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Open Think Tank Articles
Mischa Hansel and Olga-Maria Hallemann: With all the talk about China’s rise, people sometimes forget about India, the second most populous country on the globe. This commentary takes a look at India’s strategic thinking in light of shifting world dynamics and how India must now make decisions amidst these changes.
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Brianna Marie MacGillivray: The United States and India need each other considering that both countries have significant stakes in the future of the Asia-Pacific region. However, the two nations have not allowed their relationship to reach its full potential. There is much to be gained from warmer relations.
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Editorial Team: The NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy has responded to your questions and policy recommendations! In this second installment, he discusses NATO’s stance in Asia and how new powers like China and India impact the Alliance’s goals.
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Rodnie J. Allison: India is finding increased leverage in the procurement of weapons systems from Western (specifically European) countries. This development could help deepen cooperation between India and the West. Case in point: India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.
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Memo 36: The European Union must reach out to Asian partners and become a credible player on issues other than trade. A strong EU-Asia policy can contribute to stability and advance Europe’s overall political, economic, and security interests.
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Vijeta Rattani: Climate change is a broad concept of which global warning is just one facet. NGOs should take the lead in informing the world about the complex reality of climate change and move away from focusing exclusively on carbon emissions.
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Kishore Mahbubani: It has taken Europe’s leaders some time to adjust to Asia’s rise, and the implications of that for EU policymaking. Unrest in the Middle East points to some lessons the Europe could learn from Asia. Kishore Mahbubani remembers Brussels’ condescensions and counsels a fresh EU approach.
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Johnny West: The West has bemoaned the lack of democracy in the Arab world for decades. Now, as the slaughter continues in Syria, it is time for the West to back its values with action. The recent US ban on purchasing Syrian oil has a good chance of debilitating the Assad regime. Europe must do the same.
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Memo 33: To remain effective in a multi-polar world, NATO should strengthen its collaborative ties with Asia. The Alliance must strive to make China more partner than rival, develop a multilateral plan for stability in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and strengthen existing regional partnerships.
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NATO Review: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is changing the way it works with its partners. Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, explains what these changes mean to both sides.
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Felix F. Seidler: Despite financial constraints, the transatlantic partners must tackle the 21st century’s challenges together. However, the allies will be unable to pursue their interests on the global commons without new partners. Therefore, NATO should push cooperation with global partners who share our values.
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Kerley Tolpolar: The westernized classes targeted by Mumbai’s attackers and the part played by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and its backers in Pakistan, gave rise to voices calling for India to reconsider its non-aligned mentality and join in the global fight against the jihadist movement.
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Manasi Kulkarni-Kakatkar: India’s nuclear relations with world’s big powers have caused a great deal of friction. Next month’s Nuclear Security Summit is a chance for India to show its commitment to non-proliferation and to be a leader of setting up mechanisms for securing nuclear materials.
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Brahma Chellaney: Never before have China, India, and Japan been powerful at the same time, yet now they make up the strategic trio that is central to the region’s future. Asia houses the fastest growing markets, fastest-rising military expenditures, and the most volatile hot spots. Thus, these main three actors must find a way to reconcile their interests in Asia.
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May Hu: President Obama’s recent visit to China demonstrated that the dragon has awoken and is able to resist outside pressure and does not feel the need to conform to any western models or values. The US can no longer ignore this rising giant, and will become more reliant on soft power and persuasion in this new world order.
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Shakti Prasad Srichandan: The signing of a nuclear deal between India and the US comes as Delhi is emerging as a factor in the global balance of power with a new approach to foreign relations. The task of leading the region towards modernization falls on India and this will have a direct impact on global security.
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Lekshmi Rajasekharan Nair: Although financial liberalization can enhance the efficiency of channeling saved resources into productive use, it is also possible that it leads to a sharp decline in saving ratios in industrial and developing countries. In India this phenomenon resulted in a significantly lower household saving rate.
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Shaun R Gregory: Pakistan is one of the most complex and intractable security problems facing the international community. Its importance in relation to two of world’s most pressing security issues – Islamic terrorism and nuclear proliferation – is difficult to overstate, as are the catastrophic consequences, regionally and internationally, which would follow the collapse of the state.
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Shashi Tharoor: India seems to be immune from the global economic recession. The November terrorist attacks against the commercial capital did not hinder the country’s speedy growth rate and the prompt return of investors and Foreign Direct Investments.
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Colette Grace Mazzucelli: The Mumbai attacks have been described as India’s 9/11, but this analogy is not accurate. Terrorism is one dimension of a larger challenge that India must now confront: the erosion of the pluralist and secular traditions of the country’s founders.
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From the Editorial Team: During 2008 Afghanistan was among the most explosive political issues. The unstable state of the country will continue to affect the whole region. What are your recommendations for 2009? What is the most urgent action that needs to be taken in Afghanistan this year?
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Matthew Yglesias: US relationships with EU countries have been marred not only by our disastrous military engagements but also by a lack of actual diplomacy from the Bush administration. A return to the hallmarks of a liberal society coupled with the simple measure of common courtesy would go a long way.
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Wolfgang Nowak: America is no longer up to shouldering the world’s crises. But who is going to take its place? And how do the new global powers imagine the future world order? Foresight, a project of the Alfred Herrhausen Society, asks thinkers and policy makers from the emerging and existing powers for their thoughts and proposals.
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David Neil Lebhar: Ahmed Rashid argues that the conflict in Afghanistan needs a regional solution, including US-Iranian cooperation. The German military must intensify operations in northern Afghanistan, and the government has to educate the public about the mission’s importance.
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Joseph S. Nye: If the US wants to remain powerful, strong ties to the world’s emerging powers are crucial. Improved relations between the US and India could provide the basis for China’s international integration.
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Anna Wojnilko: Changing economic and political realities are forcing the G8 to rethink its goals, mandate, and membership. The debate on the shape of a potential G8 reform divides the political world. Should the G8 be enlarged to include new major international players or contracted to ensure effectiveness? We invite you to vote.
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Hans F. Bellstedt: As a modern and economically booming city, Bangalore stands for the upside of globalization and offers a possible foretaste of what India will be like in the future. Yet Bangalore’s success story is still an exception in a country that suffers from deep-set structural problems.
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Katharina Gnath: I laud the ongoing Heiligendamm Process as an important step in involving emerging countries in global economic governance. Five months after the summit, there are still challenges to be met, and the two-year Process is only the first stage in increasing cooperation with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico.
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Mark Brzezinski: The US has missed opportunities to make sensible progress in India and Iran. In both cases, the United States should be promoting constructive engagement rather than undercutting long-held nonproliferation doctrine.
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Henrik Schmiegelow: I warn that Asia is building pillars to support a future international order. Reacting to the functional integration and regional community-building led by ASEAN and the big three—China, Japan, and India—will be “the West’s greatest challenge.”
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Global Must Read Articles
South Asia has the potential to become a geopolitical and economic power, despite suffering from corruption, terrorism, poverty, poor infrastructure, insufficient healthcare, and major socio-economic inequalities. ++ The region is reaching a tipping point. ++ The three As, “Allah, Army and America”, are no longer defining Pakistan, while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are moving toward a more
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India now has the chance to improve its relationship with Pakistan. ++ Pakistan is showing a new inclination to work with India. ++ Pakistani President Zardari recently made a successful visit to India ++ India should use this moment to improve upon the fact that India has already unilaterally granted Pakistan most favored nation trade status. ++ India should implement a liberal visa regime in
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India has economic and domestic reasons for its ties with Iran. ++ India cannot simply give up Iranian oil: many Indian refineries are made for processing Iranian crude. ++ India has substantial trade with Iran beyond oil. ++ Iran also acts as a strategic gateway for India in maintaining Afghan links and countering the Chinese presence in Pakistan. ++ Domestically, India contains the largest
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Iran and India are developing a warmer relationship. ++ In light of renewed sanctions, India hopes to step into the Iranian markets vacated by European firms. ++ Iran could provide India not only with oil, but also with chemicals, polymers, and plastic materials. ++ The US does not want to see a closer relationship between Iran and India. ++ In contrast to the US, India supports Iran’s right to
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There is a subtle shift in the long held dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. ++ In public and private there is a growing view that Kashmir should take a back seat in favor of solving Pakistan’s domestic problems. ++ Pakistan has high inflation, unemployed and under-educated young men. ++ The strategy of “bleeding India to death” in the area, through insurgency and terrorism, has
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The impact of Western sanctions on Iran goes further than “market plays, fire sales and opportunism” for India and China. ++ The long term role Iran plays in their energy security policies has been missed. ++ Iran has sought to lock both countries into 25-year contracts for its oil. ++ Ideological positions may factor domestically in India and China but they are an outgrowth of energy interests.
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Rising democracies are reluctant to support UN resolutions condemning authoritarian regimes. ++ India, Brazil and South Africa are opposed to democracy promotion partly out of economic self-interest, partly as a sign of protest against past hypocritical Western policies. ++ As rising democracies undergo rapid economic growth, they can afford to disregard international law. ++ Instead of appealing
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In China, the lack of free private media means that Chinese popular sentiment gets channelled into mushrooming online forums. ++ Jingoistic nationalism is often the order of the day, with the US, Japan and increasingly India being targets of abuse. ++ Although domestic criticism is censored, foreign censure is given free reign. ++ With 500 million internet users, the Chinese leadership is showing
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President Obama’s visit to India validated what Pakistan has feared for some time - the emergence of stronger trade and strategic ties between Washington and Delhi.++ The Pakistani government and military are now considering adjusting their alliances, with China as a counter-balance. ++ President Zardari’s visit to China this week is a first step down that road. ++ US troop withdrawal from
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President Obama’s visit to India offers an opportunity for both the United States and India to revise and readjust their roles in Afghanistan. ++ The US has fuelled Pakistani paranoia by encouraging India to become the region’s major economic player in Afghanistan. ++ If India limits its profile inside Afghanistan, Pakistan might agree to stop harboring extremists. ++ The US should
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Even though the Afghanistan Conference resolved to withdraw troops by 2014, the Kabul government has little incentive to take on the responsibility “as long as NATO remains the guarantor of Kabul’s security.” ++ However, the handover should not be put off indefinitely. ++ India and Pakistan should promote the peace process by cooperating more on the Afghan issue. ++ This would foster relations
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New Delhi is becoming increasingly nervous about the close ties between Pakistan and China. ++ “Those in India who tend to view relations with Beijing as a zero-sum game with Islamabad” are concerned about joint plans to build a new rail link and rumors of cooperation on nuclear reactors. ++ While Pakistan and China are on good terms, the relationship is by no means trouble free. ++
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Largely forgotten by the world community, the Kashmir conflict simmers on. However, as long as Pakistan and India do not reach an agreement on Kashmir, all efforts in Afghanistan will come to naught. ++ Pakistani access to water controlled by India presents a further obstacle to peace, while uncertainty over who rules Pakistan makes it difficult for India to negotiate with Islamabad. ++
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Senior US and Pakistani officials will meet next week in Washington for the first strategic dialogue between the two countries in history. ++ Pakistan, in light of its role in Afghanistan, is hoping to capitalize on its enhanced strategic value to the US to stake out a strong role for itself in post-American Afghanistan, and win support for its Indian policy. ++ Regarding India-Pakistian
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The U.S. government has all but ignored the conflict in Kashmir and espoused a “hands off” approach on the issue. However, pressure to engage is increasing. After all, a resolution of the Kashmir conflict, which pits two nuclear powers against one another, is closely tied to failure or success in Afghanistan. It is therefore crucial not only to security in South Asia, but to U.S. national
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The United States and India have long agreed on an ideal Pakistan: a stable, democratic, civilian-controlled state with a commitment to nonproliferation. ++ However, the roads to achieving this ideal were divergent until the Mumbai attacks last year. ++ The so-called ‘Kashmiri groups’ had been viewed by the West as India’s problem. ++ Yet, a consensus was forged “that did not previously
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With the Copenhagen UN climate summit coming up, the deadlock between the major developed and developing economic powers on how to divide up necessary greenhouse gas reductions, must be broken. ++ It is a common misconception that climate goals can only be met if China and India commit to immediate emissions reductions. ++ Early action by developed countries, together with developing countries’
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With the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen this December, India’s government has to define its long-term strategy to fight possible environmental disaster. India, in particular, is likely to be one of the countries most strongly affected by climate shifts. The argument which allocates the burden of cutting carbon emission to the nations responsible for the atmospheric pollution, the western
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After the 13th round of border talks, India and China have still not found a solution to their territorial dispute. ++ Despite the ongoing conflict China has become a crucial trading partner for India, even surpassing the US. ++ Failure to develop lucrative economic ties is the major consequence of heated confrontation. ++ While China demands Aksai Chin, the Chinese-controlled Arunachal Pradesh
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India is not responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gas emissions and cannot be asked to sacrifice its development goals for the sake of combating climate change. ++ “Everyone is now burdened by the omissions and commissions and emissions of the rich countries…Yet the real culprits are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.” ++ If industrialized countries do not guarantee
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With its focus on China, the Obama administration loses sight of India’s importance as a strategic partner in Asia. ++ The US’ Asia policy “lacks a distinct strategic imprint.” ++ Obama looks at India primarily in terms of India-Pakistan engagement even demanding that New Delhi “come to aid of terror-exporting Pakistan.” ++ Asian geopolitical transitions are vital for international strategic
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The meeting of the six-nation Shanghai Co-operation Organisation this week will discuss the creation of a new type of financial institution that will challenge the dominance of US-style free markets. ++ This is an opportunity for China, Russia and India to “build an increasingly multipolar world order.” ++ These countries argue that the root of the global financial crisis is that the US makes too
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Despite being the largest elections ever held, involving more than 700 million voters, India’s
new government will “consist mostly of politicians unfit to hold ministerial office.” ++ Most of India’s political parties are led by dynasties that prize loyalty over merit. ++ Ministries have become lucrative personal fiefdoms. ++ India’s democracy should be reformed into a presidential system of
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The United States is considered the destination of choice by immigrants the world over. Especially highly skilled immigrants regard the US as a land of endless possibilities and ever attractive prospects. However, more and more immigrants are turning their backs on the US. New studies show that above all people from India and China are moving back to their homeland in droves, hoping for better
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The Indian Ocean is well on the way to becoming the location of global conflict in the 21st century. Today the third largest body of water on the Earth is already considered the most important cross national sea route. And its importance is on the rise. The coasts of the Indian Ocean are increasingly developing into a huge energy trading network. This also applies to the Eastern African coasts.
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India’s reliance on Russia for defense equipment is largely ineffective and increasingly dangerous. ++ The entire Russian fleet of MiG-29 is seen to suffer structural defects and adds to the fact that “Russia’s defense manufacturing base is facing shortfalls in capabilities and capacities.” ++ This effects India in terms of missed deadlines, greater expense and harms
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“Slumdog Millionaire” won eight Oscars on Sunday night but its greatest success is raising awareness about the poverty and disease which characterize Mumbai slums and kill faster than AIDS. ++ In recent years community projects have managed to control open defecation due to the lack of lavatories and improve sanitation, producing unprecedented social benefits. ++ A better futures
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It took Indian courts thirteen years to charge former Union minister Ram with corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and his current appeal to the Highest Court will probably mean that he will not be convicted in this lifetime. ++ The delay in reaching a verdict is a sign of decay in the Indian judicial process; the courts are excluded from RTI and resist attempts to investigate
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The Indian-Muslim community refuses to bury the Pakistani-Muslims involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. ++ Their interpretation of the attacks not as an attempt at martyrdom but as an act of mass murder seeks to delegitimize the recruitment of young Muslims to suicide missions and portrays such acts to be a threat to the healthy development of Muslim communities. ++ What has happened in
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Pres. Bush has always been relatively popular in India, this is mainly due to his revitalization of the US-India alliance which has a nuclear deal at its core. ++ New Delhi would have preferred a Republican successor to Mr Bush, fearing that a Democrat would go back to the “pre-Bush binary in which American diplomacy with India was always calibrated for the effect it might have on American
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Protectionist measures, like the proposed Buy American provisions in the US stimulus package, will not be taken lightly by other countries. ++ Even if measures followed WTO rules, China and India can retaliate. ++ Americans will “learn history, which they do not study enough at school, by seeing it repeated in their own lifetime.” ++ US accusations of Chinese currency manipulation are popular
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Last year
125 vessels were attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of
Aden, one third of which were successfully boarded. Among them was
a hijacked Saudi super tanker laden with oil and a Ukrainian ship carrying 33
Russian armoured vehicles. Both incidents intensified international concern
over the possible capture of more “sensitive cargo,” such as radioactive
material The Somali pirates
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The annual Science Congress 2009 has taken place in India, following a tradition which started in 1967 and projected technology as the means through which to achieve greater ‘’social, gender and economic equality.” ++ Indeed, in the northeast region of India, where rich bio-resource exploitation is impaired by poverty and unemployment, development may depend on technological progress. ++
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Pakistan has captured Jamaat-ud-Dawa activists and shut down their camps and a panel is to investigate the Mumbai attacks. ++ What has been done so far should be welcomed and appreciated. ++ Still, India has not managed to make its case: Kashmir actually had very little to do with the attacks, which in fact had the establishment of a caliphate as their target. ++ De-coupling US military aid
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India’s corporate image is at stake as the truth behind the Satyam scam has yet to be uncovered. ++ Ramalingas Raju’s arrest is “only the start of a long process of dispensing retributive justice.” ++ Satyam was already under scrutiny for a failed deal with Maytas, an attempt to replace Satyam’s fictitious assets with real ones. ++ Pricewaterhouse, the Indian arm of the Western firm, cleared the
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We “wanted Russia to be a market economy, but Russia never asked how.” ++ Gazprom is like the East India Company, from which market economies grew. ++ Other sources are unreliable; China, Japan and India look to Russia for gas. ++ While the EU builds pipelines to pass unreliable ex-communist states, Russia builds east - and southwards. ++ Gazprom’s hard game is market economy and it refuses to
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Barack Obama, financial crisis, resurgent Russia, G20, Western decline, climate change - in the season of global predictions, current discourse is driven by these and other such catchwords. ++ Yet, predictions from December 2007 were of little value: none predicted the financial collapse, none an Obama victory, nor any vastly fluctuating oil prices or governments’ failure to keep pace with global
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The Mumbai attacks were nothing new, but they struck a people that were starting to feel secure. ++ “Confidence in the political system is at a low.” ++ “The middle class is accustomed to overlooking the fault lines in India.” ++ India cannot be stable with unstable neighbors such as Pakistan, or with large, marginalized internal groups, such as its 150 million Muslims. ++ Hindu nationalist
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The case for a Pakistani link to the Mumbai slaughter is growing stronger by the day. ++ The failure of favorable US policies towards Pakistan under President Bush are evident. ++ Condoleeza Rice has stressed the need for “complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation” from Pakistan. ++ In the interests of preventing nuclear war and the collapse of Pakistani democracy,
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“Americans are right to express solidarity with India.” ++ Facing Maoist rebels in the east, separatists in the northeast, organized crime and communal violence, India is a world to itself. ++ Unfortunately, the bloodiest conflict with Pakistan is over Kashmir. ++ The US needs Pakistan to defeat Islamist militants within its borders and in Afghanistan. ++ American mediation over Kashmir would
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New Delhi has been warning the world of terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan, and now the world is listening. ++ “Stabilizing Pakistan means genuinely democratizing its polity and helping its economy grow back to a sustainable level of prosperity.” ++ Most importantly Pakistan’s corrupt military establishment, which is strangling civilian rule, must be ousted from power. ++ Military action
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Egyptian President Mubarak has made the first official state visit of Egypt to India in a quarter century. ++ Mubarak came with his Foreign Minister and his ministers of Trade and Communications. ++ “The two countries pledged to quadruple bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2010,” and promised to work together on issues of terrorism, climate change, the financial crisis, and food and energy
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In view of the economic crisis rocking the international community, the G8 has lost its right to exist. ++ Emerging nations like India took part in the G20 summit, discussing new finance regulation structures. ++ G8 nations have to understand that in a world where the US economy is highly dependent on the Chinese market, the circle of key players has expanded. ++ Including countries like Brazil
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Indian elites are showing insecurity over India’s role with relation to Washington. ++ That Obama is courting Islamabad for support in Afghanistan shouldn’t be cause for worry. ++ The lack of criticism of US military action in Syria from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs is a sign of weakness; confidence is required. ++ India’s response to Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria mustn’t be determined
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The next administration might find itself entangled in a dispute over Kashmir as Obama wants Pakistan to cooperate in Afghanistan. ++ Obama strongly acknowledges the importance of a Indo-US partnership, but what “Indians fear is that they are being asked to pick up the political tab for America’s failed policy in Afghanistan.” ++ If Obama wants India to cooperate he should
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There is a lesson to be learned from the West’s decision to integrate China into its fold following Tiananmen Square. ++ While China is still ruled by the same horrific party responsible for the Cultural Revolution, it is “a far cry from the Mao Zedong era.” ++ By applying the same “global liberalizing influences” to Russia, all will benefit from closer “peace
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The financial crash will have serious geopolitical consequences. ++ Russia will reassert itself as a global player. ++ As its stock market does not play as crucial a role as in Western markets, and as Russia has a lot of money due to the boom in oil and natural gas markets, it will be the greatest winner in the aftermath of the crisis. ++ The US will also, in the long run, gain as the crisis will
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Efforts to address carbon emissions must be undertaken with exigency. ++ Developing countries like China, India and Brazil are responsible for half of all carbon emissions worldwide; their output has doubled over the past two decades. ++ 8.47 gigatons of emissions were released in 2007, up 2.9 percent over 2006. ++ Polluters will not change their energy policy until the US takes action. ++ The US
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Pakistan can no longer play its “dangerous double-game”: accepting money form the US while also supporting the Taliban and other extremists. ++ General Kayani has appointed a new spy chief, Lt. Gen Ahmed Shuja, who must work to clean up the intelligence service, root out corrupt officials, and cut ties to extremists that threaten Pakistan’s own fragile democracy. ++ American officials claim that
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Currently, the US is reeling from the “Palin Effect.” ++ The overall demoralization and financial crises damage the collective identity of Americans and that is why voters need to hear that their country is still ‘exceptional’. ++ Fortunately, “Palin finds everything ‘exceptional’, when it comes to America” and gathers a lot of popularity for saying this. ++ Not only the US, but also India face
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The impact of the current financial crisis on India will be minimal. ++ Indian institutions, such as ICICI Bank, have relatively little exposure to Wall Street, and due to a good regulatory system, should escape fairly unscathed. ++ However, Tata AIG will admittedly have trouble ahead. ++ Finance Minister Chidambaram has already guaranteed that “firms will have the necessary funds to absorb
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India and the US are celebrating their new nuclear deal this week. ++ Critics fear an unraveling of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. ++ Notwithstanding, India will be one of the great world powers and there is an unfortunate, yet undeniable link between power and nuclear weapons. ++ Although it may be hypocritical to permit India and sanction Iran, India is a status quo power and a settled
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Oil prices have tripled in the last seven years and if they continue to rise, it may have profound political consequences. ++ Oil-consuming nations shouldn’t become hostages of the oil-producing countries – they must “end the blackmail of the strong by the weak.” ++ Reducing the price of oil by eliminating the speculative pressures behind price rises must be the paramount
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For a long time it has been thought that world markets are decoupling, enabling the emerging economies of the BRIC group to thrive regardless of the economic slowdown in the Western world. ++ The emerging countries were predicted to quickly overtake the veterans of the G7. ++ New data, however, seem to puncture that theory. ++ BRICs do not live in an enclosed world, and the credit crunch has had
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The domestic political culture in India determines whether India will work out in its new role as a nuclear power. ++ So far, suspicion and accusation among the politicians hindered India’s democratic institutions to produce a coherent notion of national purpose. ++ External actors such as China and the US have again and again manipulated the preferences of India’s politicians. ++ But now it is
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Washington and New Delhi are guilty of overselling the US-India nuclear deal. ++ The pact will not play as big of a role in bolstering US-India ties and boosting both economies as politicians want people to believe. ++ On the contrary, due to the controversy that surrounds it, the deal threatens to overwhelm the broader dialogue between India and the US. ++ If the partnership between both
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The former colony India is now confronted with separatists who call for an independent Kashmir. ++ India’s governance of the region was dreadful at times, but it is still a legitimate democracy. ++ Nobody should oppose an independent Kashmir, but instead they should ask for a consensual secession by taking a vote in Kashmir and in India. ++ The “Idea of India” would not be wounded if it let
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Meeting in Singapore, 10 southeast Asian nations along with India confirmed yet another FTA that clearly indicates the waning influence of the WTO and the US in the region. ++ Many such countries, especially India, prefer small-scale bilateral agreements and FTAs. ++ It was the Asian block that called on Europe and the US to change their farm subsidy policies at Doha, which contributed to
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While
Pakistan is often called a failed state it is more accurately labeled as a flailing
state. The PPP-PML coalition cannot solve every problem alone but needs help
from India, China and the US. These nations, which had once contributed to the
distortion of Pakistani politics, may now play a positive role in assisting
Pakistanis develop a democratic order to cope with several critical
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Because India has not signed the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), some oppose the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and their plan to waive the ban on its nuclear commerce. ++ But India has committed itself to fully cooperate with the IAEA and, if it should join the global efforts on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, it needs nuclear energy. ++ Therefore, in order to further promote
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The World Bank recently reported that in 2005 there were 1.4 billion people living below the poverty line - a figure which it had previously underestimated. ++ Still, this figure does not take into account the rising food and energy prices witnessed in the last two years. ++ This new data only stresses the necessity for aid stemming from developed countries, particularly the G8. ++ Having
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India is depicted in the media as “a squeaky-clean ally of the United States” and no inconvenient truths are allowed to mar Indian democracy’s supposed success story. ++ A passive receiver of this image will surely be surprised to learn that between 2004 and 2007 3,674 people died of terrorist attacks in India, a death toll second only to that in Iraq and over 3 times higher than in
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The global trade negotiations known as the Doha Round broke up yesterday without an agreement. ++ Despite expectations of a new international plan to cut tariffs, members of the WTO proved themselves unready for such a deal. ++ While the US and the EU had made some concessions on farm supports, India and China essentially torpedoed the talks asserting a broad right to raise tariffs to protect
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India just had its first vote of confidence because the government’s communist allies withdrew their support over the civilian nuclear deal, arguing that the pact made India a pawn of the US. ++ Prime Minister Singh’s Congress party-led coalition won 275 votes in its favor and 256 against in the confidence motion. ++ The win means India can now focus on pushing through a long-delayed nuclear
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The US-India nuclear pact, declared “almost certainly dead” last month, will probably be signed by the Indian government after all. ++ The onus of getting it implemented is therefore back on the US. ++ Congress must stop pressuring India into backing US policy on Iran. ++ India shouldn’t have to choose between good relations with itself and Tehran. ++ PM Manmohan Singh will not agree to toe
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The US failed to capitalize on its initial military success in Afghanistan and what seemed to be a finished matter has now redeveloped into a serious threat. ++ “America has only itself to blame” for the current situation. ++ It was distracted with problems in Iraq, failed to eliminate al-Qaeda, and gave insurgents the opportunity to regroup in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas within
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Coercive diplomacy is America’s only remaining option as its influence declines in the Middle East. ++ Especially in the case of an Obama presidency, this “changed constellation” in the region calls for India to readjust its strategy. ++ India needs to balance Israel and Syria, and constructively engage Iran. ++ Like China, India should acknowledge the region’s importance for its own energy
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Surprisingly, it is some of the fastest developing countries such as China and India, that are slowing down the Doha development talks. ++ Protectionism in one country triggers a chain reaction that blocks free trade in several sectors across the globe. ++ The losers are those for whom Doha was conceptualized: farmers and small businesses in slowly developing countries. ++ Opening up the
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Responsibility and emergency to act in Burma cannot be doubted but UN legitimacy is lacking and R2P stands for “responsibility to protect,” not “right to invade.” ++ Any action requires “a careful, informed calculation of the likely consequences.” ++ Now the junta has acquiesced to limited aid “under an Asian umbrella,” the West should drop plans for air and sea bridges that could entail the
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India’s slide by two places in the global competitiveness ranking from 2007 to 2008 reveals the country’s infrastructural deficiencies. ++ “The government is unable to create infrastructure needed to sustain present levels of growth” especially with respect to primary education, energy, broadband networks, access to water, health, and the environment. ++ This is a threat
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China’s recent need for energy resources has accelerated at an alarming rate. ++ US envoy to the Paris-based International Energy Association (IEA), Daniel S. Sullivan, maintains that China and India must join international organizations in order to control usage and ensure energy security. ++ As oil prices skyrocket, developing nations, desperately in need of energy resources, are less
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The Indian Ocean will be a strategic bridgehead for the big players of the 21st century. This relates to the Indian sea doctrine, which has been determining India’s policies in the region since its release in 2004. China’s advance in particular is pushing the Indian government to strengthen its ties with the African countries on the coast of the Indian Ocean and to regain more influence in the
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India’s ascension as a nuclear weapon state ten years ago was a mistake. ++ Fallacious confidence in the doctrine of deterrence has had the opposite effect, encouraging reckless behavior in Kashmir and strengthening Pakistan’s military leadership, making South Asia more volatile. ++ The ensuing arms race with Pakistan and China has been funded at the expense of the social-sector, and led to a
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In Asia, the rise of India is perceived as less threatening than the rise of China. ++ India does have strong military capabilities, but is a democracy, which are said to be more peaceful. ++ India’s military is believed to be unthreatening because of the turmoil in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh that concerns India. ++ Many Asians want India to counterbalance China and hope that
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India’s agricultural sector remains nearly stagnant at a time when global food production faces five major challenges: population growth, changing consumption habits in emerging markets, declining agricultural production capacity, climate change, and increased demand for biofuels. ++ India should increase competitiveness by improving technologies and education in agricultural studies,
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In the face of turmoil in Tibet, India has found itself in a delicate position. ++ As a democracy, India has a tradition of permitting peaceful protest, yet it is also intent on improving Indo-Sino relations and continuing to expand trade with China. ++ “India’s government has attempted to draw a distinction between its humanitarian obligations as an asylum country and its political
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India is confronted with a multitude of territorial claims from its neighbors. ++ The Asian giant is vulnerable to “the tyranny of geography.” ++ The pluralist democracy’s fragile and instable surroundings and the subsistence of contrasting beliefs, interests, and ideals in the region justify New Dehli’s cautious approach to contemporary international crisis situations
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Concerning the Iranian enrichment program, international attention shouldn’t exclusively be on the receiving country. ++ Indian and European companies deliver nuclear supplies to Iran. ++ Tightening up control over European nuclear industries and doing so transparently, while enlisting the cooperation of Russia and China in this effort is necessary to stop Iranian nuclear weapon
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Not the US but the new big globalizers are responsible for renewed global tensions since the 1980s. ++ BRIC countries, – Brazil, Russia, India and China – terrify because they compensate for weakness by projecting power. ++ Yet they struggle with inclusive development, demography, and financial transparency. ++ Small adaptable states are actually more likely to overtake performances
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Since Africa is both a source of natural resources and an outlet for manufactures, it is an area where India and China’s needs overlap. ++ China’s
two-way trade with Africa is higher, yet it has been charged with neo imperialism and blamed for trading with dictators. ++ India is drawing nearer by dealing with Africa’s ethnic Indians and labeling its integration of the economy “contribution to
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London’s goal to become the first city with streets illuminated by LED’s indicates a promising trend towards green lighting technology. ++ Indian cities should pay more attention to LED lighting. ++ Through LEDs India could “leapfrog the ‘dirty’ phase of economic growth witnessed in the West.” ++ While China has built the infrastructure needed for advanced LED production, India has yet to follow
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Indian state Chhattisgarh is positioned to become biodiesel hub. ++ Local jatroph nut is inedible, grows on wasteland, requires little cultivation, and produces 3x more oil per hectare than soybeans - a cheap energy solution. ++ Despite potential, jatroph remains largely untested and may be unwise for India to invest in too soon - particularly due to India’s reputation for poorly implemented,
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Nuclear weapons with their incomparable destructive capacity are the determining center of international power. ++ As technological forces are increasingly being associated with national security and success, defenders of disarmament are losing ground. ++ In the face of this global trend towards “weaponisation,” it is high time India gave up the illusion of a nukes-free world and made a priority
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India’s infrastructure is obstructing economic growth. Just the terrible state of the roads and the endless traffic jams cause economic losses amounting to 6 billion US dollars per year. The cities in particular are struggling with increasing traffic chaos and power cuts. At the same time, the number of inhabitants in the cities will increase by 20% over the next seven years. The Indian
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Apart from hosting international sporting events in the near future, Delhi and Beijing have a lot in common at the moment, according to Narayani Ganesh of the Times of India: both face increasingly serious environmental challenges.
However these common issues offer opportunities for scientific cooperation, as shown by a memorandum on environmental collaboration signed during PM Manohan
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A new survey by the German Marshall Fund finds that further transatlantic trade and investment are seen by majorities on both sides of the Atlantic as crucial to the economic stability of the region. While Americans have grown more skeptical about their economic future, Europeans have become slightly more optimistic. Likewise, although most of those surveyed both in Europe and America support
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As the prices of basic food staples soar, the world’s poor are getting ever-hungrier and increasingly vulnerable. Furthermore, the World Food Program (WFP) is experiencing exponential growth in expenditures, informs the Economist. While 850 million people go critically hungry daily in poor countries, the rich world is concerned about 1.1 billion obese and higher incidence of cardio-vascular
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As a community based on values, the West must strengthen its cohesiveness in order to grapple with the pace of globalization, and face a geopolitical axis actively shifting toward Asia, argues Stephen Szabo, executive director of the Transatlantic Academy, which is a partnership between the German Marshall Fund and the Bucerius Zeit Stiftung.
A division of the West could prove
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Most US presidential candidates have very favorable views towards closer cooperation with India in the future, reports Joanna Klonsky of the Council on Foreign Relations. Klonsky’s findings belie the low coverage on this issue so far, showing that candidates from both camps generally support resolutions such as the United States-India Energy Security Cooperation Act (2006) or the US-India
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The UN has declared July 2007 the halfway point towards its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed upon in 2000 and scheduled to be achieved in 2015. The Economist magazine takes a close look at the interim results and comes to the conclusion that less has been achieved than the UN claims. Even though indicators such as the percentage of people living on less than one dollar a day are
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Dr. Isaac Kfir, researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, examines threats to the Pakistani state and international implications relating to Pakistan’s role in the war on terror. Islamic, ethno-nationalist groups and the Taliban are gaining influence, and Pakistan remains one of the likely hiding places for bin Laden and other senior members of al-Qaeda. Additional
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The time is ripe for international action on global warming, argues Columbia Economist Jeffrey Sachs. Scientists have clearly identified the causes of the problem, as well as affordable solutions, and recommendations must be implemented in advance of the 2012 expiration of the Kyoto Protocol. Since public awareness of the risks at hand has risen sharply and demands for action are peaking in
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India is no longer simply the world’s “back office,” and has moved beyond its perceived role as provider of data processors and call-center workers. A study of the Boston Consulting Group and Knowledge@Wharton examines India’s rapid economic rise and its impact on the global market to show that India is an emerging presence in the manufacturing market and increasingly outsources
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Globalization has come full circle, says Deutsche Welle. 10 years ago, Germany set the tone of its economic relationship with India. German companies outsourced parts of their production to India and attempted to lure Indian IT-Specialists into the country. Now, Indian companies are opening up subsidiaries in Germany, employing Germans, and an Indian steel giant is making bids to buy its
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A Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) could provide new momentum for the transatlantic relationship, reports Mirela Isic of the Center for Applied Policy Research in Munich. An alliance that handles one third of world trade and produces more than 40% of world GDP would be a good safeguard against variations in the world economy such as those caused by integrating India and China into the world
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Tufts University professor Daniel Drezner highlights the Bush administration’s recognition of the shifting geopolitical order. The author of All Politics is Global credits the US for its multilateral approach on incorporating China, India and other rising powers into a reconfigured foreign policy strategy. But there are clear obstacles to US leadership in twenty-first century international
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