India in the Emerging World Order

Abstract

T he fact that bipolarity is passing and a new multipolar world structure has emerged, merits a deeper examination. In the political sphere, the interests of the super powers, collaborative or competitive, do influence the existing international order. At the level of avoiding mutual conflict or ensuring peace in Europe, the super powers have taken many steps to reduce tension. But their competition for dominance of the Third World continues. Their influence is particularly evident in conflict situations obtaining, for instance, in Southern Africa and West Asia. At the strategic level, the super powers far outdistance other nuclear powers in numbers and sophistication of their weaponry—both nuclear and conventional. Not merely that. The obtaining level of their military research permits their retaining this lead, and increasing it in future. A caveat might be entered here. The development of entirely new types of weapons like cruise missiles or laser devices by other countries may alter defensive and offensive capabilities radically. Still, it is doubtful, whether, other nuclear weapons countries could successfully contend with the super powers at the military level. And yet, one might pause to reflect if military superiority is today of cardinal importance. It does not appear to be readily translatable into political power. Take the case of the super powers. The United States was singularly unsuccessful in its Vietnam intervention, although it utilized the most sophisticated conventional weaponry in the American arsenal over a prolonged period. Quite obviously, the forces of Vietnamese nationalism and political will succeeded when pitted against superior military technology. In West Asia, political influence has see-sawed between the super powers. The Arab-Israeli war of 1973 obtained for the Arabs a political, though not a military victory through their adroit use of the oil weapon. Soviet influence, used on the side of the Arabs, stood at its acme. But the Kissinger diplomacy successfully re-established American influence, thereby eroding the Soviet advantage. Again in Angola, the United States, paralysed by the Vietnam and Watergate disclosures, was unable to achieve its objectives. The Soviet Union appears poised to consolidate its political gains in Southern Africa