India: Facing the Twenty-First Century (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 179 newspapers, the book comes offas a chronicle ofevents over the last six yeats, shying away from complex investigative reasoning. However, for the student or policy-maker who needs a comprehensive yet brief account ofthe recent events in Taiwan, Reaching Across the Taiwan Strait will come in quite handy. In the last diirty pages, the book perforais and clearly addresses three crucial areas of Taiwan-mainland relations. In the first of these areas, Clough succincdy tells of an increasingly bewildered PRC, which wishes to hold direct Chinese Communist Party-KMT talks. Beijing may not realize die vast political liberalization which has evolved in Taiwan. The second field evaluates the evolution and necessity oftwo-track diplomacy, noting the rise ofunofficial contacts, but astutely pointing to the lack of convergence on the teal unification issues between the two governments. The author nicely details the experiences ofa divided Korea to illustrate the need for two-track diplomacy; to go farther in official talks, it is argued, the Koreas must make progress in confidence-building unofficial relations. Mainland ChinaTaiwan talks have the second track, but need the first; both are, in fact, necessary. In the third area, Clough discusses the implications of the changing PRC-ROC relationship on the United States' foreign policy. He sees problems arising from possible Taiwanese calls for independence, questioning the U.S. military role, subsequent PRC reaction and possible invasion. Three million people living in Taiwan have visited mainland China in the last five years. While Reaching Across the Taiwan Strait tracks the rise ofunofficial contacts, mutual non-recognition still guides official PRC-ROC relations. And although private associations and groups have eased tensions to some degree, Clough posits, Taiwanese visits to the mainland have often underlined the vast differences remaining between these two societies. India: Facing the Twenty-First Century. By Batbara Crossette. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993. 154 pp. $22.95/Hardcover. Reviewed by Nikolai N. Varma. Mr. Varma holds a BA from Vassar College and is an MA candidate at SAIS. As part of a much needed series on Asian affairs, the publishers have chosen Barbara Crossette for ìndia: Facing the Twenty-First Century. An appropriate choice, as Crossette has spent a number of years covering India for the New York Times. A winner of die 1991 George Polk Award for foreign reporting for her coverage of the assassination ofRajiv Gandhi, Crossette does not duplicate her insightful reporting in this book, to the reader's disappointment. What will India be in the next century? The answer to this question seems to evade India as much as it does the rest ofthe world. Will India follow die padi ofdie former Soviet Union and splinter into a web of different peoples distinguished by different religions, languages and cultures? Or will it prove itselfto be the next Asian tiger? As India slowly sets out in search of an answer, a multitude ofquestions arise. 180 SAIS Review WINTER-SPRING 1994 Decades ofneglect and lethargy have concealed the true dimensions ofIndia's internal problems, and the bewildering pace of change in the outside world have left India at a complete loss for dealing with this new world. It is to this equally frightening and fascinating moment in India's history that Crossette's book addresses itself. Recognizing the daunting task she sets for herself, Crossette chooses to use the words of many Indians to speak for themselves. However, this seems a strange choice by someone who correctly observes the lack of objectivity displayed by a people often blinded by teligious and other sentiments. This use of an abundance of quotations is made worse by the fact diat die words are too often followed by no explanation or interpretation. Although the intention ofdie series which includes diis book is to provide an introduction to the elusive nations of Asia to die educated generalist, this volume attempts to cover too much ground. In 141 pages, Crossette hopes to successfully make "forays" into three Indian worlds: the inner self, daily realities, and India and the world. Sadly, she fails to achieve her goal in any ofthe thtee. Her first exploration is the shortest and the weakest The chapter on religion and...