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The norm to protect the public core of the internet, originally advocated by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy, can be operationalised in two ways. Both a layered approach and a functional approach to defining the public core of the internet provide productive ways to discuss safeguarding the functionality and integrity of the core logical and physical infrastructure of the internet from unwarranted state interventions. Thi

With the Delhi Durbar at its weakest in decades and the national parties in a funk, India's ability to deal with externally induced challenges in the run-up to the elections and after is being undermined by an irresponsible domestic discourse.

For decades, global agriculture has pursued an extractive model of relentless yield maximisation—at a devastating cost. Soil degradation, water scarcity, and deepening inequities have made it clear that the promise of perpetual growth in a finite world is an illusion. This brief challenges the dominant narrative of industrialised, high-input farming and reimagines Indian agriculture through the lens of ‘degrowth’—an emerging concept that

While many will be content to lay the blame only on China, questions also need to be asked about the systemic shortcomings in strategic analysis and intelligence.

If Maldives becomes the biggest radical Islamic cell using the present political situation in the country, it would affect every nation in the Indian Ocean region as a huge part of trade in the Indian Ocean passes through the Maldives, according to former President Mr. Muhamed Nasheed.

A five-member delegation from the Beijing-based China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) exchanged views with the ORF faculty on bilateral relations, media reportage, regional issues, international terrorism, and possible areas of research cooperation

President Wickremesinghe seems to have succeeded in conveying Sri Lanka's best intentions for India during his visit.

As New Delhi intensifies the effort to bring many others home after the successful evacuation of Kerala nurses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must create a strong institutional framework to cope effectively with the recurrent crises involving Indian citizens abroad.

( At the time of the blasts, I was on a flight from Delhi to Chennai. Immediately on my return home at 9 PM on October 29,2005, I heard of the blasts. At the request of an online journal, I had given my initial reactions in a brief write-up titled " Delhi Blasts: The Message". This article is an attempt at a more comprehensive analysis on the basis of further information available at 8 AM on October 30,2005)

India is ranked third only to Bangladesh and Pakistan for worst air quality. PM 2.5 concentration in India is 5.2 times above the WHO annual air quality guideline.

By 2041, Delhi’s population is expected to reach 28-30 million. To meet the requirements of a massive population in a systematic and sustainable manner, the Fourth Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) is being prepared and expected to be completed in 2021. This paper describes the progress and preliminary focus areas of the forthcoming plan, highlighting current challenges during preparation, as well as future ones expected in the implementation

Campaign trends in Delhi elections indicate that parties are playing around the issues having popular appeal rather than the hard core issues of governance, statehood or even air pollution. In varying degrees, populist ideas such as free houses, free water and free electricity remain the core poll promises for all political parties.

The shockingly stunning victory of the two-year-old Aam Admi Party (AAP) in the assembly election in the national capital this week is expected to impact the national politics in a significant manner as it is bound to trigger the process of political realignment across the country.

Charismatic, centralised leadership, like Mr Modi's today and Indira Gandhi's earlier, whilst have a huge advantage in national elections, cannot single-handedly carry a local election. Delhi is likely to make this point to leaders yet again.

The relative degree of success of President Barack Obama's visit to India will depend on the extent to which the tough US demands on defence trade be eased to accommodate India's strategic needs without compromising national interests from both sides.

Can things change even before 2020, if Arvind Kejriwal resigns, admitting he has lost the mandate to rule?

Why statehood is no answer to the city’s pollution mess

The idea of partnering with China, which would like to see a stable and economically⎯viable Afghanistan, is attractive for India.

Indo-Pak rapprochement has been stuck in a rut for some time with Pakistan insisting on tangible progress on Kashmir and India reiterating that it is necessary to first build confidence by resolving relatively less intractable problems.

The Observer Research Foundation¿s (ORF) Institute of Security Studies hosted a roundtable discussion on the ¿Demilitarisation of Siachen¿, on May 4, 2005, at ORF Campus, New Delhi. The discussion was chaired by Gen (Retd) VP Malik, former Chief of the Army Staff.

Many more reforms are needed to boost consumer confidence. People have to have faith in their future earning capacity and only then they will start buying.

The South Asian region is witnessing some kind of democratic upsurge. For the first time, all the countries in the region have embraced democracy. Yet, democratic transitions in the region are filled with uncertainties and fragility. South Asian countries need to learn from each other's democratic experiences and support each other.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy framework, by being blind to history and to context, is not doing itself any favours.

The process of subverting democracy and politicians began at the beginning of Pakistan.

The Indian leadership has been able to earn a lot of goodwill by sheltering the Dalai Lama and his people, but after his life, the 90,000-strong community will become a political and economic burden.

Questioning the choices made by the government in terms of its response to the Pulwama terror strike is not 'questioning the forces' and thus unpatriotic

One of Tunisia's leading politicians, Sheikh Rashid al-Ghannouchi, says the Middle East is not in crisis, but rather at a "crossroads." The Middle East can indeed achieve stability and peace through a process of democratic reconciliation and consensus. But the road will be long and involve building institutions, healing old wounds and forging compromises.

Democracies have not always been true to the ideals they promote and it is precisely because of their ambitions that such ideals have taken a backseat

Though foreign policy is going to be an important issue in the US Presidential elections next year, the Democrat candidates for the party's nomination have surprisingly devoted little time to this aspect so far. However, as the campaign progresses and the less serious candidates drop out of the race, the issue is likely to gain greater attention.

With Iraq back on the chess-board of international diplomacy, there is Once again the talk of democratizing individual West Asian nations, if not West Asia as a region. Going by the neighbourhood experience in recent times, it has also raised the question if West Asia is ready to be democratized, if it is not through the barrel of the American gun.

Endorsements have energised the party base with hopes of swaying undecided voters.

Access to, and development of indigenous digital platforms and cutting-edge technologies is imperative for robust socio-economic development and national security. In turn, such process needs to be democratised, and undertaken in a sustainable manner. India is a first mover in this novel idea of democratising technology and developing Digital Public Goods. Operationalised in the digital infrastructure called India Stack, India’s strategy aims t

With two years to go for the next Lok Sabha election, PM Modi's opponents were beginning to make their moves. Demonetisation was only a catalyst.