13856 results found
By overcoming the multiple challenges posed against the MCC, the Nepalese government was finally able to ratify the long-delayed agreement.
The violent uprising of the people of Andijan in Uzbekistan on May 13,2005, seems to have been crushed for the time being by the Uzbek authorities with heavy force, resulting in the death of at least 20 civilians. The anti-Government elements, which organised the uprising, claim to have captured 30 Uzbek soldiers and to be keeping them in their custody.
The Libyan case is vastly different from that of Syria. The maverick Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had few friends in the Arab League. Unlike Libya, Syria is a critical element of the regional balance of power in the Middle East.
With the Arab Gulf states hoping to renew ties with Iran, a collective-diplomacy approach has now kicked in.
Saeed Naqvi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, traveled to Bahrain, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, Najaf, Amman, Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah after the Arab Spring broke out. Earlier, he visited Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara and Libya. In this paper, he shares his first-hand experiences and discussions with leaders and diplomats, many of whom have requested anonymity. This paper follows
With commercial drone operation just around the corner, relevant guidelines need to be introduced to ensure the smooth and safe functioning
To understand the strategic significance of the second summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama, it is necessary to look beyond the very important and tangible outcomes that the two leaders have unveiled.
It would be useful to have spacefaring powers agree upon and comply with a common set of principles.
As the region is reshaped by U.S. retreat and Chinese ambition, India must chart its own path
The Syrian conflict has now been raging for over half a decade, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.
Whatever be the demands of the Baloch nationalists, the situation now is that of a growing humanitarian crisis that the rest of the world chooses to ignore. Continued indifference will not help the problem go away but will only exacerbate it further and make it more intractable.
The Biden administration’s decision to bar DAB’s access to forex reserves has caused tremendous hardships to the Afghan people. Creating new susta
Kunduz has a large ethnic mix of Pashtun, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and others - all of whom wish to hold the province. The recent move to capture Kunduz by the Taliban is significant in many ways. It is the first major engagement by the Taliban after Mullah Akhtar Mansour succeeded Mullah Omar.
Though it will be difficult for the Central Government and the States to agree upon certain foreign policy issues, they should work together on issues of national importance-such as terrorism and foreign policy-in order to enact policies that benefit its citizens.
Russia’s move to reject production cuts is driven by its strategy of denying market share to U.S. shale producers
The old arms control model was a product of a bipolar world. The real challenge is creating a new model to deal with rising nuclear risks in a multipolar world
From the available facts of the jihadi terrorist carnage at the North Ossetian town of Beslan in Russia on September 3, 2004, the following reconstruction is possible:
A slew of reforms announced for Mumbai’s public transport buses can potentially change BEST’s fortunes, but doubts prevail.
The West has finally woken up to something that strategic analysts in India have been saying for decades: Saudi Arabia funded the Pakistani nuclear programme. In this connection, we have three questions to analyse; First, how valid is this information? Second, how is it then that Saudi Arabia gets away with so much? Third, why is Nato and Israeli intelligence taken seriously but not the Indians?
In January 2000, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi initiated a 'Bhagidari Programme' as an attempt to resolve the various problems being faced by the city's residents. Smt. Sheila Dikshit, the Honorable Chief Minister of Delhi, visited the Observer Research Foundation campus on April 10, 2008 to make a presentation on the programme. The discussion was facilitated by Ambassador M. Rasgotra. This discourse is an abridged documen
For multilateralism to be credible, the Biden administration will need to reconsolidate a US political consensus on global engagement and persuade for
Although Biden has invoked Trump’s Indo-Pacific construct to promise continuity on US-India ties, the US Congress’ shift to a reformist — from i
The PLA has still to cover some gaps before it gains the confidence and warfare proficiency in any planned invasion.
China is looking at their problems and working on them and willing to shift established positions if the situation so demands, while India seems to be trapped in the verities of the past and are unable to move beyond tired slogans and nostrums.
Despite concerted efforts to improve urban public transport, the use of personal vehicles has increased across India. City administrations must consider promoting the use of paratransit vehicles, such as bike-taxis, that can provide ridership to more commuters than a private vehicle. While bike-taxis are prevalent in some Indian cities, their use is curtailed elsewhere in the country by state policy and statutes. Amid growing city congest
India and Bangladesh must seize the opportunity to further enhance connectivity and trade ties
The big challenge before BIMSTEC is to muster public support for the regional forum.
The Seychelles’ geographical advantages have given it economic gains from its main Blue Economy (BE) sectors—fisheries and tourism. However, overexploitation and unsustainable management practices have placed undue pressure on these resources. In 2018, the country conceived a sustainable ocean-based development pathway—the Seychelles’ Blue Economy Strategic Framework and Roadmap. Various socio-economic and environmental challenges threate
The aim was to drive home the message that America’s Indo-Pacific policy is not just aimed at deterring China’s rise
The question remains: to what extend is the BRICS able to embrace and promote plural discussion.
The problem with imposing sanctions on a country which has the world's third largest proven reserves of oil and second largest conventional natural gas reserves is that the implications are felt globally. The price of oil is highly correlated throughout the world due to market arbitrage.
Right-wing populism has been the most influential political movement in Europe for the last few years. Far from being a newcomer on the political stage, it has managed to shape political discourses as never before since the end of World War II. This paper identifies what right-wing populism is and why right-wing populist parties have again become relevant in almost every European country. It argues that it is an expression of, and a reaction
There is no universally accepted international cyber treaty. However, the Council of Europe?s Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which has been in force for a decade and has been ratified by 44 countries, is the closest.
The growing perception of Canada being a sanctuary for global offenders not only tarnishes its international reputation but also poses a threat to its
In the long run, the truckers’ protests could lead to economic and political instability.
If carbon emissions from research activities are excused, some inconvenient issues may arise
With growing water scarcity across many parts of the world, competition over access to this vital resource has been known to spark conflict. Following the September 2016 Uri attack in India, the government made plans to retaliate against its neighbour by exercising its right to use water of the western rivers—allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty—by building dams, canals and reservoirs. This paper aims to address the legal, econ
Over the past year, the European Union (EU) increased its efforts to develop a more holistic approach to its engagement with the Indo-Pacific. Specifically, the EU has signalled a more concrete intention to integrate defence and security considerations into the policymaking process, with the publication of a regional strategy of engagement in September 2021. This brief aims to tie existing threads of EU diplomatic, developmental, and security pra
This alliance and its leadership will be essential to safeguarding democratic institutions, norms, and values, and be a driver for sustainable and equ
Green buildings can become a strong driver of economic growth and the prerogative to “build back better.”
A combined push from government, investors, corporations, and entrepreneurs will provide opportunity for R&D climate tech start-ups to scale up their
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe since the first outbreak in 2019, causing massive losses in lives and livelihoods. This brief examines the nature of the threat, the blind-spots in global health security that were revealed by the pandemic, and why a values-based geopolitical order is critical for the world’s future. It makes a case for the global community to treat health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as global
The arrival of vaccines against Covid-19 gives hope in ending the pandemic that has claimed close to 2.84 million lives so far. However, inoculating millions of people all over the world would require the massive production of vaccines, followed by their equitable distribution. An impediment to production and distribution of vaccines is the intellectual property (IP) rights that their developers enjoy. India and South Africa have together propo
Qatar aims to be a political power broker in the Middle East as witnessed by its efforts in brokering the temporary Israel-Hamas truce. However, with
Steering clear of strategic issues by only focusing on non-traditional security challenges has led to a decline in the relevance of the EAS Summit.
The scheme, which aims to provide universal access to decent housing in rural areas, is lagging in terms of its targets.
There is an urgent need for the appointment of a new commission, on the footsteps of the Sarkaria Commission and the Justice E Venkataramaiah Commission, to review Centre-State relations, and State-to-State relations.
This Issue Brief aims to deconstruct the Centre-State fiscal relationship by describing the current status quo and the criticisms. It gives recommendations to correct and update the relationship such that it reflects the changed fiscal structure of the country, its States and its people.
The challenge for France is not easy. The idea that education, hard work and following French laws and customs led to upward mobility has been challenged in recent years and Covid-19 has only highlighted it
