An Ally We Should Believe In
Conn Carroll /
New York University Business School professor Tunku Varadarajan writes at Forbes:
The truth is that, for all his unpopularity in the U.S. (and Europe, and Latin America, and the Middle East, and practically everywhere else outside Albania and Georgia), Bush is a much-appreciated figure in India–at least in high policy circles. As many have noted, both in Washington and New Delhi, the one indisputable foreign policy success of the eight Bush years was America’s invigorating new alliance with India–an alliance that is based as much in a sense of shared ideology (democracy, pluralism, etc.) as it is in strategic need (both countries want a reliable counterweight to China and face a common foe in Islamist terrorism).
Our own Kim Holmes shares a similar appraisal at the Washington Times:
By strengthening ties with India, Mr. Bush enhanced America’s strategic position in Asia. The question is: Will Mr. Obama continue and build on that relationship?