Open Embrace

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have built their politics on the promise of making their countries great again. Placing India and the US as leaders on the world stage is the stated objective of their respective foreign policies based as they are on the assumption that both inherited a mess from their predecessors. Both are trying to re-litigate the notions of self enemy and allies in their respective countries.Varghese K. George in Open Embrace provides an overview of the changes occurring in Americas relations with the world under the Trump presidency and what it means for India. While Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush emphasized that the USs relations with India would shape the twenty-first century Trumps America First politics is a repudiation of the nations strategic culture. Trumps alignment with Modis world view-what George calls the Hindutva Strategic Doctrine-and the USs changing relationships with Indias neighbours Pakistan and China form a crucial part of this narrative.