Inside Out, India and China: Local Politics Go Global

The economic and political rise of China and India will help define the twenty-first century. One out of three people on the planet is governed from Beijing or New Delhi. These two economies are likely to catch and surpass the United States and European Union in coming decades, and both countries are flexing their muscles in global affairs. The direction, shape, and speed of their rise will have enormous ramifications particularly with economic turbulence and political transitions...
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The economic and political rise of China and India will help define the twenty-first century. One out of three people on the planet is governed from Beijing or New Delhi. These two economies are likely to catch and surpass the United States and European Union in coming decades, and both countries are flexing their muscles in global affairs. The direction, shape, and speed of their rise will have enormous ramifications particularly with economic turbulence and political transitions in both places.

Any corporation, investor, or entrepreneur serious about competing internationally must understand what makes these two nations tick. Many in the West still look at the two Asian giants as political monoliths, closely controlled by their national governments. "Inside Out, India and China "makes clear how and why this notion is outdated, and why it matters so much.

William Antholis managing director at Brookings and a former White House and State Department official traveled with his wife and two daughters to eleven Indian states and nine Chinese provinces in five months, discovering and exploring their enormous diversity in business and governance. Antholis's travels, research, and conversations with hundreds of stakeholders make the unmistakable point that these nations are not the centrally directed dinosaurs of the past.

More and more, key policy decisions in India and China are formulated and implemented by local governments states, provinces, and fastgrowing cities. Both economies have promoted entrepreneurship by the private sector as well as by local government officials. Antholis's gripping narratives of local innovation in governance and business illustrate why simply maintaining a presence in Beijing and New Delhi, or even Shanghai and Mumbai, is not enough to ensure success in China or India.

Each nation has as many people as the United States, Europe, and Latin America... combined. Both China and India are vibrant, innovative, diverse, and increasingly decentralized. Each has its own agricultural heartlands, high-tech corridors, resource-rich areas, and powerhouse manufacturing regions. But few people outside these countries can even name those places, let alone understand how they are shaping global futures. Governments, businesses, and other organizations need to adopt an inside-out strategy. In a compelling conclusion, Antholis lays out exactly what that requires."