Alert: Drive with caution, unpredictable road ahead. It’s a warning sign that foreign policy makers across the world have begun to note with growing worry. The sole superpower is behaving erratically. Its leader is not just unpredictable, he does not seem to care about the global consequences of his mercurial behaviour. Meanwhile, a challenger great power with a different set of values that berate liberal democracy expands its influence the world over.
With global trends staying as they are, three nations are expected to be the most significant global players in the near future: the United States; China; and, currently a distant third, India. They have three of the largest militaries with nuclear and outer space capabilities. They are in purchasing power terms the three largest economies (not counting the European Union as one entity since its members pursue more or less separate policies of foreign engagement). And they are the three largest countries by population totalling over 40% of humanity.
The above excerpt was originally published in The Times of India.
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