India as a New Global Power

The numerous important controversies that have surrounded U.S. foreign policy over the past four years have obscured a strategic success with major implications for the future balance of power in Asia: the transformation of relations between the United States and India. Through a series of breakthroughs in bilateral diplomatic collaboration, military-to-military relations, counterterrorism cooperation, and public diplomacy, the way was paved for this major diplomatic achievement. This year, the Bush administration has unveiled a potentially far more radical initiative with respect to India the United States has pledged to help India become a major world power in the twenty-first century, investing the energy and resources necessary to secure its untroubled ascent to great-power status. In this new report, Ashley J. Tellis, a leading expert on U.S.-South Asian relations, provides an overview of this official, strong desire to transform relations with India, the administration s assessment of the geopolitical challenges likely to confront the United States in this century, and an action agenda for achieving these goals.