2 SOCIAL SCIENTIST confrontation culminating in Pearl Harbour and its sequel, to the rush by the United States to occupy the space vacated by a defeated Japan, to the recent U S efforts to militarise Japan and integrate her as a partner into the -"security arrangement" dominated by the U S: the story of this changing relationship is recounted through the two pieces. The post-war phases of this changing relationship moreover become intelligible in the context of the revolutionary challenge in Asia, whose significant moments are captured in the two pieces. The article by Zoya Hasan and the note by G P Deshpande focus on U S involvement in the South Asia region. Both draw attention to an extremely important point: obscurantism and religious fundamentalism become a powerful ally of imperialism in the current epoch in its efforts to thwart the revolutionary advance of the people. From Poland to Bangladesh, the revival of religion, whatever be the material roots of this revival, plays into the hands of imperialism. Iran, despite its apparent opposition to U S imperialism, is not really an exception to this, as Deshpande argues. He goes on to argue that assassination of particular leaders in South Asian countries whose attitudes towards imperialism were marked by a cautious ambivalence, have often marked the beginning of a pro-imperialist and even revivalist phase for the country concerned! the impression of imperialist tolerence of, if not active collusion in, these assassination moves is thus difficult to avoid. Zoya Hasan points out how in the new aggressive phase of U S imperialism under Reagan, India, notwithstanding the vacillations and compromise of her bourgeoisie, continues to be of considerable irritant potential for imperialism.^ Its global strategy involving the militraisa-tion of the Indian Ocean, the arming of Pakistan etc, also encompasses a reduction of India to a weak, divided or a pliant state. Finally, the article by Rajen Harshe, which is written from a slightly different perspective, as is evident in his rather inclusive definition of imperialism, provides a useful complement to the other pieces by recounting the states and the involvement of the Western capitalist countries in the African continent.