COMMENTARIES
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The Strategist
The Blind Men of Hindostan
Vijay Shankar · 21 Sep, 2016 · #5133 · Commentary · Column
Edited Transcript of Valedictory Address to the International Conference on Non-Traditional Security Threats, Christ University, Bengaluru, 03 September 2016.
In coming to grips with threats and challenges that confront a nation, the lines...
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Spotlight West Asia
Will the US-Russia Deal on Syria Hold?
Ranjit Gupta · 19 Sep, 2016 · #5132 · Commentary · Column
The war in Syria is still raging after over five and half years since its outset. Several initiatives have been undertaken to try and end it – first through the Arab League, then Geneva I, Geneva II and the Vienna Process, where even a cal...
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Regional Economy
G20 Summit 2016: A Lost Opportunity?
Amita Batra · 19 Sep, 2016 · #5131 · Commentary · Column
The eleventh meeting of the Group of 20 countries (G20) was held in the city of Hangzhou in China, 4-5 September. This was the first ever meeting of the group in China and the second in Asia after the 2010 meeting in Seoul. The theme of the 2016...
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Red Affairs
The Dream that the State Sells
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 19 Sep, 2016 · #5130 · Commentary · Column
Given that the state has continued to wrest territories from the control of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), the nature of governance to be unleashed in such areas has remained a subject of speculation. Whether a developmental s...
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Comparing the French and Indian Nuclear Doctrines
Marie Pavageau · 16 Sep, 2016 · #5129 · Commentary
Generally speaking, countries’ decisions to go nuclear are based on traumatic episodes that shaped their national identity and must never happen again. The 1956 Suez Crisis was the trigger for France's nuclear programme when it realise...
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China Overtaking India in Maldives
Anjelina Patrick · 15 Sep, 2016 · #5128 · Commentary
The amendment allowing land holdings in the Maldives by foreign entities might contribute to the strong hold of the Chinese in the India Ocean Region (IOR) due to its huge investment in infrastructure development. These have the potential to alt...
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West Asia
The EU-Jordan Experiment: Towards Easing the Refugee Issue
Roshan Iyer · 14 Sep, 2016 · #5127 · Commentary
On 20 July 2016, the EU and the Kingdom of Jordan entered into a free trade deal, the first of its kind in the region. If optimally utilised, the deal opens doors for significant investment into Jordan and promises to create a large number of jo...
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Dateline Colombo
Oceans of (Dis)trust
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera · 14 Sep, 2016 · #5126 · Commentary · Column
“No cause justifies the deaths of innocent people”
Albert Camus
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivered a lecture at the Kadirgamar Institute, Colombo, on ‘Sustainable Peace and Achieving Sustainable De...
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Eagle Eye
India and the US: Inching Towards an Informal Alliance
Chintamani Mahapatra · 12 Sep, 2016 · #5125 · Commentary · Column
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit to India, along with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, to participate in the second Strategic and Commercial Dialogue with their Indian counterparts, and Indian Defence Minister Parrikar&rsq...
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Fragile States Index 2016
FSI and Myanmar: More Clarity Required
Preet Malik · 12 Sep, 2016 · #5124 · Commentary
To try to evaluate a democratic process on a uniform framework is fraught with problems of a structural nature. Just by way of an example, in a farewell call on the then Malaysian prime minister in August 1990, he remarked that “in I...
