Another ally misses Bush

The most important and unmitigated success of George W. Bush’s foreign policy was the forging of a new strategic relationship with India. Dan Twining, a former State Department planner and McCain adviser, warns that the Obama White House has made a habit of offending New Delhi because it is so troubled by Beijing.

Why is India so important?

The character of a country’s foreign policy cannot be separated from the nature of its internal rule. As one Asian statesman has asked, why does no one in Asia fear India’s rise even as they quietly shudder at the prospect of a future Chinese superpower? The United States has an enormous stake in the emergence of a rich, confident, democratic India that shares American ambitions to manage Chinese power, protect Indian Ocean sea lanes, safeguard an open international economy, stabilize a volatile region encompassing the heartland of jihadist extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and constructively manage challenges of proliferation, climate change, and other global issues.

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