ISAS Working Papers

India's foreign policy priorities in the coming decade will depend, in the first instance, on India's assessment of the likely evolution of the world order. Predictions are fraught with uncertainty. A study of history reveals that events often follow a non-linear path and that present realities and trends are, at best, a rough guide to the future. The world has been in flux for nearly two decades. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signaled the end of the post-World War II era. This momentous event, full of symbolism, signaled the defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War, triggered off the disintegration of sovereign states and emboldened the United States (US) towards triumphal and unilateral behaviour. A decade and a half later, it is clear that there has been no'end of history'. Nor is the rest of the world prepared to accept perpetual US global dominance. However, the casualness and arrogance with which long-established principles of international relations have been cast aside have saddled the world with the disastrous situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the global spread of terrorism.