Courtesy: U.S. Navy
U.S. President Barack Obama will certainly have the benefit of continuity in his second term, but he has a range of impending crises to address immediately - be it to avert the so-called fiscal cliff before the end of the year when automatic cuts kick in or plan for the military drawdown from Afghanistan.
Courtesy: VOA/WikimediaCommons
In a recent speech, U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticised incumbent President Barack Obama's foreign policies, and called for U.S. supremacy. However, it seems apparent that Romney wouldn’t usher in a foreign policy revolution if elected.
With the Free Syrian Army being supplied aid by the West and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the endgame for the Syrian regime has begun. Does Assad's exit guarantee the replacement of autocracy with democracy? What implications will it have on regional politics?
Courtesy: gr33ndata/Flickr
The involvement of Islamists in democratic movements is usually dismissed as a mere ruse to attain political power. However, evidence suggests that people in Muslim-majority democracies support Islamist groups which challenge a dishonest government, rather than those who seek to establish Islamic autocracy.
Courtesy: Gateway House
Gateway House prepared a Global Stability Map, using 20 differing indicators, to analyze the stability of 60 countries around the world. Using criteria that are important to the emerging economies of the world, the map provides an Indian perspective of the world today.
The presidency of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, will have a defining influence both in Egypt and the region. Having won the battle through the ballot though, will Muslim Brotherhood also be willing to cede power through the ballot?
Courtesy: The White House
Apart from bilateral ties, also at play at the India-U.S. Strategic dialogue is the difficult triangulation in India’s relations with the U.S. and Iran. It does not serve India to get enmeshed in the U.S-Iran confrontation. Instead, the relationship must develop on the basis of realpolitik and mutual interest.
Over the past year, there has been a drastic change in the political scenario in Syria, which is now engulfed with violent sectarian conflict. Gateway House speaks to former Indian Ambassador to Syria, Rajendra Abhyankar, about the changing political scenario and the implications of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Htoo Tay Zar
The West is quick to claim that their sanctions against Myanmar have forced the government to implement political and economic reforms in the country. However, such bans do not usually achieve their stated purpose of forcing regimes to change their behavior.
Courtesy: Flickr/freeedomania
By forcing regime change in Libya, and attempting the same in Syria, and by promiscuously arming disparate groups of Wahabbis and Salafists to achieve this aim, NATO is creating more room for instability in the region. What Syria needs is engagement, not isolation; it needs dialogue and not the arming of rebels.
