The document discusses several topics related to geopolitics and history in the Indian Ocean region:
1) Islam spread widely through trade, helping to unite many people under a common religion. Arab traders from the Arabian Peninsula facilitated the spread of Islam across the Indian Ocean.
2) The British gained control of India in 1783 and established a railway system to unite the subcontinent and allow for greater interaction and cultural mixing. This helped stabilize British rule over India.
3) Karens in Burma are often in rebellion against the authoritarian regime and face violence from landmines and attacks. They continue fighting for better governance.
2. Islam in Trade In Monsoon, the author points out that Islam has a unifying quality. Because it is easily adaptable to traditions, and is also one of the few religions readily involved in commerce, this is very true. The spread of Islam through trade coming from the Arabian Peninsula helped to unite many people under similar beliefs and one religion in the Indian Ocean. Arab traders coming from the Arabian peninsula helped spread the religion far and wide this being mainly because of the peninsula’s optimal position for trade.
3. British Unification of India The British gained control of India in 1783, and held control there until around 1815. As a means of transportation, they set up a railway system throughout the subcontinent. As an affect of this, the railways united India, giving people means of interacting and mingling and letting cultures and ideas more easily mix within India. This unification helped greatly in the stabilization of India to become apparent, even if it was not necessarily stable in truth.
4. Karens in Burma A rebellious people, Karens are often in some stage of revolt in Burma. The Karens are a jumbled militia, and are often killed or injured by land mines buried throughout the hill tracts of Burma. These land mines often cause amputations of legs and arms, and can be fatal. Many more however, are killed by the SPDC, or the State Peace and Development Council. The people of Karen seem to see no end to this war, but continually fight for a better regime.
5. Somali Pirates Somali Pirates sail the ocean near the coast of Africa in search of ships to raid, usually heavily armed. Although they appear evil and brutal, from their perspective, they are simply living as their country’s conditions require. One group that had been captured by the United States Navy had no understanding of the words ”police”, or “due process”. Most of them knew of none of their families, and did not know when they were born. The author describes an almost animalistic innocence to them, as an animal reacting to its environment, with no other intentions other than to survive.
