Recent Updates

Central Asia Adjusts to a Permanent Afghan–Pakistani Security Shock
International Affairs Jan 08, 2026

Central Asia Adjusts to a Permanent Afghan–Pakistani Security Shock

As the Afghanistan–Pakistan confrontation becomes a permanent feature of the regional landscape, Central Asia is adjusting its security outlook, trade routes, and connectivity planning to manage sustained instability ...

IMEC and the Future of Global Connectivity
International Affairs | Connectivity Jan 08, 2026

IMEC and the Future of Global Connectivity

As trade routes fracture and geopolitics hardens, IMEC offers a diversification-driven connectivity model—less about rivalry, more about resilience ...

Staying in the Feed: The Islamic State’s Digital Survival Strategy
Terrorism | Cyber and Technology Jan 08, 2026

Staying in the Feed: The Islamic State’s Digital Survival Strategy

Despite losing territory, ISIS sustains global influence through digital ecosystems that radicalise, mobilise, and inspire violence with minimal contact or control ...

The Busan Rapprochement: The US-China Trade Deal
International Affairs | Great Power Dynamics Jan 07, 2026

The Busan Rapprochement: The US-China Trade Deal

Forged amid mounting economic strain, the trade deal inked in Busan reflects a fragile de-escalation between the United States and China rather than a durable reset of their economic relationship ...

Capturing perspectives in Jaffna following Cyclone Ditwah
Climate Change Jan 07, 2026

Capturing perspectives in Jaffna following Cyclone Ditwah

Cyclone Ditwah has tested the NPP’s crisis governance even as the party retains considerable support in Jaffna, despite stalled reconciliation and unresolved ethnic concerns ...

The Indus Waters Treaty in a Warming World
Water | Climate Change Jan 07, 2026

The Indus Waters Treaty in a Warming World

Climate volatility is exposing the limits of the Indus Waters Treaty, raising urgent questions about whether a Cold War–era framework can continue to govern a warming world ...

Australia–Canada–India: The Tech Trilateral Reshaping Green Supply Chains
International Affairs Jan 06, 2026

Australia–Canada–India: The Tech Trilateral Reshaping Green Supply Chains

Amidst a climate of fragmentation, the Australia–Canada–India (ACITI) trilateral seeks to build resilience and stability in alternative pathways to climate technology. ...

AI in Terrorism: Emerging Threats for State Security
Terrorism | Cyber Security | Artificial Intelligence Jan 06, 2026

AI in Terrorism: Emerging Threats for State Security

AI adoption by terrorist groups intensifies threats, challenging state-led counter-terrorism efforts ...

Pragmatic Continuity: Understanding India’s Engagement with Syria
International Affairs Jan 06, 2026

Pragmatic Continuity: Understanding India’s Engagement with Syria

India’s engagement with Syria underscores a consistent, interest-driven approach shaped by regional stability, strategic continuity, and geopolitical pragmatism ...

The Cyprus Presidency: Strengthening EU Strategic Autonomy
International Affairs Jan 05, 2026

The Cyprus Presidency: Strengthening EU Strategic Autonomy

Cyprus’ 2026 EU Council Presidency aims to advance strategic autonomy by strengthening security, competitiveness, and global partnerships, while leveraging its Eastern Mediterranean role amid a fragmented geopolitical order ...

COP30: Mixed Outcomes and BRICS-Led Climate Momentum
International Affairs | Climate Change | BRICS Jan 05, 2026

COP30: Mixed Outcomes and BRICS-Led Climate Momentum

COP30 outcomes reveal mixed progress, BRICS and Global South driving equity, adaptation, and climate finance reforms ...

India’s Re-election to the IMO Council: Implications for Ocean Governance
Indian Ocean | Maritime Security Jan 03, 2026

India’s Re-election to the IMO Council: Implications for Ocean Governance

India’s re-election to the IMO Council underscores its growing influence in global maritime governance and its ability to shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and rules-based ocean order ...

China’s Social Credit System and Information Control Regime
International Affairs Jan 03, 2026

China’s Social Credit System and Information Control Regime

China’s Social Credit System demonstrates how information warfare is embedded within domestic governance, using surveillance and data to shape behaviour, enforce conformity, and suppress dissent ...

China’s Global Security Initiative in South Asia: An Assessment
International Affairs Jan 02, 2026

China’s Global Security Initiative in South Asia: An Assessment

China’s Global Security Initiative is formalising long-standing defence ties across South Asia, deepening Beijing’s security footprint and complicating India’s regional leadership ...

Reimagining African Unity Through Economic Integration
International Affairs Jan 02, 2026

Reimagining African Unity Through Economic Integration

While visions of a politically united Africa have repeatedly faltered, the AfCFTA offers a pragmatic pathway toward deeper continental integration through trade integration and institutional alignment ...

China's Quiet Diplomacy in the Thai–Cambodian Border Crisis
International Affairs Dec 31, 2025

China's Quiet Diplomacy in the Thai–Cambodian Border Crisis

As fighting resurges along the Thai-Cambodian border, China’s quiet diplomacy reveals a strategy focused less on resolving conflict than on managing instability and shaping the regional balance ...

China’s Bid for Smart Cities: Mastering the City Brain
International Affairs Dec 31, 2025

China’s Bid for Smart Cities: Mastering the City Brain

China’s smart city push blends digital governance with surveillance, military fusion, and global tech exports—raising alarms over control, data, and security ...

The Global Surge in Solid Rocket Motors
Defence and Security Dec 31, 2025

The Global Surge in Solid Rocket Motors

A surge in global conflicts is driving unprecedented demand for solid rocket motors, reshaping missile stockpiles, defence manufacturing, and military space capabilities ...

Managing Slowdown, Security, and Strategy: China’s CEWC in Context
International Affairs Dec 30, 2025

Managing Slowdown, Security, and Strategy: China’s CEWC in Context

China’s CEWC signals tech-driven growth, selective foreign investment, and strategic planning in the 15th Five-Year Plan ...

Smart Climate Governance: Beyond The “Hot & Cold” Approach
Developing and Emerging Economies | Climate Change Dec 30, 2025

Smart Climate Governance: Beyond The “Hot & Cold” Approach

Smart climate governance needs to be set in place that aligns incentives and institutions to de-risk climate finance, unlock public–private synergies, and deliver scalable solutions ...

The Indian Navy's Emerging Constabulary Role in Indo-Pacific
Defence and Security | Maritime Security | Indian Defence Dec 30, 2025

The Indian Navy's Emerging Constabulary Role in Indo-Pacific

The navy’s expanding constabulary role—encompassing diplomacy, surveillance, and maritime policing—reflects India’s efforts to shape the security environment in the Indo-Pacific ...

Halfway Through the Ocean Decade: Progress and the Road Ahead
International Affairs | Indian Ocean Dec 29, 2025

Halfway Through the Ocean Decade: Progress and the Road Ahead

With global ocean governance frameworks taking shape in 2025, the success of the Ocean Decade will hinge on stronger coordination, sustained investment, and deeper engagement with communities and industry ...

China’s New Cold Start Military Posture and Implications for India
International Affairs Dec 29, 2025

China’s New Cold Start Military Posture and Implications for India

China’s Military Operational Posture is Changing, and India Should be Worried about it ...

PLA Evaluates Trump’s NSS and the Evolving US Global Military Posture
International Affairs Dec 29, 2025

PLA Evaluates Trump’s NSS and the Evolving US Global Military Posture

Beijing sees Washington’s pivot to selective engagement and reliance on allies as an opportunity to recalibrate posture and prepare for long-term multi-domain competition in the Indo-Pacific ...

Visas, Passports, and Sovereignty: China’s Arunachal Signalling
International Affairs Dec 29, 2025

Visas, Passports, and Sovereignty: China’s Arunachal Signalling

The detention of an Indian citizen in Shanghai illustrates how Beijing uses civilian administrative tools to assert its territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh while remaining below the threshold of overt confrontation ...

Trump’s NSS and India’s Strategic Dilemmas
International Affairs | US Foreign Policy Dec 26, 2025

Trump’s NSS and India’s Strategic Dilemmas

Although India is mentioned sparingly in the NSS, the document’s focus on burden-shifting, Indo-Pacific security, and competition with China presents New Delhi with both risks and strategic opportunities ...

Contributors

Mitu Sengupta

Mitu Sengupta

Mitu Sengupta is a Full Professor with the Department of Politics and Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is also a Visiting Professor at the Council for Social Development (CSD) and Senior Adjunct Fellow at Research andInformation Systems for Developing ...

Read More + Mitu Sengupta

Mitu Sengupta

Mitu Sengupta is a Full Professor with the Department of Politics and Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is also a Visiting Professor at the Council for Social Development (CSD) and Senior Adjunct Fellow at Research andInformation Systems for Developing ...

Read More +