The RAND corporation has unveiled a unique defence planning and response project called “Hedgemony”. As is clear from the name, it is a play on the words “hegemony” and “hedging”, i.e. managing and insuring against risk. “Hedgemony. A Game of Strategic Choices” is a practical tool that RAND researchers have […]
East Asia
Russia Has Key Role To Play In Iran Issue
In what must be one of his sharpest rhetorical outbursts against the Trump administration, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Saturday of “savagery” for inflicting $150 billion of damage on Iran due to sanctions. In televised remarks, his voice shaking with anger, Rouhani said, “With their illegal […]
The Sino-Russian Alliance Comes Of Age (III)
The first part of the three-part essay is here. The second part is here. Discourse of shared legacies The disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991 was a geopolitical disaster for Russia. But the watershed event, paradoxically, prompted Moscow and Beijing, erstwhile adversaries, to draw closer together, as they […]
The US Response To China’s Growing Might
In early September 2020, the Pentagon issued a report on the development of China’s military and security services. The report is destined for US Congress, where the US Defense Department has been sending such reports for the last 20 years. The beginning of the report states that the Chinese People’s […]
The Sino-Russian Alliance Comes Of Age (II)
“I look for the land of the Poles that is lost to the Germans, for the moment at least. Nowadays the Germans have started searching for Poland with credits, Leicas, and compasses, with radar, divining rods, delegations, and moth-eaten provincial students’ associations in costume. Some carry Chopin in their hearts, […]
The Sino-Russian Alliance Comes Of Age (I)
The joint statements between two countries are usually riveted on a particular event but in extraordinary circumstances involving great powers, it could assume an epochal character and can be viewed as diplomatic communication that reflects what the Germans call the zeitgeist — the defining spirit or mood of a particular […]
Russia Blasts US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy
The meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on September 11 took place at a particularly delicate juncture in regional politics. Russia is carefully ploughing a neutral line in the India-China standoff while also drawing closer to China to push back […]
An India-China Reset Is Still Possible
A joint statement wasn’t anticipated after the talks between the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10. In diplomatic terms, a joint statement signals that a “critical mass” developed through the 3-hour long discussion between the top diplomats. […]
Vaccine Nationalism, Big Promises And Warped Speed
From sneering dismissiveness of the coronavirus as nothing more than a common cold to a grand promise to find a vaccine, President Donald Trump is all promises. “We remain on track to deliver a vaccine before the end of the year and maybe even before November 1st,” he told a […]
What Can Russia Do To Ease Tensions In Himalayas?
The legend is that the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, during his pathbreaking visit to India in 1955, was reputed to have told the Indians that all they had to do for Russian help was to give a shout across the Himalayas. I don’t know how far this is true but […]
India Gains Nothing Out Of ‘Asian NATO’
If you are in two minds about the foreign policy orientations of Modi government, what do you do? My answer: Read the lips of the US state department officials. They will give you the authoritative account of what India’s secretive ‘Chanakyan’ foreign policy elites are up to. At any rate, […]
US-Russia Tensions Flare Up On Multiple Fronts
Amidst the escalating tensions with China, the United States should have kept the troubled relationship with Russia on an even keel. But the opposite is happening. For the first time since the presidential election in Belarus on August 9, Washington has openly sided with the protests in Minsk and dared […]
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