Having served on the United Nations as Canadian Ambassador, besides a host of other diplomatic positions, David Malone will help the reader gain a hitherto unexplored perspective into whether or not India is ready to become one of the five superpowers in the world. Does The Elephant Dance?: Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy takes a detailed and close look at the pros and cons in the current foreign policy that the nation follows, while drawing from various historical instances that the writer feels is still driving its present stand on the world stage. The book will also examine internal issues that are plaguing the country from within, such as domestic politics and internal security issues, and finally internal economic factors. Not only have internal issues been dealt with and examined exhaustively, but the author has also written about cross-cultural issues such as the part migration plays in its foreign policy, India’s relations with Africa, the USA, as well as the Latin Americas, apart from stressing on its role within South Asia. India’s role as a soft power has also been examined, and the author also suggests the changes that it needs to make in its current foreign and economic policy and its stand on world issues and international relations with other leading powers.
David M. Malone is Rector of the UN University in Tokyo, and Under-Secretary-General of the UN. He was Canada’s High Commissioner to India from 2006 to 2008.