India in the Emerging World Order

The fact that bipolarity is passing and a new multipolar world structure has emerged, merits a deeper examination. In the political sphere, the interests of the super powers, collaborative or competitive, do influence the existing international order. At the level of avoiding mutual conflict or ensuring peace in Europe, the super powers have taken many steps to reduce tension. But their competition for dominance of the Third World continues. Their influence is particularly evident in conflict situations obtaining, for instance, in Southern Africa and West Asia. At the strategic level, the super powers far outdistance other nuclear powers in numbers and sophistication of their weaponry—both nuclear and conventional. Not merely that. The obtaining level of their military research permits their retaining this lead, and increasing it in future. A caveat might be entered here. The development of entirely new types of weapons like cruise missiles or laser devices by other countries may alter defensive and offensive capabilities radically. Still, it is doubtful, whether, other nuclear weapons countries could successfully contend with the super powers at the military level.