Let's say I'm confident the stock market has recovered and will continue to rise for the next year then it would it be wise to purchase LEAPS options on a S&P 500 index fund like -SPY-? To me it seems like a conservative low risk investment with a decent upside.
You have pretty much answered your own question. Buying Leaps (especially ITM) as a substitute for the underlying is a reasonable strategy.
What about purchasing LEAPS options of ETFs that follow major indexs in foreign countries? Like EWH for hong kong or FXI for China or any other foreign etf?