Three points must be made about these revolutions. First, they are being waged largely by peaceful means, contained within India's durable and flexible democratic framework. Historically, India has seen the repeated transformation of revolutionary movements into evolutionary movements, there is no reason to expect that the present social tensions, violence, and disorder will not eventually subside. More than in any other large non-Western democracy, the ballot box is seen as the source of legitimacy. Second, these revolutions occur unevenly across India.
Some Indian states remain backward and poor, others have powerful separatist movements.
Yet other states have experienced phenomenal growth in income, literacy, voter participation, and good government. Third, India can give as good as it gets. While Indian intellectuals complain about Western cultural imperialism, especially the American variety, Indian films, music, novels, and stories are pervasive throughout South, Southwest, and even Central Asia, and are establishing a toehold in the West. These reflect India's powerful culture, adaptiveness, and ability to compete. These, in turn, took place just before and during rapid changes in the larger international environment, especially the decline and fall of the former Soviet Union.