William S. Cohen is a rare animal in the US — a statesman respected by both partisan camps in Washington. He is a Republican senator who voted for Richard Nixon’s impeachment and served as Bill Clinton’s secretary of defence. Presently head of The Cohen Group, he speaks to Pramit Pal Chaudhuri about the world and the threats it faces. Excerpts:

What is the primary security threat facing the world today?

Obviously, the spread of radical extremist groups with access to the technologies we use to power our economies and using them for destructive purposes. This potential combination of terrorism and technology is the primary peril facing the world.

The real debate is over tactics. Where do you stand on this?

There is a traditional debate on soft power versus hard power. You need both. My view is future battles will take place at the level of policing and shared intelligence; covert action even using special forces. Military action will be the last resort.

Democratic countries are going to be crucial in this struggle; crucial to removing what one writer calls a sentiment of “disconnectedness”. There are those “core countries” who have embraced globalisation and there are those who haven’t and have been left out. The ones who have been left out are the ones who pose the greatest threat. When President Bush talks about the need to spread democracy, it’s ultimately the need to share that prosperity.

What do you think led to the Iraq war?

All of us — the British, French, Israelis and ourselves — based our policy on assumptions. We knew Saddam had had WMDs, we knew he’d used them and failed to account for them. It was rational to assume he still had them. Though the Clinton administration supported regime change, we also decided we could contain Saddam. We did not see him as an imminent threat. But post-9/11, there was a new administration that believed he posed a threat that had to be addressed right now. There was no real evidence linking Saddam to 9/11 or Al-Qaeda. So the real issue, for me, was his failure to account for his WMDs. Was that sufficient ground to take military action? It’s an open question whether it was wise or appropriate. But the issue today is that we are in Iraq and we need to resolve it.

What would you like India to do globally in the next 20 years?

What I see is a country that is going to be a leader in the information age. Assuming its peace and security can be maintained, I envisage India taking on a major role in global security. I envisage India becoming a permanent member of the UNSC. I would see India competing with China, not necessarily on the manufacturing side but definitely in information technology.