New Delhi, March 11 -- These are sombre times for the world. The big conflict in West Asia is giving everyone the jitters. For readers of a business paper, the main questions would be related to its impact on markets. Before coming to that, here's a bit of a background with the caveat that I am not a geopolitics expert. Nevertheless, what I have done is look at history, facts and data.

As I had pointed out in January in an interview, Iran is not a small country. It is more than half the area of India. And if you strike Iran, there will be adverse consequences. It is not a country you can overpower very easily. It has an arsenal. It has military forces. And probably more of a stomach to take casualties than the US alliance does. Moreover,...