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NorthKorea

North Korea on the Brink: Socio-Political Impacts of a Nuclear North Korea

I would like to start with a quote. Lord Acton the English historian famously said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In InternationalAffairs, Nov 01, 2017

NuclearWeapons

North Korea on the Brink: Socio-Political Impacts of a Nuclear North Korea

I would like to start with a quote. Lord Acton the English historian famously said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In InternationalAffairs, Nov 01, 2017

America

Prime Minister Modi is Steering India Toward the Chinese Road

For decades now, China has been an outlier in international affairs and the Western liberal order. Unlike most other major powers, it is not a democracy and yet continues to deliver e...

In Politics, InternationalAffairs, Economics, Apr 03, 2021

Has the Indian Nation-building Project Been Comparatively Peaceful?

The above question has the capacity of sharply dividing public opinion based on sociopolitical preferences and ideologies. It is also a question the answer to which could be biased be...

In History, Nov 30, 2020

U.S. Election Day Results: Not India but the World will be Impacted

I admit that the title of this writeup may seem to be an oxymoron but please bear with me. Global warming, handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter movement, income inequ...

In InternationalAffairs, Oct 31, 2020

Merits and Demerits of the Indian Parliamentary System

The Madisonian model of the structure of government named after one of the American founding fathers, James Madison, “the Father of the Constitution”, is the structure that separates ...

In History, Politics, Oct 13, 2020

Keynesian Economics and India's Present Economic Crisis

Born in the year that Karl Marx died, John Maynard Keynes who belonged to the British Liberal tradition was the most celebrated economist of the last century. Perhaps, he is the secon...

In Economics, Policy, Sep 14, 2020

Individualism: The Boon and the Bane of American Society

“What I feel to be good—is good. What I feel to be bad—is bad.”

In Culture, Jul 19, 2020

International Cooperation is a Necessity More Than Ever: The United Nations Must be Reformed or Replaced

The epidemiological pandemic, COVID-19, has accelerated the development, proliferation, and acceptance of many newer technologies that would have otherwise taken years. Virtual learni...

In InternationalAffairs, Jun 30, 2020

China's Medieval Mindset and Prime Minister Modi's Moment of Truth

Through the many powerful dynasties that ruled over China, the greatest ambition of the various kings used to be the propagation of their unquestioned authority over as large an area ...

In History, InternationalAffairs, Jun 25, 2020

The Curious Similarities and Differences Between Two Minorities - African Americans and Indian Muslims

In addition to the mortal and economic havoc wrought by the epidemiological pandemic, COVID-19, among other devastating events like cyclones, wildfires, locust attack, etc. that have ...

In Culture, History, Jun 09, 2020

COVID-19 and the Deepening of Federalism in India

Winston Churchill once advised to never let a good crisis go to waste. The present COVID-19 pandemic is a great opportunity for India to utilize this crisis by presenting itself as an...

In Politics, Apr 12, 2020

After COVID-19: Implications on International Organizations and the Global Order

Human beings are perhaps cognitively wired for reacting faster to events that come as a sudden shock or stimulate loyal sentiments connected with social identity (race, religion, nati...

In InternationalAffairs, Politics, Economics, Mar 30, 2020

The Economic Disaster Wrought by COVID-19

The globalized, industrialized, and incessantly-driven economic world that we live in is similar to an amateur riding a bicycle. The moment he bears a shock, there is a genuine fear o...

In Economics, InternationalAffairs, Mar 23, 2020

COVID-19, “Pandemic Diplomacy,” and Re-shaping of the World Order

It is safe to say that no other single event in the 21st century after the 9/11 attacks has had a greater impact in the geopolitical arena than the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)...

In InternationalAffairs, Mar 14, 2020

Knowledge Transfer Between Natural Allies

A decade ago, President Barack Obama termed the United States of America and India as natural allies. One is the world’s oldest democracy while the other is its largest. Both nations ...

In History, Politics, Aug 20, 2019

Is the World Order Fundamentally Changing?

On the thirtieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests, let us see the fundamental shift that is happening in the world by the rise of China. Many scholars including Former U.S. Se...

In History, InternationalAffairs, Jun 03, 2019

North Korea on the Brink: Socio-Political Impacts of a Nuclear North Korea

I would like to start with a quote. Lord Acton the English historian famously said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In InternationalAffairs, Nov 01, 2017

China

Three Contradictions at the Heart of Political Islam: Muslim World and the Taliban in Perspective

The sudden and tragic turn of events in Afghanistan has once again brought Political Islam (that too one of its most virulent variants) under the world’s urgent attention. Twenty year...

In InternationalAffairs, Religion, Aug 18, 2021

Prime Minister Modi is Steering India Toward the Chinese Road

For decades now, China has been an outlier in international affairs and the Western liberal order. Unlike most other major powers, it is not a democracy and yet continues to deliver e...

In Politics, InternationalAffairs, Economics, Apr 03, 2021

Has the Indian Nation-building Project Been Comparatively Peaceful?

The above question has the capacity of sharply dividing public opinion based on sociopolitical preferences and ideologies. It is also a question the answer to which could be biased be...

In History, Nov 30, 2020

The Narendra Modi Paradox and the Four Pandemics Afflicting India

There seems to be a clear pattern between the multiple pandemics that India is facing today and the paradox in the prime minister’s personality. Before going any further, let me state...

In Politics, Policy, Sep 03, 2020

Prime Minister Modi's Present Popularity is Indeed Made of Titanium

“Data is always sacred. It does not follow the whims of any ideology.”

In Politics, Aug 09, 2020

International Cooperation is a Necessity More Than Ever: The United Nations Must be Reformed or Replaced

The epidemiological pandemic, COVID-19, has accelerated the development, proliferation, and acceptance of many newer technologies that would have otherwise taken years. Virtual learni...

In InternationalAffairs, Jun 30, 2020

China's Medieval Mindset and Prime Minister Modi's Moment of Truth

Through the many powerful dynasties that ruled over China, the greatest ambition of the various kings used to be the propagation of their unquestioned authority over as large an area ...

In History, InternationalAffairs, Jun 25, 2020

Dear Prime Minister, We Are Squarely Behind You. All We Ask For Are Transparency And Statesmanship

The loss of twenty lives of our soldiers at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is heartwrenching. Going through their diverse socio-economic backgrounds and reading about their stories ...

In Politics, InternationalAffairs, Jun 19, 2020

After COVID-19: Implications on International Organizations and the Global Order

Human beings are perhaps cognitively wired for reacting faster to events that come as a sudden shock or stimulate loyal sentiments connected with social identity (race, religion, nati...

In InternationalAffairs, Politics, Economics, Mar 30, 2020

The Economic Disaster Wrought by COVID-19

The globalized, industrialized, and incessantly-driven economic world that we live in is similar to an amateur riding a bicycle. The moment he bears a shock, there is a genuine fear o...

In Economics, InternationalAffairs, Mar 23, 2020

COVID-19, “Pandemic Diplomacy,” and Re-shaping of the World Order

It is safe to say that no other single event in the 21st century after the 9/11 attacks has had a greater impact in the geopolitical arena than the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)...

In InternationalAffairs, Mar 14, 2020

Is the World Order Fundamentally Changing?

On the thirtieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests, let us see the fundamental shift that is happening in the world by the rise of China. Many scholars including Former U.S. Se...

In History, InternationalAffairs, Jun 03, 2019

North Korea on the Brink: Socio-Political Impacts of a Nuclear North Korea

I would like to start with a quote. Lord Acton the English historian famously said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In InternationalAffairs, Nov 01, 2017

Nehru

Two More Casualties of COVID-19 in India: Morality and Scientific Temper

Two of the lasting (at least most of us thought in our childhood they were lasting) legacies of the Indian founding fathers were the introduction of moral leadership and scientific te...

In Politics, History, Apr 15, 2021

Rajaji — The Sagacious Founding Father

What if I told you that two days ago was the birth anniversary and thirteen days from now would be the death anniversary of one of India’s foremost founding fathers? I am sure most of...

In Biography, History, Dec 11, 2020

B. M. Mishra (1935-2019): A Tribute

As a self-imposed rule, I never write about my family members or express my admiration for them in public but let this be an honorable exception. After all, my grandfather who unfortu...

In Biography, Nov 17, 2020

The Legacy of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

Death is the worst, a Fate which all must try

In History, Jul 25, 2020

Leadership in Turbulent Times

Theodore Roosevelt once expressed thus: “If there is not the war, you don’t get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don’t get the great statesman; if Lincoln had ...

In History, Apr 27, 2020

A Tale of Two Dynasties

There once lived a great emperor by the name, Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar. He ruled over the Mughal Empire which he expanded to include most of the Indian subcontinent. He was born in...

In History, Politics, Jan 25, 2020

Perspectives on Indian Nationalism

There are broadly two definitions of Indian Nationalism as put forward by academicians. The first celebrates nationalism in India as being pluralistic under which a citizen can succes...

In History, Culture, Jan 19, 2020

WANTED: HEALTHY OPPOSITION

Never before in the history of Indian democracy has the opposition been so feeble and bedraggled as it is today. I say this because, in every epoch of the Indian democracy, there were...

In Politics, History, Jul 01, 2019

Nehru, the Opposition, and the One Sheep

On his 55th death anniversary, here are three episodes that show Nehru’s outlook towards the opposition and which also have contemporary relevance.

In History, May 26, 2019

Stability vs. Transformation: Caste, Congress, and Civil Services

There is an old adage that thou shalt not drink water from a stagnant body. It is ironical that the stability which helps a water body transform itself into an ecosystem, when sustain...

In History, Politics, Mar 14, 2019

Nehru's Tryst With Progeny

Four score and seven years ago, millions in India celebrated Independence Day for the first time after the declaration of Purna Swaraj a few months ago. The president of Congress who ...

In History, Politics, Nov 14, 2017

Congress

Merits and Demerits of the Indian Parliamentary System

The Madisonian model of the structure of government named after one of the American founding fathers, James Madison, “the Father of the Constitution”, is the structure that separates ...

In Histor