The bitter roots of the world still refuse to soften

THE LONG SHADOW OF HISTORY| From oil and trade to war and AI and old human impulses continue to shape modern destinies

“If a bitter seed is soaked in milk for years, will its bitterness disappear? The old proverb remains uncomfortable because it poses a question that each generation believes has already been answered. Yet history continues to disagree.

The first week of June was a reminder once again that prosperity does not necessarily civilize humanity. Wealth increases. Technology advances. Nations are getting richer. Cities are getting taller. Artificial intelligence is getting smarter. Yet civilization’s oldest weaknesses continue to survive beneath the surface.

From New Delhi to Washington, from Moscow to Tel Aviv, from Tehran to Beijing, from Brussels to London and from Africa to Australia, the world remains caught between extraordinary progress and familiar conflicts.

The names change. Models rarely do this. From Nehru to Indira Gandhi, from Vajpayee to Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi, from George Bush to Obama and Trump, from Tony Blair to Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer, from Gorbachev to Putin, the leaders have come one after the other. Yet Iraq gave way to Libya, Libya to Yemen, Yemen to Syria, and the long and painful history of Israel and Palestine continues to cast its shadow over generations. Gaza is burning, Lebanon is shaking, Iran and Israel are clashing, and new uncertainties are spreading across West Asia. Entire generations of children have grown up with a more intimate knowledge of conflict than peace, while countless families have buried dreams that never had the chance to mature.

The economic consequences are never far away.

On June 5, the RBI kept its policy rates unchanged while lowering its growth forecasts and raising its inflation forecasts. Governor Sanjay Malhotra’s decision reflects a reality that every central banker understands: “Markets may trade on numbers, but economies and businesses across all sectors, regardless of size, are ultimately driven by human behavior.”

Oil remains the world’s most powerful messenger. A missile launched in one region can change transportation costs, food prices, airfares and household budgets thousands of miles away.

Trade talks between India, the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom aim to build bridges. Yet even as nations talk about partnership, protectionist instincts continue to resurface. This week, Trump launched a new wave of trade actions after America’s highest court challenged previous tariff measures. Washington has proposed tariffs of between 10 and 12.5 percent on imports from more than sixty countries, including India and the EU, while also targeting Brazil and examining the trade practices of Vietnam and China.

The message was familiar: “Globalization may be celebrated in speeches, but economic nationalism remains deeply embedded in politics.

Even technology reflects this contradiction. The race for AI promises remarkable gains, but increasingly resembles a struggle for dominance rather than collective progress. US and Chinese tech giants are competing fiercely for data, computing power and influence, while concerns grow about imitation, digital monopolies and the future of employment itself. China’s manufacturing strength, America’s economic resilience, Europe’s inflationary concerns, Japan’s policy adjustments, Russia’s strategic calculations, and Gulf energy diplomacy all point to a single reality: economics and geopolitics are no longer separate conversations.

It is simply that economics cannot be separated from human nature. The bitter seed may bear new leaves. It can produce taller branches. It can even produce richer fruit. Yet unless nations learn to value cooperation as much as competition, and humanity as much as power, the roots under the tree will remain remarkably unchanged.