15 days to G20: can India grab its geopolitical moment?

If experts are to be believed, China is the emerging global strategic power. But India has a strategic opportunity starting it in the face. The question is: can it grab it?
As geopolitics has evolved from the “age of sails” through the “age of space” to “the age of wealth” and conquest is now for the mind of the global consumer — a large chunk of which lies outside any national border — the severe meltdown of the developed economies has lightened their strategic weight.
In a brilliant article in Foreign Affairs (a must-read journal for anyone with more than a casual interest in strategic issues), Roger C. Altman, US deputy treasury secretary in 1993-94 argues that the crash of 2008 is “a geopolitical setback for the West”. You can read part of that piece here, the rest is unfortunately paid.
“This movement,” he argues “also reflects the rapid rise of other economies, especially China and India. The US share of world GDP has been declining for seven years before the financial crisis hit. And it looks increasingly likely that China’s GDP will surpass the US’ at some point during the next 25-30 years.”

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