable individuals smashed the world as we know it". True, from a Modi to an al-Baghdadi, remarkable individuals have dramatically disrupted existing orders. The decline of US domination, however, would be much less dramatic but no less significant.