Courtesy: Gateway House
In recent months, visa restrictions have been imposed on foreign students particularly Indians, seeking higher education, especially in the U.S. and the UK. Post-study work opportunities, a key factor in international education choices, have also been affected. This creates an opportunity for India to step in and attract foreign students by introducing an ‘S’ visa that permits post-study work opportunity in India.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Not long ago in the sweep of history, countries that had once been buried behind the Iron Curtain, and even some Soviet republics, were transformed into members of the solidly democratic club. Some of those that weren’t, such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, experienced mass revolts against rigged elections and corrupt misrule amid widespread public yearning to join the West. Free trade was again celebrated as an instrument of peace; Kant’s “democratic peace theory” enjoyed a revival.
Courtesy: Somaliland Presidential Office
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state in December 2025 is not merely a diplomatic gesture toward a long-marginalised polity; it is a strategic act with implications for Somalia’s territorial integrity, regional security dynamics, great-power competition, and the evolving politics of recognition in a fractured international order.
Courtesy: News on Air
In the shifting sands of contemporary geopolitics, terms such as ‘fluid multipolarity’, ‘multiplexity’, ‘tripolarity’, and ‘bipolarity with multipolar characteristics’ are replacing the old dogmas and orders. But what is driving the world today? How does India plan to protect its vital interests in the current age of ongoing polycrisis? The road ahead is challenging, marked by risks and uncertainty.
Courtesy: US Embassy & Consulates in Italy
It is customary for every U.S. president to release a National Security Strategy (NSS) early in their tenure. President Trump published the NSS for his second term in November 2025. It’s a contrast from his 2017 NSS, which addressed broad threats. The 2025 version is narrower, emphasising trade over security, with the Western Hemisphere being the primary area of focus. Is the U.S.’s global role shrinking?
Courtesy: Gateway House
As global conflicts intensify and global leadership falters, it is time to look back 75 years to Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar - not only the father of India’s Constitution but also an internationalist whose foreign policy vision remains overlooked. He warned against aligning with China, upheld Tibet’s sovereignty, advocated U.S. ties, rejected non-alignment, and championed India’s UNSC seat. How different would the scenario have been if Ambedkar had led India’s foreign policy?
Courtesy: Reuters
The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India on December 4-5, is an event with many dimensions. It will address the political and economic strength and future of the bilateral, discuss the global scenario, and lay out a path for future cooperation that will continue to define the relationship as 'special and privileged.'
Courtesy: Gateway House
U.S. health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. called the World Economic Forum a “billionaires’ boys club” imposing totalitarian controls. Indeed, since 1971, the elite platform shaped geopolitics. But its Western-centricism kept out the concerns of the rest. This gave rise to alternative forums, which look beyond financial agendas to the perspectives shaping the Global South. Here are 45 of biggest, half of which began just two decades ago.
Courtesy: Gateway House
India-China relations move in waves of hostility and stability. The bilateral may be re-entering a period of stability, last seen in 2018. If the caveats of security, mutual sensitivity and a level playing field are respected, then much can be achieved by reviving the initiatives begun after PM Modi’s visit to China in 2015 and two informal summits in Wuhan in 2018, and Mahabalipuram in 2019.
Courtesy: Telegrafi
On October 22, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil. The move has clear geopolitical motives—to remove a major supplier from an oversupplied oil market. Indian oil companies, key buyers of Russian crude, now face pressure to cut imports, undermining India’s energy diversification and shaking global oil markets, including the U.S. economy.