Kris-James? Think Anna Nicole Smith

Those who might think of the Philippines as the center of the universe should think again. As we preoccupy ourselves — some believe to inordinate excess —with national and local elections, we ought not forget that things are happening in the rest of the world that will have direct impact on us.

I’m thinking not only of the Oscars, where African-American actors and long-time Best Director wannabe Martin Scorsese finally held sway; or of American Idol, where the only Filipino contestant, the talented AJ Tabaldo who was liked by no less than perennial sourpuss Simon Colwell, was stupidly voted out of the contest by a cell phone audience; or even of the unending saga of the late Anna Nicole Smith where an ongoing pitched battle for the wealth she left behind is getting enormous air time from all the major US networks.

I’m thinking, for example, of the news that China will increase military spending, a worrisome development despite the official protestations of Beijing of peaceful intent.

I’m thinking too of clear indications that the Bush policy of a "surge" in American military presence in Iraq seems to be sputtering in the US Congress, amid Republican Party determination to make the matter an issue of patriotic support for the troops versus un-American disdain for the sacrifices of the ordinary military man.

I think, finally, of those reports, prominently in last week’s Time Magazine issue of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Since it’s obviously the largest Muslim country in Asia, we in this country must take notice, even if some believe the "spiritual revolution" in that country is not cause for immediate alarm.

These three developments, among others, have grave implications for us here in this part of the world. While our elections are indubitably important to us, events outside our borders may have more far-reaching impact on us than the personalities who will occupy the seats of power in our Congress and in our local governments.

Take the matter of increased military spending in China. The word is that Beijing will boost military spending by 17.8 percent this year. This means a whopping $44.94 billion, an increase of $6.84 billion over last year’s budget. While this might still seem miniscule beside the US proposed defense spending of $532.8 billion for 2007, the concern is that aside from the publicly disclosed amounts, China is actually spending much more for, say, weapons acquisitions.

In the recent past, China has not made a secret of buying jet fighters, submarines and other modern military equipment. While the buzz among armaments suppliers is that China does not yet have a reliable long-range delivery system for its high-tech nuclear weapons, nor does it have a "blue water" fleet which denotes a credible threat on the high seas, the economic clout of China, its 2.3 million strong military and population of a billion and a half souls are collectively too weighty to take for granted.

The challenges all this will pose to Philippine leaders now and in the future are enormous. Our ties to the United States and the West are clearly substantial but we also happen to be geographically close to the Chinese mainland. It is true enough that when elephants collide, the ants should get out of the way. But you never know about those ants. One lesson we should learn from ants is that somehow they manage to survive.

As for that "surge" in US military presence which has been proposed as a policy by President George W. Bush, it appears that his continuously slipping popularity ratings, caused largely by the unremitting bad news from Iraq, are causing opposition to funding of that war to increase.

The opposition is, to be sure, coming mainly from Democrats, but a growing number of Republicans seems to be moving away from Bush. This, the result of the coming Presidential elections in 2008 and the supposed "messages" from the last off-year elections which saw Democrats assume power in both Houses of the US Congress. This, too, despite the hyperactive Republican hit men who are all over American radio and TV networks equating opposition to Iraq war funding with failure to support courageous soldiers in the field.

Our national interest, of course, lies with firming up our solidarity with the world struggle against terrorism. But, for instance, although those US troops in Mindanao are merely engaged in "humanitarian," training and support activities, we do get dragged into situations which arguably send garbled messages to the Muslim world.

While we talk peace with Filipino Muslim separatists, and we enlist the assistance of more moderate Muslims in Asia and the Middle East, our role as former member of the "coalition of the willing" and identity as staunch US ally confuses an international community which wants to regard us as an independent nation with its own ideas of how to chart its own destiny. It’s a job which will test our most seasoned diplomats.

Finally, there is Indonesia, one of the most important members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations. But that is a different story, and the topic of our next column.