India’s Rise as an Asian Power

Why do some powers rise while others languish? Does India have what it takes to ascend to the ranks of the world’s great powers? Sandy Gordon has an implicit answer to the first question that leads to an equivocal answer to the second. India can rise if it places its internal affairs in order and if it can transform the hostile politics of its neighborhood. Gordon is certainly correct that India has internal problems. For those who possess a utopian image of India from Thomas Friedman columns, Gordon’s work is a helpful corrective. Poor governance encourages corruption and facilitates criminality. Gordon, with experience in Australia’s Federal Police, rightly emphasizes India’s archaic policing and underresourced judicial institutions. He points to hopeful signs that transparency initiatives will enable accountability and unleash a virtuous circle of better governance (p. 168). If reform takes hold, India can “harden” itself against the transnational threats of terrorism and crime (p. 181)

Accountability · Corporate governance · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Language change · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Separation of powers · Sociology · Terrorism · Transparency (behavior · Virtuous circle and vicious circle · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Public Administration · South Asian Studies and Conflicts