“REBLOG”: SUPERPOWER INDIA: THE STUMBLING BLOCKS

Here is a reblog of SUPERPOWER INDIA: THE STUMBLING BLOCKS by SANDOMINA, the host of Insightful Geopolitics. SANDOMINA wonders what it will take to make India a superpower. So, he carefully reviews India’s strengths and weaknesses.

SANDOMINA set me to thinking. As a history buff, I can think of times when America sought something akin to superpower status. I still remember a phrase I heard in school, “manifest destiny“. Encyclopedia Britannica has an article on the topic that begins this way.

Manifest Destiny, in U.S. history, the supposed inevitability of the continued territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific and beyond. Before the American Civil War (1861–65), the idea of Manifest Destiny was used to validate continental acquisitions in the Oregon Country, Texas, New Mexico, and California. The purchase of Alaska after the Civil War briefly revived the concept of Manifest Destiny, but it most evidently became a renewed force in U.S. foreign policy in the 1890s, when the country went to war with Spain, annexed Hawaii, and laid plans for an isthmian canal across Central America. (continued here (britannica.com))

We don’t much care for the idea of “manifest destiny” anymore. Why? Different people have different reasons. I suppose some connect it with everything from racism to jingoism. Many Christians, however, would just consider “manifest destiny” wanting the wrong thing. Wanting the wrong thing tends to be an inherent flaw in fallen human beings.

What is the point of being a superpower? Well, I suppose it is an ego trip, but the desire to be a superpower gets in the way of becoming one. When we try to boss each other around to make our country become a superpower, we decrease other’s productivity and desire to work. Is SANDOMINA wise enough to see that? Probably. However, we all compare ourselves to each other, and that can easily confuse us. We see each other on the surface. We don’t see each other’s hearts.

Let’s consider our own country, the United States. Did the United States seek superpower status? Not really. Isolationism has always been quite popular here in the United States. Even George Washington advocated against entangling foreign alliances. Throughout most of its history the people of the United States wanted a small military force. That did not much change until after the Korean War. Although we built an incredibly large and powerful military force during World War Ii, we quickly dismantled it after the war ended. Therefore, we were not ready for the Korean War, amazingly enough. Oops! There was then a realization. We had to maintain a strong, standing military force.

So, how did the United States become a super power? The secret is freedom. Look at our Declaration of Independence. It speaks of God-given rights. We are having trouble right now because so many Americans no longer recognize that God gives us our rights, that we each belong to God, not the government. Yet there is profound economic value in recognizing each others rights. Slaves don’t work efficiently or imaginatively. That only happens when people love and serve each other willingly. God made us to love each other, not to enslave each other, but we have so much trouble understanding the difference.

With that in mind, consider SANDOMINA‘s criteria.

There are many expected attributes of a superpower. However, Economy, Military, and Technology are the core requirements of any superpower. We will restrict our discussion to these areas and see how India fares on these criteria.

Any expert in geopolitics would agree with SANDOMINA‘s choices, but the United States did not gain the attributes of a superpower by seeking a strong economy, powerful military, or high technology. Instead, the people who settled this nation for the most part just sought to be good neighbors to each other. They took the road less traveled.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Therefore, I suggest you read SANDOMINA post and pray India chooses well.

A superpower is a country in a dominant position, which has the capacity to hold influence or project leverage worldwide. The means to achieve this is through the combined influence of economic, military, technological, and cultural strength, as well as diplomatic and ‘soft power. Post World War II, the United States, and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers. Once the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 90s, the United States emerged as the sole superpower of the world. (continued here)