Why Eric Michael Garcetti's appointment as Ambassador to India is a classic case of American supremacism

A multipolar world order requires a paradigm shift in understanding when decades have been defined by a US-led hegemonic unipolarity. The Global South is gaining back its voice. Nations in the informal grouping have thousands of years of surviving civilizational history of immense economic prosperity and military capability. For countries like China and India, the last few centuries of a western-led global order is a blip in time. Yet, this era affects the modern understanding of geopolitics and must be analyzed through the lens of presentism. It also highlights a major difference in worldviews. On one hand, civilizational nations functioned in a largely decentralized fashion, enabling individuals and groups to make financial, military and educational gains. This was much like the East India Company’s activities, before the British state stepped in. In contrast is the nation-state of the US, forged by force and acceptance of the Christian faith as a central factor. Much like the biblical idea of man created in the likeness of the Christian god, the US prefers to shepherd societies molded in their image. No matter that the image itself changes often – once with a race-driven political past with Richard Nixon’s infamous “Indians are bastards” jibe exemplifying their attitude, to now being the apparent harbinger of anti-racism as a signal to virtue, albeit only at times suitable to them. Eric Michael Garcetti is a product and an example of this system. It is a system that has held sway for a long enough time that many intellectual minds believe that it needs no revisiting, even as the world is in churn. His appointment as the US Ambassador to India comes after two complete years without representation of the office. A Biden loyalist and favourite, Eric Garcetti’s appointment comes after months of struggle by him to gain office, as well as lobbying by his famous parents. Gil Garcetti, father to the new US Ambassador to India was the former District Attorney for Los Angeles County and is well regarded in Democrat circles. His son’s tenure as Mayor of LA has painted an interesting mosaic of scandals and violence. Despite his office facing accusations of sexual impropriety and bribery, Eric Garcetti’s personal involvement has not been proven. Last year, Eric Garcetti and his Chief of Police Michael Moore revealed that LA experienced the highest number of homicides in fifteen years , and robberies involving firearms had shot up 57% from 2020 . Car thefts were also up by 44 per cent in the same time period. So what qualifies a politician with a spotty record as mayor and no record of foreign service for the ambassadorship to one of the US’s only hedges against a rising China? Might it be his outspoken criticism of “human rights issues” in India? Or perhaps it is his intent to work with “civil society” instead of with the elected government in India? His concerns in a country with the largest affirmative action programme and the largest number of minority populations with unencumbered political representation in the world remain consistently misplaced. Eric Garcetti’s tenure comes at an interesting time. It allows him to settle in and affect the Indian commentariat right before campaigns for the 2024 general elections get underway. While a US Ambassador would carry little weight internally with regard to the actual voting, it is bound to disappoint his host nation if he continues to undermine their democratic process. Garcetti’s comments on India’s Citizenship Amendment Act were a highly political statement that would suit Democratic positions, yet reflected a limited understanding of Indian issues. It also speaks to an assumed superiority and the American exceptionalism that has become norm and affects international relations. The Lautenberg Act in the US allows “persecuted religious minorities in other countries, such as Jews, Christians, Baha’is, Sabaean-Mandaeans, and Zoroastrians from Iran”, and was first enacted to specifically resettle Jews from the Soviet Union. This was recently highlighted by India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at a conference. Similarly, the US also has the National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 . European allies of the US, as well as Japan, also have highly specific citizenship criteria, and since these have never been cited as discriminatory, it can be assumed that in Eric Garcetti’s opinion, only India must be less specific and more malleable regarding who its citizens are. With their endorsement of a radical Islamist and often communal radio jockey for women’s history month, the US Embassy has already solidified political stances common under the Biden administration. That the second largest majority in India is one of the few communities entitled to rights in India according to the new US Ambassador speaks interestingly to the Hindu population. The dehumanizing implication is that indigenous people that have survived onslaught after onslaught across centuries deserve fewer rights in the only country they retain a numerical majority in. It is also reflective of the North American treatment of its own indigenous populations. Eric Garcetti’s eventual selection as Ambassador and his biases may still come as a surprise considering the opportunity a US Ambassador has to usher in a highly productive Indo-US relationship. Eric Garcetti has an opportunity for enhancing goodwill between two important economic powers and trading partners. The current Indian government is the most US-friendly in all of history, reflected in several ongoing treaties and dialogues. This includes the critical diversification of India’s defence purchases with the US making massive gains. This has only been inadequately reciprocated by the US under Joe Biden’s leadership, and considering Garcetti’s appointment as Ambassador is likely to continue along the same lines. While it is not defining in any way the entirety of the India-US relationship, it may certainly be a signal to some in New Delhi. At a time when countries are rapidly looking at options for de-dollarization, and China rises to economic leadership and global leader, the US faces many battles on the geopolitical front. As Xi Jinping plays an unlikely peacemaker between Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Washington thinkers may well be rife with anxiety. European nations continue to function as US client states and remain quietly submissive to US demands despite rising energy costs and the threat of rapid de-industrialization. However, more and more nations across the world are finding their geopolitical interests realigning. The rise of a truly multipolar world order will witness nations other than the USA wanting to lead from pole positions. While standing for democratic values is a core US policy, its hedging against an avowedly undemocratic China under President Xi leaves much to be desired. As former US public official Michael Pillsbury said in a recent interview, “India is the world’s chance to ensure that China does not become a dominant, aggressive and dictatorial society.” If the Biden administration could convince New Delhi of positive engagement without conditions to mould the Indian polity to US demands, the partnership is likely to thrive. If he refuses to acknowledge ground realities in the country during his tenure, to paraphrase Jaishankar, Eric Garcetti will find that India shall explain things to him with love. That Garcetti intends to understand seems unlikely and is an unfortunate loss for what could have been. The author is a Masters in Biotechnology from the University of Bath, an MBA, a columnist, and a podcaster. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .