China has created world class infrastructure on the Tibetan plateau in terms of highways, rail links, airports, logistic installations and oil pipelines which have civilian as well as military usage, allowing China to settle its Han majority population into these sparsely populated areas, project power in Central and South Asia, and make sustained efforts to integrate these alien areas. These unprecedented infrastructure developments have significantly multiplied the war waging capabilities of China, including against India.

Sudan has been at the cross-roads of conflict for years as two bitter civil wars marred the last decade. It is a prisoner of history as the departing British, to prevent Egypt from dominating Sudan, artificially joined the two culturally and ethnically different parts, sowing the seeds of conflict. The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 and generated a grave humanitarian emergency as the government-supported Arab Janjaweed militia began ethnically cleansing African tribes.

The Olympics are over. The tourists and sportspersons from all over the world who flew to Beijing are back after being dazzled by the massive sporting infrastructure of a new China. Years of preparations and US $40 billion later, a new Beijing had been created for the showcase games with grandiose centrepieces like the Bird's Nest Stadium. Somehow, the Chinese always had a penchant for the grandiose. As early as circa 210 BC, the Qin dynasty had created a huge army of thousands of life-sized Terracotta Warriors.