FOCUS | THEMATIC | RUSSIA
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Special Commentary
The War in West Asia: A Stress Test for India’s Multi-alignment?
Muneer Ahmed. · 12 Jun, 2026 · #5909 · Commentary
The ongoing US-Israel war on Iran has created one of the most stressful diplomatic scenarios India has dealt with in West Asia. Among others, it complicates India’s two most vital yet parallel relationships with the US and Russia. India is simultan ...
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East Asia Compass
The Regional Fallout of Trumpian Chaos: APEC and East Asia
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra. · 30 Sep, 2025 · #5895 · Commentary
The leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will meet in Gyeongju, South Korea, in late October 2025 to deliberate on “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow.” As per speculations, trade, innovation, sustainability, and digital transform ...
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Strategic Space
Nuclear Brinkmanship at a New Brink
Manpreet Sethi. · 22 Aug, 2025 · #5893 · Commentary
The world commemorated 80 years of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this August. Across the world, editorials, opinion pieces, activist marches, discussions and other events marked the occasion. On 9 August 2025, as people remembered the ...
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East Asia Compass
Alliance-Making: The Meaning of Putin’s Visit to North Korea
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra. · 27 Jun, 2024 · #5877 · Commentary
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea after a gap of 24 years, on 19 June 2024. On his last historic visit in 2000, Russia and North Korea signed a Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation, which was a version of thei ...
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East Asia Compass
Why was Kim Jong-un in Russia?
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra. · 09 Oct, 2023 · #5861 · Commentary
It was a bit surprising that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s first foreign visit after the pandemic was to Russia, on 10 September 2023. His visit may be considered symbolic of his prioritisation, with Russia appearing to be more important th ...
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The Strategist
Political-Military-Mercenary Triangulation: A Look at the Wagner Group
Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar. · 21 Sep, 2023 · #5859 · Commentary
Armed interventions often demand the deployment of light forces over a short duration. Mercenaries have been used in such circumstances. If the state-employed mercenaries fail to achieve the desired end, the event is denied. The Russian Wagner Group& ...
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The China-Russia Challenge to India-EU Relations
Siddharth Anil Nair. · 31 May, 2023 · #5851 · Commentary
India’s
relations with the EU and its members have intensified over the past few years.
These relationships are a critical element of contemporary Indian foreign
policy—but they aren’t without their challenges. China and Russia, individually ...
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The Strategist
The Nord Stream Affair: A Coup de Grâce to Perpetuate Proxy War?
Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar. · 27 Apr, 2023 · #5846 · Commentary
On 26 September 2022, a Norwegian
Navy Long Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft, on routine surveillance
mission, laid a sonar buoy field south of the Danish Island of Bornholm. This
was seemingly to surveil the underwater space in the region of ...
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Strategic Space
Nuclear Power Plants in War Zones: Risks and Remedies
Manpreet Sethi. · 30 Mar, 2023 · #5845 · Commentary
In January 2023, an
American non-governmental organisation, the Arms Control Association, announced
the winner of its annual Arms Control Person(s) of the Year. Based on an online
poll of 3,500 participants from 80 countries, the award recognised ...
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The Strategist
Saudi Arabia’s Quest for the Ultimate Political Play-Off
Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar. · 28 Feb, 2023 · #5843 · Commentary
The Saudi strategic gambit
continues to face challenges. There are obstacles in the withdrawal of American
interests from the region and ramifications from the USS Quincy Memorandum, the resultant power vacuum, and
power play between states like C ...
