By editor
1 Jan 2014
In practical terms, India must step forward to support the cause of democracy promotion, international human rights and the protection of hapless populations from the cruelty of tyrannical rulers
In practical terms, India must step forward to support the cause of democracy promotion, international human rights and the protection of hapless populations from the cruelty of tyrannical rulers
Unlike the vast majority of postcolonial states which failed to enshrine democratic institutions and norms, India stands out as a striking anomaly. Warts and all, democracy has become the only game in town in the country. The debates within the land are really about particular democratic principles and their realisation in a complex, plural, poly-ethnic society. The country’s citizenry and its leadership can be justifiably proud of this achievement.
Though the question of democracy has been largely settled, India remains deeply ambivalent about its relationship with the West. At one level, such uncertainty is hardly surprising. The country was under a colonial yoke for the better part of two centuries, was subjected to imperial plunder and for much of that period its own cultural and intellectual heritage disparaged. Indeed, it is a testament to India’s post-Independence rulers that they chose not to adopt a wholly nativistic outlook but instead maintained a cosmopolitan perspective.
Despite their willingness and ability to embrace democratic institutions and avoid a form of crude jingoism, the leadership, most notably Jawaharlal Nehru, remained sceptical of aligning the country with the West during the Cold War. His role in the genesis of nonalignment is obviously well known. This is clearly not the place or the moment to assess the success or failure of his strategy. That is the subject of a more extensive and weighty discussion and has been undertaken elsewhere.
The task that now confronts India’s policymakers well over two decades after the end of the Cold War is to design a grand strategy that best meets the country’s needs and aspirations. Unfortunately, this endeavour has not been properly addressed. Instead both public intellectuals and policymakers alike have taken refuge in such hoary shibboleths as “enlightened self-interest” and “strategic autonomy” as their new lodestars. Neither of these two concepts, though seemingly appealing, really proffer much practical policy guidance. At best they can serve as deft rationalisations for any idiosyncratic policy choices.
Of course the country can stagger along, relying on these mostly vacuous concepts and make a series of foreign and security policy ad hoc choices in a mostly reactive fashion. Such a strategy, however, will ill-serve a nation that has aspirations to be a global power and shape the context and content of an emergent international order. Instead it will, almost inevitably, lead to its marginalisation in the international order. At best, it will be able to influence the shape of the global architecture but not serve as one of its key designers.
If India genuinely wishes to become a draftsman of the evolving international system, it needs to end its policy of fence-sitting and vacillation. Instead it needs to recognise that despite a series of extant differences, its long-term interest lies in the embrace and support of global liberalism. This strategy need not be construed as an uncritical embrace of free markets. Instead India should, quite correctly, maintain its stance that markets are inherently imperfect instruments, especially when ensuring both domestic and global equity. Accordingly, it should be in favour of global (and domestic) institutions that seek to avoid the worst excesses of utterly unfettered markets.
That said, despite a series of domestic institutional infirmities and pernicious social forces, it should not remain shy about espousing the cause of political liberalism.
In practical terms this involves stepping forward to support the cause of democracy promotion, international human rights and the protection of hapless populations from the cruelty of tyrannical rulers. In this context, it needs to be underscored that during the early Cold War, though not on a consistent basis, India was an early advocate of the protection of global human rights. Of course, its record in delegitimising colonial rule on a worldwide basis was second to none.
Consequently, its current unease with a more explicit support for taking on duties beyond its borders is disturbing. It demonstrates a lack of faith in the country’s domestic values, in its political and judicial institutions and in its institutional capacity to maintain civic order.
The stale references to imperial overreach and neo-colonial behaviour are tiresome. Obviously, there is little question that many of the Western great powers have been selective in addressing and bringing to book the worst perpetrators of human rights abuses. However, instead of dwelling on the inconsistent enforcement of various international human rights norms and covenants, India could adopt a more unyielding stance and hold the great powers to account.
Such a strategy would be consistent with its domestic commitments. It would send a costly signal to scrofulous dictators across the world, and would free the country from charges of hypocrisy. Obviously, the adoption of such a strategy would require an intense domestic debate and discussion. India has never shied away from such internal deliberations. Indeed, one of its very strengths has long been a culture of argumentation and contention.
As India seeks to negotiate its way through the shoals and eddies of a new course, it may well be time to dispense with a reliance on platitudes and forge a new grand strategy that is mostly congruent with the country’s most treasured democratic principles and beliefs. Such a strategy could enable it to dovetail both interests and principles and offer a more sound basis for policymaking than the current tendency to make decisions on quirky grounds.
The writer is senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia
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