Raphael Harkham
The post–Cold War unipolar order – with the United States as the unquestioned, unchallenged hegemon – is over. While the great power rivalry between the U.S. and China is still in its formative stages, another state will exert disproportionate influence on how that competition ultimately unfolds.
India – the world’s most populous state – is a democracy that shares a 2,100-mile border with China. Having experienced Beijing’s expansionist ambitions firsthand, India views China as both a strategic competitor and a direct threat. With vast but still underdeveloped industrial capacity, India offers the most credible counterweight to China in the region, if not globally. It also presents an increasingly attractive economic alternative for countries and investors seeking growth and diversified supply chains. Yet strategic centrality does not automatically translate into strategic capability, and India is still widely understood to be decades away from great-power status.
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