9780231179300 (1) Courtesy: Columbia University Press
24 October 2019

Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Gulf

This book examines concisely and readably how the discovery of oil and natural gas transformed the six oil kingdoms of the Gulf, but profligate energy consumption at home challenged the basis of this very prosperity. It goes on to look at how these countries dealt with the economic crises that struck them

9780670090259 Courtesy: Penguin
8 August 2019

Delusional Politics

The apparently disparate themes that Hardeep Singh Puri analyses in this book cohere under his overarching thesis about delusional decision-making and its unexpected consequences, be it Brexit or the rise of populist leaders. His analysis includes an examination of the democratic process, the role of the media and the elusive nature of definitions

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

Legitimacy of power Courtesy: Vij Books
13 June 2019

The Legitimacy of Power: The Permanence of Five in the Security Council

Former ambassador Dilip Sinha’s book comes at a time when there is a call for greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of institutions the world over. The United Nations Security Council, a vestige of post-Second World War structures, has had no real meaningful reform. The author deals with this and other thorny questions

The Human Tide_Front Courtesy: John Murray
9 May 2019

The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World

Demography has an important role in economic and political history, it has an impact on political thinking and changing populations influence the balance of power between different countries. The book is especially good at British, British colonial and European demographic history, but its weakness is its Euro-centrism

9780199489640 Courtesy: Oxford University Press
18 April 2019

When India played peacemaker

This account of India’s foreign policy under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi is an accomplished body of research into a period, usually studied primarily for India’s Non Aligned Movement. The author suggests that Nehru’s larger Asian, more global, view for India has therefore gone unnoticed

The problems of populism
7 February 2019

The problems of populism

This vivid portrait of socialist India, by giving primacy to the political background that determined Indira Gandhi’s responses, is different from the yearly ritualistic denunciations of her and the Emergency. It also has a story-teller’s flair, making it accessible to readers born well after 1975