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Under President Trump, the United States seems to adopting an unprecedented antagonistic stance against the institutions, commitments, and unpronounced precedents alike, of the liberal world order that the US itself put in place in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Bangladesh isn’t a less economically developed country; its per capita income has recorded significant growth. — Hossain Toufique Imam

Central Asia is the next favoured destination of radical Islamists and terrorist groups. Several terrorist networks are said to be already active in the region and recent suicide bombings in Uzbekistan in the cities of Tashkent and Bukhara, in March and July, 2004 suggest that al-Qaeda and its allies are looking for safer havens in the wake of the increasing pressure on their networks in the Middle-East and South East Asia from the security force

Countries in the Gulf region are facing a proverbial perfect storm: oil demand falling to its lowest levels in decades, disagreements within the group of oil-exporting nations on supply cuts, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The plummeting of oil prices is affecting these countries’ fiscal positions, business sentiments, and economic growth. India has stakes in all this; after all, the country has strong economic, commercial and diaspora ties with th

In the past few years, Twitter has served as a versatile form of political public square for domestic and world affairs. The use of Twitter, largely propelled by the prominence of social media in the current environment for the discharge of diplomatic functions, has become an integral part of contemporary international relations. Indeed, Twitter has created its own form of diplomacy by incorporating itself to augment traditional diplomatic functi

Not only is Indian economy sliding, but liberal democratic foundations of the Indian Republic are withering away.

In September 2024, the Second UN High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) marked a critical juncture in global health governance. This report examines the key commitments and implementation challenges emerging from the meeting’s Political Declaration. While the declaration sets ambitious targets—such as reducing AMR-related deaths by 10 percent by 2030 and establishing US$100 million in sustainable funding—massive gaps remain. T

Decentralisation, with all its limitations, is the way to go for India to make the state effective in fulfillment of its sovereign functions.

With barely two weeks left, there is still no clarity on the details of the forthcoming elections in Nigeria. Will Nigeria hold Presidential elections on February 14 and the Governors of the States poll on February 28 as scheduled?

This paper examines the influence of Islamic State (ISIS) in India, chronicling its rise beginning in the early 2000s to its supposed demise in 2017. It seeks to understand the effects of ISIS’ ideology and brand via India’s neighbouring countries and the people who joined the group (or came close to doing so). The author studied more than 80 cases to cull trends unique to the landscape of terrorism in India, and ponder the peculiar societal

A pandemic of the viral disease COVID-19 has reached millions of people around the world with significant rates of mortality. With no specific treatments or vaccines in the immediate horizon, limiting contact with infected persons, the use of masks, and hand hygiene offer the only mitigation for now. This has led most countries to adopt severe isolation measures, which have in turn caused disruption of economic activity and increased unemployment

The popular uprising against the Assad regime in 2011, which gradually evolved into a civil conflict, has been one of contemporary history’s greatest tragedies. The conflict has claimed more than 400,000 lives; over six million Syrians have been internally displaced. India has not joined the call for an end to the Assad-led Baath Party rule over Syria. While this position may not hold much weight on its own, it strengthens with the consolidated

Sri Lanka, which in the 1970s was being hailed as a development success story for a low-income nation, is now mired in a financial and economic disaster, its worst yet since independence in 1948. Despite notable investments in infrastructure projects, and a largely stable growth rate from 2013 to 2019, the Sri Lankan story was marred by a series of untimely and mismanaged economic measures that led to the current meltdown. External factors have c

This brief analyses the impacts of the withdrawal of the United States’ Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme on India’s exports, domestic production and employment.[1]  Until 5 June 2019, when the GSP withdrawal came into effect, India was the largest beneficiary of the GSP of which it had been part since 1974. A decline in exports to the US was anticipated as items under zero-tariff rate were subjected to a higher rate after wi

In the last five years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has undergone a massive transformation and is today the country’s most formidable political force. The party won the 2014 general election with a convincing majority under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who assumed power in May 2014. It is in power in 20 states, either on its own or with its allies. This rise can be attributed to various factors, including the party leader

Four months since the outbreak of COVID-19, some vital unknowns about the pandemic remain, including IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) and immunity from reinfection. A clearer understanding of the risks posed by COVID-19, informed by science and data in the Indian context, will help the country in mustering an effective strategy to hurdle the crisis. The government must undertake mass antibody testing and scale up healthcare capacity across the count

In Geneva UNHRC session, while West resolution against Sri Lanka, that satisfied none - possibly starting with the movers and shakers of the world that the US and Europe think they are - managed to muster 23 votes, those 'not in favour' added up to a higher 24, comprising 12 against and 12 'abstentions'

A striking feature of India's urbanisation is the phenomenal size of population of some urban centres. As per Census 2011, there are 53 cities/urban agglomerations in the country that have recorded a population of more than a million. In some of these centres, the population is as high as 18.4 million.

Do we need the IAS? This was the subject of an interaction organized by Observer Research Foundation Chennai Chapter on Saturday, 4 September, 2010, in the light of 'IT czar' N R Narayana Murthy's call for abolishing the system of generalised administrators under the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

The United States is contemplating a total reversal of its highly ineffective Pakistan policy. This was stated by Prof Christine Fair, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service while delivering a talk on "The situation in the Af-Pak region" at Observer Research Foundation on June 4, 2012.

While in India, China and many other countries, the main worry is the inflation, the US, the biggest economy in the world, is not facing inflation but a colossal public debt which crossed the government's stipulated limit recently. Currently the US debt stands at $14.6 trillion.

It will be a world where neither America nor China can set the terms

When China set up the ‘Big Fund’ in 2014, its mandate to companies was chip-making rather than the development of a self-reliant industry based on R&D. This strategy has left gaps in China that the US is now intending to exploit through its new rules. It has introduced a sweeping set of export controls that will make it more difficult for Chinese companies to develop cutting-edge technologies, especially semiconductors.

Sanctions, a mechanism to penalise international legal violations, usually prohibit nationals of the “sanctioning country” from engaging in specified activities with the “targeted country.” Secondary or extraterritorial sanctions, on the other hand, penalise third-country individuals and companies for dealing with sanctioned countries. Recent measures adopted by the US—the enactment of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanc

The benefits that India enjoyed for many years under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme of the United States was withdrawn, effective 5 June 2018. India was the largest beneficiary of the programme, of which it has been part since its inception in 1974. This paper evaluates the impact of the withdrawal on specific sectors of Indian exports. For comparison, the paper uses the Harmonized System Code (HS Code) Commodity Classifica

The US-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington D.C from August 4 to 6 attracted considerable international media attention for various reasons. To begin with, for the US, it was a first of its kind.

The average tariff rate for WTO member countries was down to nine per cent in 2013.

The tripartite meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US representatives on August 2 took place against the backdrop of souring relationships, killing of Osama bin Laden and President Barak Obama's 2014 withdrawal plan.

The recent suicide bombings in Uzbekistan that killed more than 40 persons, mostly policemen, reveal an emerging pattern of terrorism in the region.

The India-U.S. Joint Vision and the mention of the South China Sea is India's strategic response to the growing Chinese naval profile in the Indian Ocean Region. In this context, US outreach to Vietnam and India's Act East policy are symbolic of India-U.S. cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

But New Delhi's decision to send a contingent of the Indian Army for the September 1-7 Vostok 2022 military drill in Russia's far east has raised eyebrows, particularly in the West that is trying to isolate Moscow after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is a major exercise involving more than 50,000 troops and 5,000 weapons units, including 140 aircraft and 60 warships, with the participation of troops from China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicar

This paper aims to analyse the reasons for the rise of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, its characteristics, the primary drivers for the growing menace and international responses; it also compares the differences in modus operandi between Gulf of Guinea and Somalian piracy. Till the early 1980s, piracy was often dismissed as being “archaic Tand folklore of the past”, rarely entering the main maritime discourse. But true to its nature, ‘moder

Twenty-six persons were killed and over a hundred injured by two explosions in Dimapur, the only railway station in Nagaland in India's North-East, on October 2, 2004, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The same day, in a series of co-ordinated attacks in different places in Assam, also in the North-East, involving the use of hand-held weapons, hand-granades and explosives,19 persons were killed.

India barely spends 1.5 per cent of its GDP on defence — two-thirds of it on military salaries and pensions and current costs.

While the new Indo-Pacific construct continues to grab headlines, India's recent diplomatic orientation points to a renewed appreciation of what American strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski called the world’s “decisive geopolitical chessboard”: Eurasia. In order to grasp the significance of this strategic space, it is useful to compare it with the dynamics of the Indo-Pacific.

The December 16, 2014 attack on an Army run school in Peshawar by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has caused global outrage. The attacks led to over 148 deaths of mostly children and some school staff.

The need of the hour is to double down on defence reforms with strategic foresight.

It goes without saying that Kashmir’s political candidates do not bear primary responsibility for this electoral legitimacy crisis.

A closer look at a recent interaction between the two sides.

A closer look at what the recent trip meant for bilateral ties between Seoul and New Delhi.