✅ How China’s Ascent Helped the West Win the Cold War
- 🛍️ Cheap goods: SEZ exports held down U.S. inflation during Volcker’s shock, which let Washington fund the Reagan buildup without public revolt.
- ⚔️ Sino-Soviet split: CCP hostility forced Moscow to pin ~40 divisions on a 4,000-mile border, troops that never reinforced Europe.
- 💵 Dollar alignment: Even limited U.S.–China tech and aviation deals signaled Beijing’s choice of the dollar system over the ruble bloc, which strengthened Western finance.
🚫 Why India’s Rise Has Been Sterile for the West
- 👩🎓 Brain drain, not absorption: Educated upper castes emigrated. The U.S. got talent but India banked remittances.
- 🏢 Regulatory moat: Red tape traps foreign firms in joint ventures with politically connected conglomerates. Profits stay in Mumbai, not Silicon Valley.
- 💻 Low-margin tech: India built IT staffing giants, not strategic hardware champions like TSMC or Samsung that could shore up Western supply chains.
⚖️ Bottom Line
China’s opening was a temporary and instrumental win for the West against the USSR.
India’s liberalization has been a resource transfer scheme that enriches its traditional Brahmin elite while leaving the West structurally poorer.
