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Rather than allowing events to drift towards a political or even military showdown, Maldivian President Mohammed "Anni" Nasheed has shown great fidelity to democratic principles in a country where none existed before him by stepping down from office with grace and poise.

One can see the problem of illicit financial flow in a narrow view in terms of loss of tax revenue, but the more often missed out perspective is that these illicit flows create imbalances in the global economy that upset the efficiency of capital. Illicit financial flows cannot be curtailed without the collaborative effort of both developing as well as developed countries

In less than a week, more than 100 people have been killed by terror group Boko Haram in the northern part of Nigeria. This brutal Islamic group remains a significant problem confronting the democratic government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Brazilian economy is in a new period of transition. Its challenges today are of tax incentives in order to steer foreign investments towards the domestic shores and curbing rising inequality and urban-rural divide.

The politics of Centre-State relations has been a powerful force in shaping India's foreign policy. India's rapid economic growth has furthermore given a new found influence to regional parties, leading to their disproportionate influence over the formulation of foreign policy.

Tamil Nadu has a history of Dalit-centric violence, which has erupted independently in the southern districts, and also the western Dharmapuri belt, where Naxalites have thrived and revived from time to time.

The year 2022 saw the global economic outlook deteriorate amidst high inflation, fiscal tightening, and supply chain uncertainties arising from both the Russia-Ukraine war and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), after expanding by some 5 percent in 2021, contracted in the first half of 2022. This brief makes a case for gender lens investing (GLI) as a means to boost women’s participation in economic act

Both India and China seem to be fixated on a "status quo plus" option, in that each side wants something more than the current LAC. Clearly, much more work needs to be done. For the moment, incremental progress is better than no progress at all.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which is threatened by the formation of the Narendra Modi government in Delhi, have been reactivating networks of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad in Kashmir since May/June 2013.

Is the United States in the process of creating a brand new Muslim bloc? If that be the case, it would know that the execution of the plan necessarily involves the cessation of Kosovo from Serbia in the name of "Self-Determination". This, Russia will not allow at any cost. Belgrade is Moscow's Slav ally. And, in a complex way, the Albanian-Serb and the Washington-Moscow stand-off links up with the global scramble for energy source

An independent country for the Kashmiris is impossible and can remain only as a dream, said Sardar Mohd. Abdul Qayyum Khan, former President and former Prime Minister of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), while delivering an address at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, on September 26, 2005.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist), which came into existence on September 21,2004, through the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist--People's War ) ,

China has a somewhat limited aim to keep India as a neutral in their real battle that for pre-eminence in East Asia, where they are pitted against the Japan-US combine. India has no real stakes in the conflict, and it is not as if Japan supports the Indian position on our borders with China or Jammu & Kashmir. Yet, New Delhi needs to handle the issue with a great deal of care.

While President Obama has been categorical that the new US defence strategy should not be seen as a drawdown of the U.S., the important question is how the proposed budget cuts are going to affect certain weapon platforms such as the F-35.

Since the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001, India and Afghanistan have witnessed a significant strengthening of their bilateral ties. As Afghanistan's stability is important for India's own, New Delhi has readily supported the growth of democracy in its neighbour, battered as it is by many years of conflict and instability. This paper maps out the nature of India's relationship with Afghanistan, focusing on the two nations' economic, po

As two great civilizations and influential Asian powers, India and China share common responsibilities to ensure peace and stability in the region and the world at large.

Britain's former Chief Scientific Advisor and Head of the Government Office of Science, Sir David King, has said that both India and China should take a leadership role at the global platform for Climate Change.

The Doklam crisis of 2017 illustrates the increasing tension in India and China’s nuclear relationship. There are elements of stability and instability in such relationship, and this brief examines them. Stability, on one hand, is derived from a history of military and political restraint, ongoing institutionalised negotiations, and growing economic relations. However, the continuing border dispute and disagreement on a non-demarcated Line of A

As Sino-Indian enmity in the maritime domain intensifies, the relationship between space assets and maritime capabilities in this constantly evolving rivalry remains understudied. This paper fills the gap with a comparative analysis that brings to the fore the importance of space sensors in the conduct of naval operations for both India and China. Equally relevant to this competition is the relationship between space assets and the nature of the

Defensive cyber operations are necessary to protect a network. At the same time, Offensive Cyber Operations (OCOs) cannot be neglected in military planning and should get as much attention as defensive cyber missions. Given the massive requirements for investment in cyber military capabilities geared for OCOs, this paper makes a case for the importance of OCOs for India. It outlines a roadmap for New Delhi to achieve effective OCO planning.

Over the years, sanctions have emerged as a preferred foreign-policy tool for many States, especially in the West. Sanctions serve a number of purposes, including the application of economic and political pressure on specific governments with a view to change their stance on a particular issue. International organisations, throughout the 20th century, used sanctions to impose their positions. The League of Nations first imposed sanctions in 1921

India's ability to separate the Palestinian issue from Indo-Israeli relations could be tested in the future. As the security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories deteriorates and Israel faces greater international pressure to negotiate an end to the conflict, it may not be long before Tel Aviv turns to New Delhi for diplomatic support.

Common values and shared concerns provide a natural corollary for Indo-Israeli cooperation, according to experts. Highlighting the various avenues for cooperation, they especially pointed out defence and agriculture sector.

There is an increasing realisation in New Delhi about the cross-benefits available to the country on social, political, economic and strategic fronts from its neighbours as they are bound to benefit from healthy bilateral and multilateral arrangements encompassing the entire South Asian region.

On the strategic side of things, Japan's economic cooperation with India is also a hedge against a rising China which is a direct threat to Japan as also India, if to a lesser extent.

Indo-Japanese relations have witnessed a paradigm shift since 2000 when both countries launched a global partnership in order to address a range of issues affecting regional and global peace and prosperity. Systematic efforts made by the leaders of both countries since then have strengthened their partnership. Until very recently, their interactions were mainly limited to economic issues, but today they cover a wide spectrum of subjects including

Over the years, there has been an evolution in India’s policy towards non-proliferation-related export controls and the associated regimes. During the Cold War, India considered itself a target; beginning in the 1990s, its policy began to shift in keeping with economic liberalisation at home and changing global perceptions about the threat of proliferation. India’s nuclear weapon tests in 1998 gave it political space to claim credit for its i

North Korea's nuclear weapons capability and cooperative ties with Pakistan is a cause of concern for India. Amid reports of North Korea-Myanmar missile nexus, it becomes important for India not only to take stock of the situation but also to engage more with this reticent state.

The First R K Mishra Memorial Lecture was delivered by Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani. He was Pakistan's National Security Adviser till January 2009. A former Ambassador to the United States, General Durrani has been closely associated with Mr RK Mishra, and Observer Research Foundation, in promoting peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan

As the decade long UPA tenure comes to a close, it is quite clear that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma have not been able to persuade the Congress Party to see the strategic virtues of trade liberalisation.

Re-kindling “the special and privileged nature” of the strategic partnership of India and Russia at BRICS

The 4th India-Arab Partnership Conference, organised late last month as part of the Modi government's efforts to elevate the level of engagement between the two sides, echoed the new government's agenda of economic reforms and deeper economic engagement globally and regionally.

India should look at ways to become an active party in arms trade treaty debates if it has to prove its credentials in global governance. While advancing its global governance role, India will have to also ensure that its arms procurement is not adversely affected.

The financial crisis across the globe and the ensuing responses by nations and non-state actors has dominated both public consciousness and political debate in the recent past. The discussion on suitable stimulus packages, the causes for the financial disorder and future restructuring of the financial systems has often been dominated by the rhetoric of specific constituencies serving individual interests even as it loses sight of the substantive

Amidst pressures on the global trading system, the EU FTA will provide stability and certainty for businesses, support greater investment flows, and deepen supply chain integration

Prof. Arvind Panagariya of Columbia University argues that India has not actually emerged, as US President Barack Obama said during his visit to India, but it is in fact rising. He presented his assessment about India as a rising power during a discussion at ORF.

Worsening climate change will have impacts on global politics, creating new vulnerabilities as well as opportunities. India, given its emerging power status and high vulnerability to climate impacts, holds a key position in global climate action. This brief looks at the ways in which India has used climate policies to gain leverage. India has sought to incorporate the geostrategic uses of climate change into a wider shift in its foreign policy, i

While Indian-Americans are delighted, many of them nevertheless see candidates through the lens of their attitude towards India

The kidnapping of Indians in Iraq in June this year and the increasing number of Indians reportedly joining the Islamic State (IS) has elevated the degree of threat to India posed by the Sunni insurgent group.

Sri Lanka¿s new Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, has indicated the importance, and relevance of India to the Sri Lankan context, by visiting New Delhi within days of his being sworn in. His visit to India even before the conclusion of the Indian electoral exercise was testimony to the mood in Colombo for increasing New Delhi¿s role and involvement in the Sri Lanka peace process.