crosswinds Courtesy: Amazon India
14 March 2024

Crosswinds: Nehru, Zhou and the Anglo-American Competition over China

In his new book, former Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to China, Vijay Gokhale analyzes how newly independent India navigated Anglo-American competition and the Cold War ideologies of China in the 1940s and 1950s. The author focuses on key events from the recognition of the Peoples’ Republic of China to the two Taiwan Straits crises. His insights of the period resonate with today's U.S.-China rivalry, AND Highlights India's evolving role in the Indo-Pacific.

twitterCPR Courtesy: Juggernaut
20 July 2022

How China Sees India and the World

In his new book, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran demystifies China's imagined belief of itself as the Middle Kingdom. Contemporary China's propensity to cut and paste history has resulted in China's resentment of India based on a limited understanding of Indian history and of China's past recognition of India as an advanced civilisation which impacted Chinese culture. Today the West recognises India's potential to match China, with depth and skills, over the long term.

today hong kong horizontal Courtesy: Macmillan
31 January 2022

Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World

The contemporary fate of Hong Kong, which has known freedom and rule of law, offers in microcosm a glimpse of what could happen if the liberal world order is up-ended. In this book, Mark Clifford convincingly argues that what happens in Hong Kong doesn’t stay in Hong Kong, as he draws connections between the techniques used to end freedom there with China’s penetration and manipulation of open societies elsewhere.

B097S3RBQP.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_ Courtesy: Penguin Random House India
16 December 2021

The Long Game: How The Chinese Negotiate With India

In six concise case studies, Vijay Gokhale, former Foreign Secretary of India, demystifies the Chinese style of diplomacy. The reviewer says the book makes a compelling case for how the lack of diplomatic experience of newly independent India’s leaders enabled the Chinese Communist leadership to outmatch and outmaneuver them in the early years, despite the latter playing a relatively weak hand.

IMG_9738 Courtesy: Macmillan/Dexter Roberts
18 June 2020

The Myth of Chinese Capitalism

China’s dramatic political and economic rise over the past three decades has been well recorded. Less known is the effort of China's rural labourers and migrants, which has largely enriched the coastal elites, instead of creating the egalitarian, capitalist, society China espouses. Dexter Roberts’ book takes us deep into the story of China’s rise, and exposes this reality. Roberts chronicles the lives of the many rural folk he has met during two decades of work and travels in China. It gives the book a personal and compassionate note, with the authenticity of a hands-on China expert.

Open Embrace Courtesy: Penguin
4 July 2019

Open Embrace: India-U.S. Ties in the Age of Modi and Trump

This book offers a ringside view of evolving Indo-U.S. ties under two conservative leaders, both engaged in mixing nationalism, religion and populism to advance the global capitalist order. The title points to an interesting departure from the more orthodox view of the bilateral relationship, which is usually from the prism of discord or estrangement

stuenkel Courtesy: Lexington Books
21 December 2015

The BRICS and the future of global order

Oliver Stuenkel's book provides a well-researched account of the evolution of BRICS – starting from the forum’s inception in 2009 to the present – and the interactions between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on global issues.

Air pollution in China- Nicolò Lazzati (Flickr) Courtesy:
14 May 2015

Asia’s environmental emergency

The idea that Asia can follow the West’s ‘get dirty, get rich, get clean’ strategy grows more absurd with every year. Nor can Asian political leaders say the region can’t afford the cost of environmental progress. It is now clear that India and other countries cannot afford the skyrocketing cost of environmental degradation.