Geopolitics of an Idea : Future of Democracy in South Asia
 By Mohan K. Tikku

The paper explores the present state of Democracy in South Asia. The situation in these countries is marked by three factors : mass poverty, relatively higher rates of population growth, and the increasingly younger profile of its population.

These three factors will play a critical role in the push for democracy in these countries. People generally will seek a greater participative political role, which will be hard to resist despite the history of periodic reversions to dictatorial rule in several of these countries.

The conduct of the democratisation process in the South Asian region will also be influenced by the manner in which the three important but peripheral countries of the region—Afghanistan, China and Myanmar—are able to work out their own transitions to democratic government.

On the whole, there will be an increase in democratic space in the South Asian countries by 2020. However, this may not always translate into full-blooded democracies.  Two factors will impinge on this process. These are:

(a) how these countries are able to deal with the problem of mass poverty; and,
(b) how the world community has been able to tackle the problem of Talibanisation and Jihadi violence. 

 Brief Bio

Mohan K. Tikku is a journalist and futurist based in New Delhi, India. He has been a leader writer with the Hindustan Times, a leading English daily of the country. He has covered conflicts in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Kashmir and the Gulf. He has also been a Senior Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. His book on Sri Lanka is due for publication later this year.