India, Dec. 8 -- The visit of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to India in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine war and the ensuing peace talks mediated by the United States is reflective of "multilateralism" and "strategic autonomy", as opposed to the bulldozing and unilateral ways of superpowers. In earlier days, the two "blocs" (USA-led and USSR-led) insisted on predefined and conformist tendencies.

However, the end of the Cold War with the implosion of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led many to prematurely posit the USA as the sole, definitive, and unchallenged superpower. Commentators in the 1990s, such as the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, noted, "We are the indispensable nation", while Charles Krauthammer c...