> Sometime in the past year I believe I suggested that for most of the
> world an authoritarian state _independent_ of the u.s. was probably the
> best most peoples of asia, africa, & latin america could hope for.
> Democratic states (that try to be) independent of the u.s. tend to turn
> into excessively bloody authoritarian states friendly to the u.s.
India has been an independent and democratic (in liberal sense) state for over 50 years. That in a country with 1 bn people, great cultural diversity and poverty on a vast scale.
Ulhas