Courtesy: U.S. Department of Defense
An important take-away from the preliminary pact reached by Kabul and Washington is that unlike the 1990s, the Americans are not just packing their bags and leaving. This is good news in terms of regional stability, and the upcoming NATO summit may answer some questions this draft agreement raises.
Courtesy: LGEPR
With turmoil in the Middle East, a drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Iran-Israel-U.S. conflict, the international community has paid little attention to the democracy of a small group of people - the Bahrainis. More worrisome, however, is that politics now responds to the elite.
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.
The scope for any process on nuclear talks with Iran to founder on distrust, misunderstanding and political in-fighting in both Tehran and Washington remains formidable. Equally disturbing are the wider political realities. Can the upcoming talks in Istanbul launch a process that can, over time, lead to agreement?
Courtesy: PMO
Although political discourse around Iranian sanctions is binary and stark in Washington, the reality of India's actions within its bilateral framework with Iran is complex. India is engaged in an excruciating tightrope walk, and has to defend its choices and compulsions with ardour.
Courtesy: White House Photographer/Wikimedia Commons
Forty years ago, former President of the United States Richard Nixon made a visit to China that has perhaps changed the whole gamut of U.S.-China relations. In the following years, China witnessed the rise of a significant middle class and became the world's second largest economy.
Courtesy: Indian Embassy
Iran may become a litmus test for India's relationship with the U.S., where New Delhi must deftly balance its strategic relationship with the U.S. along with its energy interests in Iran.
Courtesy: Afghanistan Goverment/WikimediaCommons
Afghanistan has become the first significant theatre of effective confrontation between the West and China. But with its deep-rooted economic ties, could the U.S. and NATO actually confront China?
India and Japan have designed their collaborations over the years to be a win-win for both sides. Now, they are willing to collaborate on long-term initiatives, based on intrinsic factors of inter-dependent competencies – rather than on the defence of an extrinsic threat of a common enemy.
Courtesy: nazeah/Wikimediacommons - Ramesh Lalwani/Flickr
The year 2011 saw various events - the Arab Spring, anti- corruption protests, Europe's sovereign debt crisis - transform countries and reshape the world order. Gateway House takes a look at what these events mean for India, and presents India's top foreign policy cheers and jeers for the year.