Living in a Glass House

De Tocqueville foresaw the problem with conducting foreign affairs early: “A democracy can only with difficulty regulate the details of an important undertaking, persevere in a fixed design, work it out despite serious obstacles. It cannot combine measures with secrecy or await outcomes with patience.” To these inherent handicaps, we in India add the defects debasing democracy at home. The immature and uncomprehending squabbling, the obsession with selfish and trivial aims, the rejection of reasoned discussion and, most appallingly, of national interest. The habitual hubbub over our home minister’s perfectly justified participation in a SAARC meeting is another illustration.