Two Strongmen, One Stalemate in the US–India Trade War

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is supposed to be a time of new beginnings. It’s tempting to surround Donald Trump’s phone call greeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a hopeful glow: Speaking afterward, the US president said that trade tensions between the two countries were discussed, and that India was willing to stop buying oil from Russia in return for a reduction in tariffs.

I hate to burst everyone’s festive bubble, but it’s hard to imagine that the trade dispute is close to a sustainable solution. An unexpected outbreak of rationality all around would require either Trump or Modi to admit defeat — and that’s not something populist strongmen like to do.