The Cold War transformed the way the world understands the concept of security. The primacy laid on military security began to be questioned after the misadventures in Vietnam and Afghanistan by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, respectively. In 1994, the human security approach was introduced as a part of the Human Development Report (HDR). According …
Galwan, Pangong Tso and Thereafter
Major General AK Bardalai, Veteran (Indian Army). He commanded an infantry battalion in Siachen Glacier, was the Deputy Head of the Mission and Deputy Force Commander of a UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Middle East and the Commandant of Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan. The Story thus Far The year 2020 has been one …
China Alarmed as Lutyens Logic Weakens Hold on India
A shift of India to the Alliance of Democracies that is forming to counter the Sino-Russian alliance would erase the gains made by Moscow and Beijing in the Middle East and elsewhere. Those in thrall to Lutyens Logic give the false analogy that an alliance with the US would involve following the US lead in …
Cuba, Novichok, HK Law and Galwan
Prof. M. D. Nalapat, UNESCO Peace Chair and Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group (MARG), Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Editorial Director, The Sunday Guardian and ITV network (India) and Editor-in-Chief, STSfor. Hong Kong security law has ensured that Xi has joined Putin in the list of leaders with whom real compromise with the US and …
Make Border Settlement Conditional for Normalization with China
The latest news from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China is that effective measures are being taken to disengage at the Galwan valley and other areas in Eastern Ladakh and that the situation is stable and improving, according to Chinese sources. India has also reported that the Chinese were seen removing …
The Many Dangers of Civilizational States: China as a Case in Point
The idea of civilizational state has been around for a long time. However, a lot of analysis of this notion remains detached from the ground reality. What goes unreported is how the notion of civilization tends to be subsumed under political nativism, victimhood mindset and inward-looking economic practices in democracies and single party regimes alike …
Asia is now the Global Geopolitical Center, It’s Time for an Indo-Pacific Charter
Two months after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, on August 14, 1941, the heads of government of the United States and the United Kingdom issued the Atlantic Charter, a set of principles that were intended to define the world order after the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. The principles enshrined in the Atlantic Charter …
What does the National Security Law Mean for Hong Kong’s Future?
Hong Kong has been volatile for more than a year. The top down push for assimilation exerted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has exposed the existing fault-lines between the people of Hong Kong and the Chinese leadership. It has also exacerbated the already strong demand for greater democracy and autonomy. In addition, the economic …
Microbes in Outer Space: Implications for Spacefaring and Human Health
One of the long-term implications of global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic on outer space could be an intensification of the effort to explore new worlds for human habitation. It appears that outer space could be the only place to remain free from the pandemic threat that has been ravaging the world of late. Though …
WHO: China Loses on Investigation, Wins on Taiwan
China fought on two fronts at the just concluded virtual World Health Assembly (18-19 May 2020) in Geneva in its first open bid to dominate the post-corona world. On the one hand, it wanted to be considered a victor in the battle against the pandemic and the country, which is capable and willing to assist …