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As the COVID-19 infection rate continues to increase in the United States (US), this brief examines the country’s social protection system and compares it to those of other rich OECD countries. It argues that implementing basic social protection measures in a time of crisis such as this, may be costly both in resources and time. While addressing immediate needs imposed by the public health emergency is priority, in the long term, institutionali

In some ways, the real war began after 2009, as the US forces drew down from Iraq. The result was a carrots and sticks approach; the swelling to over 60,000 US troops in Afghanistan (with another 30,000 committed during the “surge”) coupled with greater economic assistance to Pakistan

Competitive welfarism is a consequence of India's failure to deliver inclusive growth. Can it be shaped so future growth is assured?

President George W. Bush is a desperate man today. He wants Osama bin Laden, dead or alive. More than 12000 US troops, including a 1400-men strong elite commando unit known as Task Force 121, are in Pakistan and Afghanistan hunting for Laden. Supporting them is a 70,000-strong contingent from President Pervez Musharraf¿s Army.

The stagnation in US-Russia relations does not augur well for New Delhi's strategic interests. It's a throwback to the Cold War, when India had to choose between the two countries

Human rights issues have been a cornerstone of US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. This paper examines Washington’s human rights focus on India and China under former President Donald Trump, and identifies trends under the current Joe Biden administration. The paper notes an emergent US bipartisan approach to refocus on Beijing’s human rights record following a period of policy dissonance owing to concerns to protect its economic

In New Delhi, this apparent shift in Washington's posture has come as a surprise. What is even more startling is the timing - coming on the heels of India's retaliation against Pakistan for its involvement in the Pahalgam terrorist attacks on civilians.

The Indian Air Force’s problems with numbers is no secret, It has been plagued by poor decision-making, poor acquisition strategy and shoddy quality control and contract delivery.

The U.S.-India strategic relationship looks to be set on firm footing, with both sides keen to materialize deeper collaboration across defense and critical and emerging technologies.

We could soon see America leave Afghanistan's brutal war half-finished. The implications of this will be dreadful for ordinary Afghans. This is no good news for India either.

Conventional investments cater to investors who intend to gain financial returns. Other investors whose aim is to generate a positive social or environmental impact at a decent rate of return, turn to “impact investments” for their purpose. Mobilised to finance social enterprises, impact investments assume three primary forms: embedded, integrated, and external. This paper discusses the ideas of impact investment and social enterprises, and o

Although the issue of same-sex marriage may have been settled legally with the Supreme Court verdict, politically, it remains volatile. Since the ruling, reactions of the 2016 Presidential candidates have been deeply polarised, indicating the potential of the issue to become a determining factor in the run-up to 2016.

Withdrawal of the GSP will hamper India’s export growth to the US.

New Delhi will have to keep a close watch on global debates on economic security and the impetus building to restructure the world’s trading system

While many of the recent developments have been due to Russia’s apparent violation of its commitments, at least as the US maintains, the real reason is more likely the intensifying Sino-US competition and Washington’s determination not to tie its own hands.

This report is the text of a presentation made at a seminar on ’Military-technical Cooperation between Russia and India: Status and Perspectives for Cooperation’, organised jointly by Observer Research Foundation and Unity for Russia Foundation, on October 5-7, 2007 in Moscow.

The multiple crises besetting India’s justice delivery system are related to a large extent to what the Chief Justice calls “dilapidated” infrastructure. Indeed, it is empirically known that there is a positive correlation between adequacy of infrastructure—whether courtrooms, chambers, sanitation facilities, or digital connectivity—and productivity in the delivery of justice. This brief highlights the stark gaps in infrastructu

A closer look at some of the security-related agenda items for the upcoming development and how they could impact bilateral ties.

Using your data to analyse behaviour trends is also acceptable, if only aggregated, secondary data is made public.

Most of the world failed to notice that the BLA conducted several attacks during the India-Pakistan tensions of May 2025. China, however, was paying close attention.

The measure of a successful energy transition must go beyond statistics of installed capacity of renewables, investments and number of jobs. While these are important, the face of the transition should become the lives, livelihoods and well-being of the economy

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law, response to it highlights the fragility and resilience of democratic principles in the country

The Bay of Bengal—home to a number of major ports that are lifelines for the economies and populations in India’s east coast that depend on them—is highly prone to extreme weather events. This brief examines the disaster-resilience of three of the ports on the Bay of Bengal: the ports of Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The brief describes the destruction wrought on these ports

India’s strong growth in recent years has outstripped job creation and poverty remains a key challenge. In the face of the changing world of work, how can perceived economic problems become opportunities?

This paper highlights the imperatives for India’s G20 Presidency for promoting development cooperation towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given its unique development cooperation model—more precisely, its development partnership model—India can utilise its G20 presidency to push the sustainability agenda. This will help bridge the North-South divide in sustainable development financing. The paper recommends

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.

Despite differences that remain, there is clear evidence of growing strategic convergence by both countries in the security realm.

Ties between India and Australia are wide-ranging: from geostrategic cooperation and trade, to soft power mechanisms such as cricket and tourism. This paper makes a case for improving bilateral relations between New Delhi and Canberra. While there are substantial opportunities for trade and investment flows between the two countries, the engagements have been largely underdeveloped over the years. The immense scope of complementarities between th

They can keep trying to match each other’s capabilities but that will only increase chances of war.

India shares close political and strategic ties with the Southeast Asian subregion of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (or the CLMV countries). However, their economic ties remain weak, owing to various factors including lack of physical connectivity, as well as the absence of synergy between India’s Lines of Credit to CLMV and the country’s economic outreach. This paper analyses India’s investments and development cooperation initiative

India has long valued France’s partnership on issues ranging from defense and space exploration to civil nuclear power generation.