The final solution is simply the adoption of the Strategic Defense Initiative. The use of technology to checkmate present missile technology allows the United States and her allies, including India, to maintain its military superiority while giving potential nuclear powers a reason not to proceed with their own program. SDI allows the West an insurance policy against any cheaters. The days of depending upon mere pieces of papers for security are over. A missile shield allows the United States to protect its own interest, while securing a nuclear umbrella to protect other nations, including India. The reason that the nuclear club has not gotten even bigger is that America’s nuclear umbrella has been extended to potential nuclear powers such as Japan and Germany. There is no need for those countries to be nuclear powers in their own right as long as they are allied with the United States. Finally, a strategic defense initiative protects the United States in a world of changing alliances. China has made it clear that it is considering challenging the United States role in East Asia and its own nuclear and military buildup is predicated upon its own military objectives that are not necessarily in sync with ours. SDI allows a sensible policy of containment if that is what is required in the future. SDI also allows for reduction in nuclear weapons since it allows nations an insurance policy against cheating and reduces the utilities of nuclear weapons.
A new nuclear non-proliferation policy begins with the principle that we can no longer keep the nuclear genie in the bottle. There are some nations in whose hands nuclear weapons may in fact be a stabilizing factor. In the 19th century, Europe was dominated by a concert of leading powers, whose goal was to maintain the peace and European stability after the end of the Napoleonic wars. What is required today is a concert of democratic states starting with the Anglosphere and including other democratic states like India. In this new era of terror, stability is dependent upon this new concert acting in harmony. And certainly, this concert of power should include other alliances with other nations not just limited to the Anglospheres. While military options will always be considered, the ultimate protection is a new concert of democratic states prepared to defend what is right under the umbrella of a Strategic Defense Initiative and backed by the United States led Anglosphere.
The final piece to India’s greatness will be the evolution of its relationship with Pakistan, including how it deals with the Kashmir problem. Pakistan, formed as a result of the partition of 1947, has been a dysfunctional society, cash strapped and living in the shadow of India. For millions of Indians and Pakistanis, the partition had its own human tragedy, ending in the deaths of hundred of thousands, if not millions. Pakistan’s present strong man, Pervez Musharraf, migrated from his home in India to Pakistan, whereas author and business consultant, Gurcharan Das went in the opposite direction as a refugee. Nearly 40 million people traveled in either directions in a tragedy that today still threatens both the security and prosperity of India and Pakistan. India diverts billions of dollars of defense funds that should go into economic development and expanding its own influence outside the South Asia continent, to defending its borders with Pakistan. As for Kashmir, Pakistan’s claim is due to a heavy Muslim population, and some in Pakistan even view Kashmir as a part of a Greater Pakistan. India views Kashmir as part of its own territory and the Kashmir people, themselves, are uncertain about their own fate.
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