china army Courtesy: Steve Webel/Flickr
26 April 2013

The new, sharper sabre from Beijing

The Chinese army’s trespassing of the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control near Ladakh has fuelled serious security concerns in India. This signals a sharper policy from Beijing towards India; it is also why its response must be firm, and the Chinese must be seen to back off.

foreignaffairsmayjune Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
24 April 2013

India’s Feeble Foreign Policy

The fear that a growing India might have to take on responsibilities commensurate with its power has made New Delhi uneasy about the international discourse on India’s rise. How can the West, then, convince India to play a larger international role?

Knowledge commons and the future of capitalism Courtesy: Leoboudv/WikimediaCommons
19 April 2013

Knowledge commons and the future of capitalism

Often, many vital inventions are left incomplete or do not reach the market as information is locked up by numerous patent holders. How does this hamper innovation, and why is it necessary to overcome the attitude of ‘anti-commons’ and foster cross-fertilization of knowledge?

Are political parties failing democracy Courtesy: Somenametoforget/Flickr
12 April 2013

Are political parties failing democracy?

Conventional political parties around the world seem to be on the decline, and there are common factors too – precarious economies and a leaching of ideology, for example. How can countries achieve grassroots empowerment in their village republics, and those of ordinary citizens the world over?

India-Pakistan Business first Courtesy: WikimediaCommons/Flickr
5 April 2013

India-Pakistan: Business first

The road to reconciliation between India and Pakistan is likely to be a long and treacherous one. But perhaps economic compulsions can overtake political ones. That is the hope in Karachi, whose business community has started to make its journey across the border to India.