A Home in the World? Remarks on India and the Future
Abstract
India will not become a superpower in our lifetimes, nor will it soon become the limitless market for consumer goods of which multinational corporations dream. Plagued by immeasurable corruption and woefully efficient in infrastructure, it will disappoint many (though not all) foreign investors, while continuing to lag far behind less self-satisfied and better-integrated developing economies such as China and Mexico. India will occasionally startle us with its progress in narrow areas, while the bulk of its population struggles on in poverty or near-poverty. Its role in the world will continue to be that of a regional power-- capable of sparring with its neighbors, but unable to operate globally. Incapable of excellence, India has a genius for muddling through. Doomsayers consistently have been proven wrong, just as optimists have always suffered disappointment in their hopes for India. Rational expectations, always in short supply, are the key to dealing successfully with India and its inefficient, tenacious government, which substitutes lofty rhetoric for meaningful responsibility to the people.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA433472
Entities
People
- Ralph Peters
Organizations
- Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory