July 21, 2005
LITE?:
India welcomed as new sort of superpower (Anand Giridharadas, JULY 21, 2005, International Herald Tribune)
[S]ingh's visit may signify America's welcoming of a new type of superpower - militarily potent, economically dynamic, regionally assertive, independently minded but still nonthreatening to the United States. Call it superpower lite.
Singh, a bookish former scholar with a sky-blue turban and hushed voice, manages to achieve a combination of humility and assertiveness.
India's image is starkly different from that of China, the other fast-developing country, which is seen as a menacing rival, especially after President Hu Jintao said it would become a "world power second to none."
Compared with the United States' relationship with China, there seems to be less conflict with India, despite India's efforts to project its economic, diplomatic and military influence more assertively - including in ways that contravene U.S. desires.
It raises the question of whether India, which has jealously lagged behind China economically, will have a long-term advantage because it can be a world power without being a threat.
The Bush administration earlier this year said that it was the United States' official policy "to help India become a major power in the 21st century." It is a startling contrast to the harsher vocabulary used in Chinese-U.S. dialogue.
The reality is that, as part of the Anglosphere/Axis of Good, India will have far more influence on world events than its supposedly heavy rival. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 21, 2005 8:08 AM
There is probably no one on the blog more admiring of what India and Indians have achieved since the fall of the Berlin Wall. That being said, India is a long way from becoming a superpower.
They have horrible poverty and large sections of the nation are essentially lawless. Banditry and government are indistinguishable in several states, even more so than in NJ. Wise leadership, and there is every reason to believe in the wisdom of PM Singh, demands a continued inward focus on the part of the Indian government, despite whatever entreaties are made by the US. For now, they have bigger fish to fry.
Posted by: bart at July 21, 2005 8:48 AMan external goal will provide a necessary organizing principle to the disparate parts, and draw in all the marginal elements of society. if india's world image changes, more people in india will buy into the notion of indian specialness, and become better people in the process.
Posted by: cjm at July 21, 2005 9:58 AMUnlikely. What will change India is more reform aimed at overturning the Fabian-inspired Nehruvian state corporatism.
Posted by: Ali Choudhury at July 21, 2005 10:18 AMpeople with hope can do amazing things.
Posted by: cjm at July 21, 2005 1:25 PMWe call nearly all good athletes and many prominent entertainers "superstars" when they are merely "stars" Same thing here. Just a devaulation of the language.
India is becoming a major power in the same way as China and Japan, clearly not a "superpower". There is only one of those for at least the next 25 years.
Posted by: Bob at July 21, 2005 3:26 PMIndia is the only so-called modernizing country that still has diseases that are otherwise known only in the most backward pestholes: guinea worm, leprosy, visceral leishmanniasis etc.
I sympathize with a government trying to control what is virtually a continent with medieval resources, but the idea that India is playing the big leagues is a delusion.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 21, 2005 3:43 PMEurope is disease free--except its soul.
Posted by: oj at July 21, 2005 4:40 PMThat makes Europe better in every respect.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 21, 2005 7:45 PMAs it dies. Your perfect world is suicidal.
Posted by: oj at July 21, 2005 8:04 PM