In almost fifty years of following American news organizations, I thought I’d seen everything, but this morning I saw something new: an editorial in the Chicago Tribune fuming about the failure of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers to appear before Congress to answer questions about the party-crashing couple who made it into the state dinner for India’s Prime Minister.
To be fair, it’s not just the press. The Congress of the United States, majestic in its dignity and power, wants hearings into this grave breach of national security.
But I’m not really upset about the over-coverage of ‘partygate.’ I’m much more concerned about the under-coverage of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit. The U.S.-India relationship is becoming one of the most important bonds in world politics. The growing ties between the world’s largest democracy and its richest one are remaking the map of Asia, enhancing the prospect for a second American century and, if managed correctly, could defuse the greatest danger now facing world peace: the possibility of a US-China rivalry in the 21st century. At the same time, the US-India relationship is vastly complicating our efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
It is safe to say that not one American in 1000 understands very much about this vital relationship. Quite possibly, not one in 10,000 does. As a people we know next to nothing about India’s aspirations, its politics, its relationships with its neighbors, or its purposes in embracing its new relationship with the United States. Even the small minority of Americans who invest serious time keeping up with ‘elite’ media like the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal (whose combined circulation is roughly one percent of the national population) will find critical information hard to come by. What are India’s thoughts on Iran and its nuclear program? What does India think about Afghanistan? What is India’s relationship with Israel? How do India’s ambitions and hopes in Southeast Asia match up with China’s visions for the region? Or America’s? Are India and Japan deepening their relations and if so how?
These aren’t just idle questions. These and others like them will be shaping international realities over the coming decades; the rise of India as a regional and a world power is almost certainly a more important story than anything happening in Copenhagen this week — even from the standpoint of climate change. Closer at hand, in my judgment it’s literally impossible to understand our options in Afghanistan without understanding the India-Pakistan relationship and the effects of the new US-India intimacy on Pakistani thinking about India, America and the world.
So: the prime minister of America’s most important rising international partner comes to Washington, and what does the U.S. press, even the elite press, focus on?
Essentially, on nothing at all.
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