The crippling effect of American sanctions are thorough; designed to strangle economies and bring entire nations to a halt. However, they unknowingly pull people together, imparting a deep sense of patriotism and often sparking innovation which can quickly surpass any other world power. With sanctions being lifted on nations like Myanmar, Iran and, hopefully, Cuba, the question remains whether they will retain their uniqueness or fall into line with the rest?

Five rather unfavourable trends define India’s trade performance over the past two years; these trends also provide useful pointers as to where India’s future trade strategy can go over the next three years as it deals with a global economic slowdown, the rise of megatrade agreements and a pivot to a more intensive trade relation with the U.S.

India must be fully engaged in the emerging G20-led international policy agenda being developed to deal with global structural weaknesses and raise public investment where fiscal space is available. India and other emerging markets offer higher investment returns---partly because of their demographics---and their deepening international integration makes them attractive.

A T20 workshop in Lima, Peru, provided the opportunity to for a deeper insight into the the Latin American economic situation. While the workshop focused on finding innovative solutions to sustain high growth in middle-income countries. There is a need for India and similar countries, to become sensitized to each others problems on development.

In two years, the Modi government’s Act East Policy has gone well beyond the focus on economic ties of its predecessor, the Look East Policy. It has made progress on many wider fronts, including connectivity and defence collaboration. India must now build on this success and further consolidate relations and trade links with ASEAN and beyond

Anoop Singh, Distinguished Fellow, Geoeconomics Studies at Gateway House talks about the recent Global Financial Stability report of the IMF, and how it's warning hints at a growing need for a global central bank, which the IMF is perfectly placed to be.

India and Singapore elevated their ever deepening relationship to a strategic partnership last year. The two countries laid out an ambitious roadmap for expansion and diversification of bilateral ties. What drives this multi-layered bilateral relationship?

The U.S. and Canada offer an opportunity for India to acquire large scale oil and gas fields in politically stable countries at a low price. A financial investment in energy companies will protect India against a rise in energy prices without raising concerns in host countries.

All Indian companies planning to go global should closely follow the saga of Tata Steel’s UK plants; it’s a masterclass on how intimately business is intertwined with geopolitics and geoeconomics

India has hosted a plethora of India-Africa conferences, expressing commitment to deepen mutual cooperation. It is further expected that the president, vice president, and prime minister may visit Africa this year, to follow up actively. Indeed, a senior official predicts Africa will even become “the diplomatic flavour in 2016”. An analysis.