Capacity and Resolve: Foreign Assessments of American Power

The United States is not seen in India as a declining power. [Indian commentators] do, however, express concern that the United States is not mobilizing its sources of power as effectively as it might. Indian elites with a range of backgrounds and interests fervently hope that the United States will remain powerful and will use its power wisely.

Read assessments of how ten key countries evaluate shifting patterns of U.S. power in the world. Teresita Schaffer’s chapter on India, “Continued Primacy, Diminished Will,” is on pp. 56-65. Full text, published on the CSIS web site June 2011.

The United States and India 10 Years Out

A working paper by Teresita C. Schaffer in conjunction with the Center for a New American Security’s study on the relationship between the U.S. and India.

India and the United States have transformed their relationship in the past 20 years. Looking ahead a decade or more, this trend is likely to continue. The two countries can expect strong economic ties and a lively security relationship, including defense trade and especially stronger cooperation in the Indian Ocean. Economic issues will remain important drivers of Indian foreign policy. Cooperation on the global scene will have ups and downs, but the two countries will gradually find more areas where they can work together. As India’s international trade encompasses more sophisticated and knowledge-based products, India will pursue economic interests that do not necessarily dovetail with those of the developing countries as a group. India-Pakistan relations are likely to remain brittle. India will continue to see China as its major strategic challenge.

Originally published by CNAS in October 2010. Read the entire paper.