...When, in the 18th century, it came to the potential ' colonisation' of the Indian subcontinent , the French simply backed the wrong horse in their little power games with the British... Enthroning and then deposing pliant and corruptible local ' Kings ' of questionable political or moral authority ~ but who were only more than happy to co-operate and conform to a specific commercial agenda in return for money ... This rather unsavory manipulation of ' client states' by more powerful ' benefactors' has now become a very old and tiresome game of geo-political power chess, but it is one that continues with the rules more or less unaltered to this day ...

By the way .... from time to time the game begins again, with new players : http://www.tradearabia.com/news/INTBIZ_199190.html?

Yes... the world looks quite different when viewed through the lens of geo-politics. In fact the only sensible view point... in my opinion.

... Many would agree with your opinion, RBSI... It seems to me that the only method by which one can really attempt to understand history, and the forces that have shaped it, is to take the broadest possible view - from the 'geo-political ' vantage point - and to try and adopt a perspective that transcends introverted 'nationalism' ... ... Easier said than done, I grant you !

It is indeed a strange habit mankind seems to possess!...We seem to view the events quite comfortably in the geo-political context, 'as and when they are happening'. But soon with the passage of time...all historical events somehow get the emotional and nationalistic twist. It seems to happen all the time and strangely even after this realization we might be victims to this trap...this very moment! We all seem to be hardwired into thinking in parallel lines of logic...all the time.

Re: "...all historical events somehow get the emotional and nationalistic twist." It is an inevitable process unfortunately. Human history, viewed objectively, is little more than a long tale of various competing national interests - motivated by a variety of factors, both good and ill, under a variety of circumstances, at different times. More often than not this 'tale' is capable of invoking a number of emotional responses within us - from pride to anger to shame to astonishment etc & so on... Each of us is a product of our own enviornment and our own particular culture - it is therefore perfectly natural for us to wish to associate ourselves with our own particular national or ' patriotic' narratives.... The aim of any good historian should be, however, to try and view these narratives from a detached or 'neutral' standpoint.

Or is it that we are practical and realistic when we view the events in the present... and tend to view the same ones through an idealistic and judgemental lens. Are we all culturally trained to view the past in a moralistic fashion?

I meant view the past through a judgemental lens...

Yes - I think that we are all ' culturally trained' or conditioned, RBSI. This 'conditioning' is an unavoidable factor in all of our lives - but it should not necessarily be something that we shy away from absorbing or consciously avoid... How else is progress in any society to be achieved if we do not learn from our own national histories - the positives as well as the negatives, for all societies and nations have both. Of course, the crucial point is, that we should be able to learn from the past without imposing or passing judgement from the moral perspective of the present.

Even though I agree with your initial reasoning...I differ with your conclusion Julian. I personally believe that is necessary to be dispassionate, detached and learn from the past...where as it is necessary to be moralistic and judgmental of the present! Morality and ethics are essential as the foundation for humanity to progress in the right direction.

Re: " Morality and ethics are essential as the foundation for humanity to progress in the right direction." Indeed. Did I suggest that they were not ? ... but what me might consider to be the ethical or moral standard or benchmark of our own times, might be very different from the codes that our ancestors lived their lives by. This does not necessarily imply that we are morally superior to them - although I am sure that we would like to think that we have more sophisticated sensibilities than they did, and in many respects we certainly do - nor should we pass judgement upon them for their actions or beliefs. The convictions and ideas of our ancestors, in their own times, were just as valid and important to them (however arcane or ignorant they might now seem) as our own today. That was my point. Of course, we are entitled to form our own opinion of their merits and faults and draw conclusions based upon what we might now know with the benefit of historical hindsight. We can criticise and rebuke (or applaud) our ancestors but we cannot really say that they were ' backward' or ' primitive' .... Such thinking represents the arrogance of the present day.

Yes... I entirely agree with this reasoning.

Ah ! That makes two of us then ( ho ho ) ...