Post #1

Preserving Cultural and Political Identity Amidst a Globalizing World

Bhutan, a Bhuddist kingdom in the Eastern Himalayas known for its monasteries and dramatic landscapes, home to just over 800,000 people, is a small, developing country sandwiched between the population giants of India and China at 1.3 and 1.4 billion people. It’s GDP, projected to float around $3 billion USD in 2020, is dwarfed in comparison to that of neighbors China at $12.24 trillion USD and India at $2.6 trillion. As recently as 2017, there have been military disputes over a portion of land in Bhutan known as Dohklam between the People’s Liberation Army of China and Bhutan’s allied Indian Armed Forces.

The Kingdom of Bhutan is no stranger to the effects of globalization; the military intervention of Doklam provides an illuminating example of this phenomenon. The area of contention, located near the tri-junction with India, was disputed due to Chinese efforts to construct a road despite Bhutan’s claims to the land, resulting in occupation of the land from both Chinese and Indian troops — a clear demonstration of geographic expansion spurring military and political cooperation. In accordance with the 2007 Friendship Treaty between India and Bhutan, which states:

“In keeping with the abiding ties of close friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India, the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Government of the Republic of India shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests,”

it’s clear that Bhutan’s military motivations are not only intertwined with that of India, but almost entirely co-dependent, demonstrating how a landlocked country with a small military (at only approximately 8000 personnel) must adapt in the face of military pressure.

As described by Cathal McNaughton in his article Dance bars, mobile phones and Chelsea jerseys: the changing face of Bhutan, the encroachment of globalization is not restricted to political factors, but cultural factors as well. The growing emergence of technology in a culturally-isolated country such as Bhutan — where TV and internet were officially banned until the year 1999 as a precaution against outside corrupting influence — helps demonstrate how impossible it can be for a country to escape the growing grasp of technological advancement in today’s current sociocultural climate.

However, in spite of the ever-expanding and intertwining influence of globalization, the people of Bhutan have taken strong measures in order to preserve their unique cultural identity from the interference of outside influences — even going as far as protesting installation of the country’s sole traffic light in the capital Thimphu. Bhutan’s tourism industry, for example, sets in place certain obstacles for people looking to visit the country, deemed necessary as a means of protecting its environment and its deeply-rooted traditions and culture from foreign influence. The Bhutanese government, acutely aware of the environmental impact tourists can have on Bhutan’s unique and virtually unspoiled landscape and culture, requires that all visitors must travel on a planned, prepaid, guided package-tour or according to a custom-designed travel-program, often restricted only to spots specifically dedicated to tourism.

Despite the growing geographic, economic, and cultural pressures of a globalizing world, the Kingdom of Bhutan, a small fish in a big pond, has been able to preserve a strong cultural identity, and they continue to develop a unique constitutional monarchy form of government which aims to emphasize a metric known as GNH — Gross National Happiness — over its GDP and economic development. The result is a holistic approach to balancing economic production with social development, environmental sustainability, and cultural preservation within a framework of good governance, staying true to a core principle of “development with values.”

Bhutan, a country with a small, agrarian-based economy which ranks 162 in the world in GDP, has created a unique governmental system which shapes its political motivations around factors that contribute to increasing the quality of life of the Bhutanese people rather than the country’s monetary value. As a result, the citizens of Bhutan enjoy the right to free healthcare, education, housing, and are home to the world’s only carbon-negative country.