Russia’s Return to the World Stage: The Primakov Doctrine

Canberra, 6 November 2019 International power balance is primarily based on claiming ascendancy on the world stage, which in turn is driven by political imperatives, the prime mover in all initiatives towards claiming power. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia assumed the mantle of Soviet power, but struggled to prove itself as a […]

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India-China Relations: Complex and Out-of-Step

Canberra, 8 August 2017 On 15 May 2015, India and China came out with a joint statement acknowledging the simultaneous re-emergence of both the nations as major regional powers. This event was termed as heralding the beginning of the Asian Century in international geo-politics. The bilateral relationship between India and China influences and has repercussions […]

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The Philippines – A New President Takes Over

Singapore, 04 October 2016 President Rodrigo Duterte took office as the President of the Philippines on 30 June 2016 after winning a landslide election victory. On the face of it, it would seem that he hit the ground running, putting in place vigorous programs to solve issues that he had identified during the election campaign. […]

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Afghanistan – A Long Way from Anywhere

Canberra, 20 September 2016 Afghanistan has been teetering at the edge of a precipice ever since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The situation has become further precarious, if such a thing is possible at all, after the current President Ashraf Ghani took over the reins of government two years back. The embattled […]

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Patience and Denial: China’s Dual Strategies

  Canberra, 1 March 2106 While the world has been busy and preoccupied with the conflict in the Middle-East, the refugee problem that it has spawned, finding a solution to the intransigent Syrian issue and coming to terms with the rise and rise of militant Islam, the South China Sea has percolated to becoming an […]

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The Pilgrims Progress: Russia in the Middle-East

  Canberra, 8 February 2016 For nearly four years of the Civil War, Russia was content with providing traditional support through the provision of arms and logistics to its client-state Syria, while the Assad regime battled for its very existence. Therefore, the direct military intervention in September 2015 can be considered a revolutionary act by […]

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THE IMPROBABILITY OF PEACE IN SYRIA

Canberra, 25 August 2015 The regime of President Bashar al-Assad now effectively controls only about one-sixth of the territory of original Syria and its control is diminishing on a daily basis because it is losing territory to insurgents and facing a manpower shortage in the military. Till recently the regime continued to hold the core […]

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TURKEY ENTERS THE MAELSTROM

Canberra, 10 August 2015 Turkey is a NATO member and its location at the confluence of Europe, the Middle-East, the Caucasus and the Balkans is a definitive strategic advantage. This location and its history have provided Turkey with ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural connections with a large number of nations, some of which may not […]

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PAKISTAN: STUCK IN A CUL-DE-SAC

Canberra, 22 June 2014 Pakistan, a state created in the name of Islam, is today divided along linguistic, ethnic, tribal and sectarian lines. It also claims to be the ‘heart of Asia’, making any observer want to ask, ‘a wounded, bleeding heart?’ While it is beset with domestic issues that directly threaten the well-being of […]

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CHINA’S ADIZ: HAS EXCESSIVE ASSERTIVENESS BACKFIRED?

Singapore, 30 November 2013 Arguments regarding who has the right to fly where and when is nothing new in the aviation world. For example, air space control issues have been acute over Cyprus for a number of years with rival air traffic controllers from the Greek and Turkish sides of the island providing conflicting information […]

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