Youth release balloons and pigeons to celebrate the reduction in violence, Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Feb. 28, 2020 The reactions of the major regional states surrounding Afghanistan over the US-Taliban peace agreement in Doha Saturday reveal fault lines that are useful pointers in the Afghan peace process. A sardonic remark by the Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar …
Continue reading “Regional states won’t oppose US-Taliban deal”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivering the opening address at the Munich Security Conference, Munich, Germany, February 14, 2020 The annual Munich Security Conference last week (February 14-16) turned out to be an iconic event, drawing comparison with the one held in the same Bavarian city on February 10, 2007 where in a prophetic speech Russian …
Continue reading “A world no longer shaped by Atlantic powers”
NATO leaders assemble for customary group photo at Leaders’ Meeting’ in London on Dec 5, 2019 amidst much finger-pointing and discord The decision to “downgrade” the NATO’s historic summit meeting in London on the 70th anniversary of the alliance to a mere “Leaders’ Meeting” implied that no joint declaration or communique would need to be issued …
Continue reading “Rumours of NATO’s death are greatly exaggerated”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) received US National Security Advisor John Bolton (R), Moscow, Oct. 23, 2018 At a press briefing Tuesday afternoon in Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned against any rushed estimation that the exit of National Security Advisor John Bolton signalled a seismic shift in the Trump administration’s foreign policy. …
Continue reading “Bolton’s exit impacts US foreign policy. This is how”
(Eye of the storm: Venezuela’s famed Orinoco Oil Belt) Russia is doing the right thing by switching tack from strident ‘anti-American’ rhetoric to focus on tamping down the tensions over Venezuela. China had counseled such an approach right from the outset when the crisis erupted last week. On day one of a looming US-Venezuelan standoff …
(Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Soilh) In South Asia, democracy wears a tired look generally, and Maldives stands out as exception. After all, the old regime, which was much maligned by Indians, did allow free and fair elections, took their defeat gracefully (although winning over 40% votes) and when the day dawned on November 17, stepped …
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The US midterm results are out. In a nutshell, Republicans retain majority in the Senate, while Democrats have seized control of the House of Representatives after a gap of 8 years. On balance, the midterm results constitute a setback for President Donald Trump insofar as while Senate confirmations for his executive and judicial appointments will …
Continue reading “Trump’s unchecked hold on power comes to an end”
There is poetic justice, no doubt, in former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapksa’s return to the government – and more so in the manner in which he has done that. It is sweet revenge that the defector who backstabbed him and usurped power in 2015 – incumbent president Maitripala Sirisena – has now beseeched him …
(A view of Mt. Fuji, Japan) Hyping up the forthcoming annual India-Japan summit in Tokyo on Monday is a thankless job. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in his media briefing Friday performed optimally, even adding a touch of mystique to an informal lunch that Japanese PM Shinzo Abe will host for PM Modi at a …
Continue reading “‘Historic turning point’ in Japan-China relations overshadows Abe-Modi summit”
(Mikhail Gorbachev & Ronald Reagan signing INF treaty, Washington, December 8, 1987) President Donald Trump’s confirmation that the US is terminating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) with Russia will be regarded as a defining moment in international security. The INF, which was signed by then US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev …
Continue reading “What Trump’s pullout from INF treaty means”
