espite my fundamental disapproval of binaries—those reductive distinctions that often obscure more than they reveal—I find myself compelled, if momentarily, to sketch human history through a bifurcated lens. This division, while imperfect, draws attention to two psychological and cultural orientations that have persisted across time: those impelled by a reflexive instinct toward conflict, and those more contemplative, inclined towards restraint and reflective peace.

The former, exemplified perhaps most conspicuously by South Asia, has often displayed a proclivity toward passionate assertion—whether through political bluster, street-level aggression or a romanticised notion of martial valour. This stands in sharp contrast to the latter, observable in regions such as Scandinavia, Austria, Finland and Switzerland, where a culture of moderation, deliberation and institutional stability has taken deeper root. In Asia, countries like Indonesia and Malaysia—despite their own internal challenges—have exhibited a greater receptivity to peaceful coexistence, pluralism and pragmatic governance.

This divergence is not purely cultural or economic; it is historical. Or more precisely, it is the differing engagement with history. Hegel’s haunting dictum that “the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history” seems to find stark validation in the South Asian subcontinent. Unlike Europe, which has endured the apocalyptic devastations of two world wars—each an abyssal reminder of the consequences of unbridled nationalism, imperial ambition and demagoguery—South Asia has been largely spared such continental-scale tragedies. The absence of these cataclysms has perhaps incubated a form of political and cultural bravado, untempered by the sobering reality of collective ruin.

This is not a theoretical concern; it is playing out now, in real time. In the wake of the recent violence in Pahalgam, located in the heart of the contested territory of Indian-held Kashmir, tensions between........

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