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Various explanations have been proffered for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s renewed emphasis on ideology. The popular narratives attribute it to either Xi’s power ambitions, or a reaction rooted in his personal trauma during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Meanwhile, an alternative discourse projects the rise of ideology politics as a response to a possible legitimacy crisis facing the Communist Party of China (CPC). This paper weighs i

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

Historical issues straining Japan-Korea ties have severely limited the two countries to leverage their strategic and economic convergences to strengthen their partnership which could contribute a lot for regional peace and stability.

If the government is serious about the empowering aspects of the Uniform Civil Code, it is imperative that the minority scepticism is assuaged. Clubbed together with contentious issues like Ram Mandir and abrogation of Article 370, and in the absence of a draft, the UCC becomes nightmare for the minorities.

The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, which had killed 1133 workers and injured more than 1800, was symbolic of a much deeper crisis, not limited to Bangladesh, according to Prof. Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the Centre of Policy Dialogue, Dhaka.

From 'being the Congress's most trusted alliance partner' during the UPA years, the CBI has now morphed into the BJP's instrumentality of 'fixing' political opponents. Prima facie it appears to be the case and analysts think one will see more empirical evidence of an aggressive CBI in the coming weeks as the BJP feels the pressure on rising intolerance in the country.

With less than six months to go, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election of 2017 is engrossing the political class with Mayawati firmly in the driver’s seat

As Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram go through the process of Assembly elections, ORF Urban Policy research team looks at development patterns in these States. Here is a preview of "Book of Charts", covering Delhi and Rajasthan, on the status and developments in such important areas as employment, education and infrastructure, etc.

Jagmohan's address to the ORF faculty included a discussion on six important topics, namely slums and illegal constructions, human settlement patterns, culturally significant towns, cities and climate change, pattern of governance after the enactment of the Constitution (seventy-fourth amendment) Act, and resource mobilisation for city development

US consumer spending and consumer confidence have to pick up, but this can happen only if people have jobs and regular incomes, and the private sector which runs 80 per cent of the US economy starts hiring more people. Also the manufacturing growth will have to pick up and the dependence on Chinese goods needs to be reduced.

By not railing against Trump, by showing restraint during the VP debate, Harris came across as a woman in control.

Prominent Japanese scholars feel that the United States' position is changing vis-à-vis China. They also think that Tokyo was wary of the possibility where the US and China might cut a deal.

The increased interdependence between the various players in the East Asia region is a potential area that needs to be harnessed more effectively to foster the relations and avoid the territorial conflicts and animosity, according to Hitoshi Tanaka of the Japan Research Institute.

The United States-India relations reached a high point when the two countries signed the Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2005. But since then, relations between the two countries have drifted. Both the countries must move ahead to build trust and cooperation in other areas.

During the US President's visit to Asian countries, Obama and Abe underscored their commitment to economic and security cooperation with ASEAN countries where Chinese influence has seen a marked surge in recent years.

The US and Japan have decided to opt out of joining the AIIB though many important US allies like Germany, UK, Australia and South Korea have joined the China-led initiative. Strong business groups in Japan, however, worry that they might miss many investment opportunities which could now go to many developed Western countries.

Trilateral Security Cooperation (TSC) is a unique framework for the United States (US), South Korea, and Japan to jointly address the common security challenge of North Korea, particularly concerning its nuclear weapons programme. Acknowledging that a unified approach would be more effective in tackling North Korea, the three countries forged a partnership in the early 1990s which has continued to the present day. Over the years, the domestic pol

From testing nuclear weapons to pursuing peace with Pakistan and China, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was clear-headed about his about his security and foreign policies from the outset.

The China factor has steadied the two nations’ strategic partnership, despite their differences of opinion on other matters.

Some two years into the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi paid a short visit to India last week.

Most analysts agree that a dangerous mix of demand, supply and currency is responsible for Punjab’s drug menace. Punjab is both a transit point and a market for the drugs smuggled from the so-called Golden Crescent that is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. While the heroin produced in Afghanistan is smuggled through the 553-km-long, porous India-Pakistan border, the opium, poppy husk, charas and hashish, among other drugs, come from the neighbour

The latest U.S. Defense Department report on Chinese military power recounts Beijing’s growing space and counterspace capabilities.

Noted film personality and now Member of Parliament Javed Akhtar says that one of the reasons for violence against women in India is that we are living in an industrial society with a feudal mindset. He says concrete steps should be taken to effect a real change in the mindset of the people.

China, particularly after the global financial crisis, is on a look-out for markets in Asia, and India offers the largest market. Therefore, China's singular focus on economic issues is understandable, but India should not give into the Chinese demands without a quid pro quo.

India ended 2010 with a flurry of diplomatic activities highlighted by the visits of leaders from all the P-5 countries in the last two months. But, unlike the other four, the visit by the Chinese Premier came in the background of strained relations over a year created by

Unfortunately countries like ours, generally content with being passive recipients of Western media, do not realize that it is the west which always ends up choosing the enemy (or friend) for us.

Admittedly, these are early hours and the following analysis will have to be corrected on the basis of further details as it comes out. But a couple of things are clear from the two statements.

One of the primary objectives for both New Delhi and Tokyo is to prevent the rise of a unipolar Asia dominated by one single hegemonic power. It is this political objective that has been driving the relationship.