The Irony of American Strategy
A decade ago, the U.S. immersed itself in the greater Middle East with its wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. Will the current economic scenario force it to turn away from this region?
A decade ago, the U.S. immersed itself in the greater Middle East with its wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. Will the current economic scenario force it to turn away from this region?
While the recent India-Japan Joint Statement contains significant breakthroughs, the China-Pakistan Joint Statement reveals the absence of warmth between India and China. With the current flurry of bilateral exchanges, India is fine-tuning its approach to emerging regional realities, as are others.
This daily column includes Gateway House’s Badi Soch – big thought – of the day’s foreign policy events. Today’s focus is on the fatal Naxal attack targeting Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh.
The Chinese defence industry has emerged as one of the world’s top five arms exporters. It has come a long way from the early 1990s when it was characterised by inefficiency, corruption, and poor performance.
The proposed immigration reform bill, currently being debated in the U.S. Congress, contains provisions to penalize Indian IT companies for allegedly misusing the H1-B and L1 visas. How can New Delhi tackle this rising U.S. sentiment against Indian companies?
Following the 2008 mortgage crash, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board implemented a quantitative easing policy – to stabilise the banks, and rejuvenate the economic environment. Although this strategy has brought some respite, it has done so without creating many new jobs for Americans.
For long, deterrence has been the backbone of the U.S. national security strategy. It has applied deterrence to Russia, failed to apply it to Iraq and Iran, and is confused about applying it to China. Does the U.S. need to relearn the basics of deterrence?
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?
The new provocations from Pyongyang heighten the risk of a military showdown with the U.S., South Korea and Japan. China, the only power with sway over the regime, is exercising limited options for peace on the peninsula.
During his visit to Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in favour of both the Israelis’ right to security and the Palestinians’ right to sovereignty. The issue of settlements, however, remains unresolved and it is unlikely that Israel will make concessions when its neighbours are in turmoil.