Shimon Peres has joined Tom Friedman in advocating that India replace France on the UN Security Councile. No French-bashing here, but you’ve got to admit that on a purely logical basis it makes quite a bit of sense. India is the second most populous nation. It’s a nuclear power too. It’s on the frontlines of many of the world’s problems. Four European nations on the Security Council doesn’t make that much sense. I can see a counter-argument along the lines of keeping the UN a Western dominated institution. But you really only need one veto for that and we’d still have two — the US and Britain. Also, making India a member of the Security Council might accelerate its influence as a secular democracy for the Third World. France has the luxury of condescending to and coddling Islamist fanatics as a way to triangulate against the United States. India understands this is a fool’s game.