Reactions to Modernity: Revolutions, Reforms, and Repression

Hunter-gatherers and agricultural societies lacking transcendental thought systems were in no position to respond to the Western challenge. Old World civilizations that had both the material surplus and cognitive abilities produced three responses to the rise of the West. Core sates of these civilizations, in their efforts to catch up with the West, suffered revolutions. Non-core states that lacked the revolutionary energy enacted reforms with mostly unsatisfactory results. Indian response to the West has been repression of its minorities. Being a cleft civilization, it craves inner coherence as a prerequisite to modernization and world power status.

About the speaker

Academic Qualifications
Master in Public Administration – Harvard (1996-98)
Master in International Relations – Japan (1989-91)
BS Mech. Engineering – UT Austin (1983-86)

Work Experience
Financial and Private Sector – World Bank, Washington, DC
International Dept. – Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokyo
Middle East Business Dept. – Sony Corp., Tokyo
Engineering Dept. – ICI Pakistan, Ltd.

Syed Sardar Ali did his F.Sc. from Govt. College Lahore and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.  He earned his first master’s degree in International Relations from Japan and worked for Sony Corporation and the Industrial Bank of Japan in Tokyo. He later earned Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard where he was a student of Prof. Samuel Huntington. Upon graduation he joined the World Bank in Washington, DC and worked in the Financial and Private Sector Unit in the Europe and Central Asia region until 2002. Sardar Ali, who runs a number of businesses in Islamabad and Lahore, is the Chairperson of Crescent Foundation.