India Express the Future of a New Superpower: India In The Twenty First Century

In this panoramic view of the new India, Daniel Lak uses vivid narrative to show that the world's largest democracy is well on its way to becoming not only one of the world's dominant economies but perhaps the next liberal superpower. Combining anecdote, travel writing, factual reportage, and expert commentary, Lak takes his readers on a heady tour of this rapidly changing land. The result is a lively and riveting portrait of how growing wealth and influence are fashioning India into the next superpower. India Express is a fast-paced analysis of India's potential role as 'Asia's America'. Daniel Lak has covered the region for two decades and draws on his detailed knowledge of the country's lesser-known byways to bring together a complex canvas of interviews, anecdotes, statistics and history. From the ghats of Varanasi to the campus of IIT Kharagpur to a polling booth in rural Bihar, Lak argues that India's plural democracy, its rule of law, entrepreneurial talent and military might are together fashioning a country that is globally respected and increasingly influential. What marks this book out from the many voices proclaiming India's nascent superpower status is Lak's clear-sighted grasp of the agents and forces of change in the country today. Acknowledging India's uninterrupted engagement with democracy as unique in the region, the author points out that the growing political heft of the urban middle classes, linked to a historic strengthening of liberal institutions in the country, is part of a process whereby key blocs of voters exchange their political support for government patronage An analysis of a growing global superpower explores the economic, cultural, and political challenges that India will face in the twenty-first century, arguing that the strength of its democracy will position it to sustain its newfound status