61XgnQBhwiL._SY425_ Courtesy: Amazon India
27 November 2025

Indo-Pacific Strategic Churn: Challenges and State Responses

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Rajiv Bhatia explains how this book brings together perspectives on the geostrategy, geopolitics, and geoeconomics of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Edited by Chintamani Mohapatra, it features 16 essays by experienced yet young academics. It highlights how the world changed after 2020, the ‘Age of Polycrisis’, COVID-19, conflicts in West Asia and Europe, and other global flashpoints. The book offers analysis that seeks to reposition the Indo-Pacific as vital to India’s strategic interests.

Themba HadebeAP Courtesy: Themba Hadebe/AP
27 November 2025

Johannesburg G20 summit: advancing amidst anxiety

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The G20 Summit in Johannesburg ended on a widely-shared sense of satisfaction and achievement, with the Global South’s perspective well-articulated, but divergent from some in the Global North. Now the G20's challenge is to restore its unity and credibility by working toward reconciliation with its next president, the U.S. Can India enhance its credibility and influence as a North-South bridge-builder?

Reuters Courtesy: Reuters
27 November 2025

Japan and China row over Taiwan

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China’s attempt to discipline Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi’s statement on a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s security, may instead strengthen the very alliances Beijing hoped to fracture. By using symbolic economic instruments, invoking the UNSC, and amplifying nationalist messaging while avoiding mass public mobilisation, China signals displeasure without risking internal instability. Yet these same measures push Japan ever deeper into U.S.-aligned networks.

revised design Courtesy: Gateway House
27 November 2025

Rise of the Davos Competitor

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U.S. health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. called the World Economic Forum a “billionaires’ boys club” imposing totalitarian controls. Indeed, since 1971, the elite platform shaped geopolitics. But its Western-centricism kept out the concerns of the rest. This gave rise to alternative forums, which look beyond financial agendas to the perspectives shaping the Global South. Here are 45 of biggest, half of which began just two decades ago.

Kyodo News (1) Courtesy: Kyodo News
20 November 2025

Sanae Takaichi’s strong start

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The rise of Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister with firm conservative credentials, carries both symbolic weight and political controversy. Her early decisions suggest clarity of intention but also highlight the structural weaknesses and diplomatic sensitivities that will shape her tenure. To keep her ratings high, she has to stabilise her minority government at home, and manage the China, U.S. and ASEAN relationships with tact.

Website articles (2) Courtesy: Atlantic Council
6 November 2025

Trump’s Asia tour redefines China approach

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U.S. President Donald Trump embarked on a five-day trip to Asia, arriving in Kuala Lumpur on October 26. Covering Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, the visit marked a shift in focus from the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts to Southeast and East Asia, as his administration is set to finalise its China policy and Indo-Pacific strategy. The trip yielded important results, though their impact will take time to assess.

61mEzQVAteL (1) Courtesy: Amazon India
4 September 2025

The New World: 21st Century Global Order and India

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In this book, author Ram Madhav refers to “order” not simply in terms of politics and power, but as the outcome of inventions, industries, and ideologies that have shaped human civilisation. He blends the lens of an Indian scholar with that of a seasoned politician, tracing turning points in history and highlighting the roles of non-state actors, technological revolutions, and the moral and ethical dimensions of order.

Damon Coulter SOPA Images Alamy Courtesy: Damon Coulter / Alamy
21 August 2025

Rise of the Japanese Right

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The recent election for Japan’s Upper House of Councillors is a pivotal moment for Japanese politics, revealing fractures within the ruling coalition and a simultaneous rise of the political right. Economic discontent, cultural anxieties, and effective digital mobilisation are converging. Is this a fleeting moment for Japan, or the start of a deeper, more profound change in its political landscape?

ANI Courtesy: ANI
14 August 2025

Is Russia a Red Line for India?

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U.S. President Trump will meet Russian President Putin on August 15. A positive outcome may mean removal of punitive U.S. tariffs on India for buying Russian oil and resolving its dilemma of placating a partner country with growing commercial, geopolitical and defence ties, or pursuing strategic autonomy, keeping its old friends and take an economic hit? Is Russia the red line for India?

trump - japan Courtesy: Kent Nishimura/Reuters
24 July 2025

The Trump effect in Japan

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The political setback by the ruling coalition in Japan in the July 20 Upper House elections reflects growing frustration with the mainstream political parties. Young people frustrated with high costs have resulted in a fragmentation of Japan’s political landscape, and the rise of the right. The “Trump effect” has found fertile ground in Japan’s political soil.