US-Israel joint training exercise ‘Enduring Lightning’ involving F-35 ‘stealth’ aircraft, Southern Israel, March 2020 The tabling of a “bipartisan” legislation in the US Congress on October 1 reiterating American commitment to Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME) creates an extraordinary dimension to the geopolitics and military balance in the Middle East region in the downstream of …
Once upon a time, Kuwait was a key partner for India
The Kuwaiti oil fields set on fire by the retreating Iraqi occupation forces during the First Gulf War, 1991 (File photo) The political transition in Kuwait with the departure of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah is a timely reminder that the Gulf Cooperation Council region is a complex mosaic not only in geography, but in politics …
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The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia — Part 3
Women and children read books in a bomb shelter seeking refuge from shelling, Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, Oct 1, 2020 This is the concluding part of a 3-part essay. The first part is here; the second part here. Caucasian chalk circle The United States and Russia are increasingly in each other’s crosshairs on the global …
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The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia – Part 2
The desperate Battle of Shipka Pass in Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 between Ottoman Empire & Eastern Orthodox coalition led by Russian Empire, fought in the Balkans and the Caucasus which the Turks lost to be pushed back all the way to the gates of Constantinople. Part-1 of the three-part essay is here. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel …
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Europe marks distance from Indo-Pacific strategy
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the special meeting of the European Council, Brussels, October 1, 2020 The European Council special meeting in Brussels on 1st October had Turkey, Belarus, Russia and China on its agenda. The foreign-policy decisions of the summit — comprising the heads of state or government of all EU countries, the …
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The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia – Part 1
Transcaucasian Trail: Ancient lands & new frontiers in great game Three days into the renewed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in the Transcaucasian region — also known as South Caucasus — it is becoming clear that the binary narrative dished out by western commentators of this being a Turkish-Russian clash of wills and strategies is either simply …
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Geopolitics of Sri Lankan Tamil Problem
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (L) held a virtual summit on September 26, 2020 The virtual summit between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa turned out to be somewhat surreal. The summit was the first of its kind Modi has had …
Russia has key role to play in Iran issue
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and delegation (L) with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow, Sept 24, 2020 In what must be one of his sharpest rhetorical outbursts against the Trump administration, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Saturday of “savagery” for inflicting $150 billion of damage on Iran due to sanctions. …
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Joe Biden speaks on India. It’s good on the whole.
US presidential candidate Joe Biden & running mate Kamala Harris. (File photo) The Democratic Candidate Joe Biden’s remarks Wednesday on the US-Indian relationship have elements of the good, bad and the ugly. Biden, a consummate politician, poses an intellectual challenge to foreign observers. The momentous US election on 3rd November brings out his vast experience …
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How’ll Covid-19 end? With a bang or a whimper?
A Sicilian fresco from 1445 on the Black Death that killed a third of Europe’s population in the previous century. The number of people who have died of coronavirus in the United States has crossed 200,000, by far the highest figure for any country in the world. One way of looking at the figure is that …
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