28203 results found
It will be in the realm of ideas where the world would be seeking India’s leadership.
The economic consequences of the ongoing pandemic have pushed millions of people into hunger and poverty. Yet, in some parts of the world, critical levels of widespread hunger, or famine, had already made a resurgence long before the outbreak of COVID-19. This brief studies the famine-like situation in four countries in two continents—Yemen, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and North Korea—to demonstrate the direct link between conflicts and modern fam
The impact of Indo-Russian relations on the domestic and foreign policies of India from the 1960s is difficult to underestimate. The USSR was instrumental in helping independent India industrialise, develop its scientific potential, and defend its territorial integrity. The Indo-Russian relationship developed a level of trust between two independent countries that was unprecedented in international affairs. The collapse of the USSR negatively aff
First let me say how pleased I am to be here. The Observer Research Foundation has a strong track record of building partnerships between business and policy makers, and generating innovative thinking on how to tackle the major challenges of our times.
The Ukrainian incursion and occupation of Kursk has compelled Russia to turn to North Korea for troops who have been deployed and are now fighting alongside Russian forces to retake the region.
The crisis in Ukraine has resulted in an unprecedented level of unity in the often-fractured European Union (EU). The member states have provided Ukraine with economic and military aid, imposed far-reaching sanctions on Russia, strengthened their own defences, and accepted millions of Ukrainian refugees. At the same time, nuanced divergences have also emerged, particularly on how the countries view relations with Russia and calculate thei
After a brief discussion on the uneasy relationship between Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO, the implications of the “deep” integration that the EU is seeking with India are discussed, and the respective positions, interests and concerns of the partners in the long drawn out negotiations are examined. The challenges for India in plunging into such “deep” territory, unprecedented in its history of bilateral or multilateral negotiatio
Once considered the best idea in global politics, today’s Europe is a pale shadow of its glorious past
On 1 January 2026, imports of certain carbon-intensive goods into the European Union (EU) became subject to additional charges under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This brief evaluates the impacts of this mechanism on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Aluminium is the main impact channel for GCC countries, with exposure varying across GCC memb
Like about the Loch Ness Monster, we have only heard that the West has proof of the Assad regime using chemical weapons. But we've seen no credible testimony. For all one knows, it may have been the rebels' doing to instigate a US military response.
Trust-based partnerships are re-defining the global landscape today and India is moving ahead with a degree of seriousness not seen in recent history.
Since the development of Integrated Circuits in 1963, semiconductors have gradually cemented their place as the foundation of technology in the modern world. However, the complex nature of the semiconductor manufacturing process has led to a fragmented global supply chain, an issue which had serious consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the strategic competition between the US and China essentially boiling down to a technology war, semi
An imprisoned Imran Khan directing street protests is a thorn in Pakistan army’s side. The political instability deepens Islamabad’s ‘polycrisis’
India is trying to convey that any expansion of BRICS is futile without serious efforts to nurture trust and foster cooperation.
Fifteen years ago, the USA had promised to sell F-16s to Pakistan. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the company manufacturing the aircraft, took the necessary advance for it. Then there were sudden changes in the global and regional strategic environment. The Jehadi war in Afghanistan got over and Pakistan started diverting Jehadism into Jammu and Kashmir. The Cold war also was over.
The more pushback Xi Jinping faces globally, the more aggressive his domestic and foreign policy agenda is likely to become.
Bangladesh has witnessed a resurgence in terror activities since 2013, indicating regrouping of the Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.
China and Zimbabwe got closer ever since Mugabe started pursuing his ‘Look East’ policy after the imposition of sanctions by western countries because of human right concerns.
Kabul fiasco will affect US’ ability to mobilise coalitions against a common cause
The skewed tobacco taxation policy, far removed from a reality based understanding of the tobacco consumption and economics, is not helping the government achieve any goals. It is perhaps due to either a strong lobby, or the desire to protect 36 million beedi workers or just bad strategy.
Despite having among the largest coal reserves in the world, India lags far behind in consumption. The average Indian's coal consumption is around 20% that of the US citizen, and 34% of the average OECD citizen.
Recent developments in Bhutan reflect India's growing foreign policy challenges in the Neighbourhood. They are a reminder that many of the traditional assumptions of India's regional policy are no longer sustainable.
Economic Dependence Will Make New Delhi Forever Vulnerable to Beijing
What Salman Bashir did was a scaled down version of what Musharraf did at the India Today Conclave a year ago in New Delhi and much more scaled down version of his antics at the Agra Summit. It should have been déjà vu.
Globally, healthcare has made great strides in making vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics available to more people. Yet, infectious diseases continue to pose a significant threat in many parts of the world, and the SARS, Ebola, and Zika crises are only a few of the recent outbreaks that draw attention to the weaknesses of public health systems. In India, the recent epidemics of Nipah virus and acute encephalitis syndrome call attention to the
India, which clung to non-alignment as its international identity since Independence, had little inclination for defence diplomacy. But now New Delhi is slowly moving away from a fastidious avoidance of military partnerships in the past to making security cooperation an important part of India's foreign relations now.
The adoption of digital payments has risen exponentially over the past decade in many countries including India and those in the African continent. In India, the growth has run parallel to rapid mobile penetration, aided by initiatives like Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and IndiaStack, as well as the unintended push factor created by demonetisation in November 2016. This brief discusses the landscape of fintech—‘finan
The age-old Chinese dictum of hiding one's capabilities and strategically biding time for an opportune moment seems to be fast eroding to make way for aggressive posturing by the Chinese especially in the South China Sea.
The return of a Socialist in France since Mitterand's victory in 1981 confirms a trend in Europe which, instead of lifting the mist, is adding to the fog. The other day in the UK, Labour had trounced the Conservatives in local bodies election across the country.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerges as a figure in the classical tradition of the 19th century European strategists like Metternich and Castlereagh—a realist committed to restraint and balance
What does it mean to speak of an ‘Indian’ approach to international affairs? Indian International Relations (IR) is commonly presented as merely a derivative of ‘western’ disciplinary traditions in Europe and North America. This obscures the vast body of work on political science and international thought that emerged from the beginning of the 20th century amongst South Asian intellectuals, scholars, and activists. This forgotten history
What are the gains that diplomacy on counter-terrorism, resolutions of the UN Security Council and other such multilateral instruments bring to the table?
The Macron visit underlined the growing strategic convergence that draws India and France together
India is witnessing a phenomenal increase in urbanisation and it is essential that this process is studied and analysed thoroughly to provide for a better quality of life, said Mr. Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution, while formally releasing ORF Mumbai Vision 2015: Agenda for Urban Renewal, published by Observer Research Foundation in ORF Mumbai on September 20.
Care work, both paid and unpaid, is at the heart of most economies. The care sector comprises formal healthcare, childcare services, early childhood education, disability and long-term care, and eldercare. Two-thirds of care workers globally are women, and women and girls perform more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the vulnerability of care workers and deepened the gender gap. This paper a
The rapid growth in military cyber capabilities of the countries in the Indo-Pacific combined with the use of assets from the cyberwarfare toolbox—in domestic and interstate contexts—is adding uncertainty to already competitive political, military, and economic relations. This issue brief assesses the cyberwarfare context in the Indo-Pacific, and reviews the military cyber capabilities of the region’s countries and their commitment to inter
The rapid growth in military cyber capabilities of the countries in the Indo-Pacific combined with the use of assets from the cyberwarfare toolbox—in domestic and interstate contexts—is adding uncertainty to already competitive political, military, and economic relations. This issue brief assesses the cyberwarfare context in the Indo-Pacific, and reviews the military cyber capabilities of the region’s countries and their commitment to inter
Thinking about the future of global food systems has now become more critical than ever. Climate change impacts—among them, shifts in soil quality, precipitation, pest regimes, seasonal growth patterns, along with land degradation and reduction in biodiversity—have impacted agricultural and aquatic food production systems across the world. Indeed, the causal links between climate change and food security are manifesting more clearly, particul
As the global economy moves towards ubiquitous digitisation, the demand for and generation of data is experiencing exponential growth, as are computational requirements and user adoption of AI products and services. This growth is forcing big-tech incumbents to expand capital expenditure. Undergirding this dynamic is the confluence of increasing frontier model training costs and plummeting inference costs. Revenue streams of AI companies are furt
In August 2021, Kabul fell to the Taliban, marking their return nearly 20 years since they first ruled Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. This report examines the prospects of restarting India’s engagements in Afghanistan under the current Taliban regime. It builds on the insights shared during an exclusive, virtual roundtable organised by ORF’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED) in September 2021, and makes a case for India to consider the
