John, 1,000 times yes on India, but — Russia is the necessary piece to build along with India more than a tight tense balance of power, at least over the next 20 years. Real source of concern: Pakistan, which cannot go on precariously like this forever; every month is borrowed time on the im- or explosion of Pakistan, and India looks infinitely stronger with a self-contradictory and U.S.-compliant Pakistan beside it instead of an ex-Musharraf fellow-nuclear fire-breathing monster. All points and counterpoints — Japanese/Chinese, European/Muslim, and Indian/Pakistani — lead toward the Russian hinterland…
