In his first press conference as President-elect of the United States of America, Obama was asked to answer one of the major issues that captured the attention of the nation. Press reports from the US suggest that it was indeed a matter of national speculation during the entire length of the presidential campaign.

The issue that had the entire country engrossed right through the campaign was whether Obama's choice for the first pet in the White House would be a cat or a dog?

For long globalisation has been virtually an un-critiqued idea, especially amongst intellectuals, media and the polity -- both, globally and in India.

No wonder, when asked to explain the idea, those who parroted the same several times a day were found to be at their incoherent, inconsistent best.

But the idea that drives the concept of globalisation is definitely not an innocent one. In fact, there have been several waves of globalisation -- read, homogenisation of the world -- attempted in the history of mankind. And at-least, there are three prominent attempts after Jesus Christ.

The continuing experimentation by various countries to arrive at a "grand compromise" between the state and the market makes it clear that this issue cannot be resolved through a precise formula satisfying all conditions and countries.

Over the past few decades, the role of the state and the market within an economy has been the subject of massive intellectual and political deliberation across countries.