INDIA
First-ever drone attack in India marks dangerous new turning point in Kashmir terror
For India’s security establishment, Sunday’s attack isn’t only important for the hows but also the whys. The answer could lead to dangerous escalation on the Line of Control, and have profound implications for the fledgling peace process in Jammu and Kashmir.
TRENDS
The collapse of the Afghan state is inevitable—but for the United States, that might not be bad news
The end of the 9/11 war, twenty years after it began, won’t mark the beginning of peace. Instead, a kind of war-making perpetual-motion machine is being built in Afghanistan.
TRENDS
G7 needs to learn from China, if it's going to succeed in pushing back China’s BRI
China's BRI initiative is set to pump up to $1.3 trillion into infrastructure projects in over 100 emerging economies by 2027, powering the emergence of a global order in which China lies at the centre of a new constellation of geopolitical power.
TRENDS
'The Family Man' illustrates the flaws in India’s pop-culture imagination on the threat from China
'Family Man'-style foreign policy is seductive, but flawed; displays of power, appealing as they are to patriotic audiences, usually serve no clear strategic ends.
TRENDS
Pirates of the Caribbean: the real Mehul Choksi story isn’t about honeytraps and spies, but the world’s greatest safe haven for crime
Eastern Caribbean states have provided a safe haven for criminals since the time of the pirate forts of the 1700s. The Mehul Choksi case is an opportunity for India to lead an international effort to end this.
TRENDS
New Delhi’s battle with WhatsApp mirrors high-stakes global battle over encryption
The debate over end-to-end encryption isn’t just about crime: It rests on the belief that there is a tech-fix for social behaviours like inflammatory rumour or pornography. The advocates of these ideas should think again.
TRENDS
America is retreating from the global stage — but that might not necessarily be bad news
This is arguably the most significant period of geopolitical reordering since the Second World War. In this new world order, victory will be won by those who think smart, not talk big.
TRENDS
Israel-Palestine conflict | Iron Dome isn’t an ironclad solution to Israel's complex security problems
The idea that Israeli civilians can survive attack under Iron Dome’s protection has let Israeli leaders cling to the delusion that there is no need for them to urgently pursue political solutions.
WORLD
Indian foreign policy needs economy of ambition
In capitals across the world, the questions that swirled around India in the 1960s are being asked again.
TRENDS
FONOPs furore raises tough questions on price to be paid for US-India partnership against China
Last week, 'USS John Paul Jones' ventured into India's Exclusive Economic Zone, triggering questions like how are maritime boundaries drawn, who gets to decide the laws that govern the seas and who is to enforce them?
TRENDS
Mix of Islamist insurgency and energy windfall proves toxic to Mozambique
The fall of Palma last week is a warning that while the so-called caliphate has fallen in Iraq and Syria, the ideas that drove it have metastasized and grown teeth.
TRENDS
India-Pakistan dialogue must avoid seduction by daydreams
Pakistan's General Bajwa is scheduled to retire in 2022. His succession will give insight into the Pakistan Army’s consensus on India. Until then, New Delhi would be wise to keep its expectations low.
WORLD
America's campaign against Vladimir Putin will hand China an easy victory
President Biden's tirade against Putin may well be designed to secure the best possible deal in eventual negotiation.
TRENDS
For Prime Minister Modi, emerging China-US impasse is bad news
Chinese fears and American hubris have generated a geopolitical collision neither side can win. Like most Asian powers, India’s best interests lie in remaining on the sidelines as this struggle unfolds.
WORLD
Fraught US-Afghanistan peace plan may depend on New Delhi putting muscle where its mouth is
While Afghanistan would welcome an Indian military presence as the US withdraws its troops, for New Delhi, the case against it looks formidable. The US Secretary of Defence will be bringing several proposals intended to guarantee that a peace agreement holds with him to New Delhi next week.
POLITICS
China’s cyber-espionage capabilities are growing, India needs to invest more in fighting back
Even though New Delhi has sought to expand both it's defensive and offensive capabilities over the years, though, progress has been patchy.
WORLD
American White Nationalism will outlive the fall of Donald Trump
For many in the United States, the fall of President Donald Trump holds out hope that the conflicts of race may be healed.
BUSINESS
The prospects and perils of India’s new diplomacy
This week’s bewilderingly postmodern exchanges—involving a pop-star, a teen Green icon, and a Ministry which would once have never designed to respond to something called a Tweet, especially if it wasn’t in triplicate—tell us important things about the changing contours of Indian diplomacy.
BUSINESS
To India’s east, the surreal rise of a narco-nightmare
The surreal history of East Asia’s narco-kingdoms, as dark as any opium nightmare, teaches us what happens when authoritarianism, corruption and underdevelopment collude to bring about the implosion of polities.
WORLD
Same old, same old: New US government likely to sing old tunes on Afghanistan and Pakistan
Looking out at a nation more divided, arguably, than at any time since its Civil War of 1861-1865, President Joseph Biden likely has little inclination to turn his gaze east.
BUSINESS
America’s biggest foreign policy challenge isn’t across the Pacific, but in next-door Mexico
Large swathes of Mexico are, for all practical purposes, ruled by narco-cartels; fuelled by drug-related violence, the country’s intentional-homicide rate far exceeds that of terrorism-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.
WORLD
Trump’s last stand: Political power and madness are more entwined than we imagine
Like all herd mammals, human beings are hard-wired to follow the steps of their leaders. The lesson both polities and leaders ought to draw from this is not trivial: The success of regimes rests not only on their will or decisiveness, but dialogue, reflection and critical thinking.
BUSINESS
Living With Dragons: India’s 2021 China policy can’t be forged from hot words alone
India will need open-mind strategic reflection and creativity of the highest order to live in the dragon’s shadow.
WORLD
The new Turkish-Pakistani axis is founded on soap opera, not statecraft
Allied with great powers China and Russia, the thinking goes, a new Istanbul-centred caucus of states could give Pakistan greater leverage in shaping the world than it has enjoyed in decades.
