Mint | America is not yet declining but appears willing to let itself down

I spent the mid-2000s arguing why Indian foreign policy must make a decisive shift towards the United States. The shadow of the Cold War had not yet dissolved and memories of US support for Pakistan’s proxy war were still alive in the minds of the country’s strategic establishment. The Vajpayee government had initiated a shift in thinking after the 1998 nuclear tests and prime minister Manmohan Singh was pushing for a major breakthrough in the form of a nuclear deal. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: America’s Tragic Tryst With Gun Control Laws

On November 30, 2021, a 15-year-old boy in the otherwise quiet township of Oxford in Michigan, in the upper midwestern region of the United States, entered his high school premises with a semiautomatic handgun he had picked up from home and began shooting indiscriminately at his teachers and fellow students. Ethan Crumbley continued firing for four minutes until he was captured, but those 240 seconds were enough to kill four teenagers and injure seven others. Read the full article here.

Samoa Observer | What binds the Quad

Last month, the US House of Representatives passed Strengthening the Quad Act with an overwhelming majority, indicating the critical role the Quad will play in American efforts to engage with the Indo-Pacific. Along with India, Australia and Japan, the four-country grouping has pledged ongoing cooperation. Understanding how the Quad evolves in the future and navigates tumultuous times requires understanding what binds the Quad today, and how the present iteration of the Quad, which has elevated to a leaders’ summit, differs from its earlier incarnation almost two decades ago, which never rose beyond officials-level meetings. Read the full article here.

Lowy Institute - The Interpreter | What binds the Quad

Last month, the US House of Representatives passed Strengthening the Quad Act with an overwhelming majority, indicating the critical role the Quad will play in American efforts to engage with the Indo-Pacific. Along with India, Australia and Japan, the four-country grouping has pledged ongoing cooperation. Understanding how the Quad evolves in the future and navigates tumultuous times requires understanding what binds the Quad today, and how the present iteration of the Quad, which has elevated to a leaders’ summit, differs from its earlier incarnation almost two decades ago, which never rose beyond officials-level meetings. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: America Can’t Rein In Trump, And The World May Have To Pay

Last weekend, America’s 21st century version of pre-1933 Adolf Hitler (minus the military service) — Donald Trump — said at an election rally that he once told a NATO leader that he will let Russian President Vladimir Putin “do whatever the hell he wants” to any NATO member that does not pay its full dues to the Americans. You know, protection money. Trump, by his own admission, told the president of a NATO ally, “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them (the Russians) to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: Forget Trump, Biden Has A Bigger Problem — A West Asia Conflagration

At the 2009 Academy Awards ceremony at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, the Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature was awarded to British filmmaker James Marsh, whose masterpiece ‘Man on Wire’ had enthralled audiences the world over since its release the previous year. The movie features maverick Frenchman Philippe Petit who, in 1974, performed what was then perhaps the most dangerous stunt you could ever conceive of — a highwire walk 1312 feet above the ground on a 200kg steel cable that connected the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City. He accomplished that with just a 30-foot, 25 kg balancing pole, with no protective gear whatsoever. He walked for 45 minutes, and made eight passes along the wire, during which he even danced and sat down on the wire to salute the crowd below. He was later arrested, but released on the promise that he will perform for kids in a much safer setting (which he not only did, but he has been living in New York ever since). Read the full article here.

Bol India Bol | Why Neither Vivek Nor Nikki Can Out-Trump Trump?

Sometime in 2003, India’s Left leaders went to meet then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to convince him to not send the nation’s troops to Iraq to fight the ‘War of Terrorism’ that the United States had initiated in retaliation for the September 11, 2001 attacks. The US had created a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ and President George W. Bush wanted India to be part of it. Vajpayee was dead against it, but he had two major concerns: One, refusing the US would be diplomatically awkward; and two, some of his senior cabinet ministers, led by LK Advani, and the country’s intelligentsia, including leading editors in New Delhi, were goading the Prime Minister to send our soldiers to Baghdad and exhorting him to be “on the right side of history”. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: Vivek Ramaswamy’s VP auditions have begun

Let’s get one thing out of the way before we unpack what happened in the US this Monday and Tuesday: Vivek Ramaswamy is more ‘White’ than ‘Brown’. He is indeed proud of his Indian heritage (his parents are Tam-Brahms from Palakkad, Kerala), and has never shied away from flaunting it, but if he is to be at the centre of American politics in some way, it is not his religiosity at the family dinner table that matters, it is his social and political views. In that context, it is his childhood piano teacher who has had a greater influence on him than his parents. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: Trump and the art of electoral endurance

In the 2007 hit Shah Rukh Khan movie Chak De! India, women’s hockey coach Kabir Khan has to deal with a bunch of soloists in the team, athletes who refuse to blend in as a team and would rather make single-player runs into the opponent’s side, only to be defeated in their pursuit, because, well, the guys on the other side are smarter. The Americans have a word for this: Heroball, a derogatory term for a style of play where a single player tries to be the team's hero by taking and missing many low percentage shots. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | Nijjar-Pannun saga is just a temptation to project a strong state. Arthashastra has answers

India’s alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and in the plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US against the so-called ‘Khalistani’ threat throws open a question that Chanakya’s Arthashastra offers an answer to. Morality and legitimacy in the utilisation of violence in statecraft are often in mutual conflict. According to the Arthashastra, if morality is seen as pursuing a ‘just cause’ that would eventually lead to a more prosperous and secure state, then it is the guiding light for the use of violence and other coercive means. There is, however, a difference between the means employed to address internal and external enemies. For the external enemy, Bheda (logic or trickery) and Danda (force) can be employed, but for your own people (especially those in the core of the kingdom), all means except force can be used. In the former, the use of force is seen as moral. However, Matsya Nyaya (law of the jungle) in the internal realm can also be curbed through force. These principles provide the guidelines for the legitimate use of violence. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Trump’s dangerous rhetoric as polls draw near

Donald Trump is putting American democratic institutions and processes under severe stress, more than what he did as President between 2017 and 2020 — be it the judiciary, law enforcement or the legislature. Just this past week, a lower court judge in the state of Colorado said that the former occupant of the White House engaged in the insurrection of January 6, 2021, but that he should remain on the ballot for 2024, a move Trump’s opponents say is unconstitutional. Trump is already at the centre of series of federal and state level lawsuits on serious charges under several laws that include, among others, one that is used to try underworld criminals and large-scale white-collar crimes. Read the full article here.

Moneycontrol - Biden-Xi Summit: Challenge is to continue US-China engagements despite tensions

Leaders of the United States and China are expected to hold their first bilateral meeting in a year at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco today. The fact that this meeting is taking place is in itself a significant achievement for diplomats on both sides. It also underscores that despite the intense nature of Sino-US strategic competition and heated rhetoric, achieving some sort of stability is a shared interest. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi captured this in outlining the “Five Musts” for the two countries during his recent visit to the US. Read the full article here.

The Quad needs to work with other groups. ASEAN is the place to start

In recent years, the members of the Quad -- the U.S., Australia, Japan and India -- have each ramped up cooperation and relations with ASEAN countries. In September, Japan became the last of the quartet to upgrade its relationship with ASEAN to the level of a "comprehensive strategic partnership," and each of the four held a separate meeting with ASEAN leaders that month. Even India, which has had the weakest institutional connections with Southeast Asian governments, has markedly increased collaborative efforts in various areas under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Act East" policy. In May, New Delhi conducted joint maritime exercises with ASEAN in the South China Sea. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Why India Must Keep An Eye On US Republicans

In 1991, American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn wrote and composed an autobiographical song titled ‘Walking in Memphis’ which instantly became an anthem among college-going kids around the world. It became such a rage that Cohn won the Best New Artist Grammy at the 1992 edition held at Radio City Music Hall in New York (Cohn was already 32 at the time, but it was his first album). Read the full article here.

The Quint | India-US Ties: Despite Nijjar Storm, All’s Well on the Western Front

Washington’s perceived 'harsh response’ to the India-Canada fracas has sparked both suspicion and pessimism in some quarters in India. Skeptics have sought to highlight the unreliability of the US as a partner while pessimists have argued that this incident is likely to press the US to re-evaluate its relationship with India. Read the full article here.

Flashpoints on the Periphery: Understanding China’s Neighborhood Opportunism

How is China taking advantage of the pandemic to pursue its foreign policy goals?

Tensions in China’s periphery have increased dramatically over the past few months as Beijing stepped up the use of military and diplomatic tools within its neighborhood. The frequency of the events involving Chinese actors, especially in the second half of March, increased as normalcy started returning to the mainland after the COVID-19 pandemic’s outbreak.This raises a few questions. First, is this evidence of China’s opportunism at a time when the United States is struggling to maintain its presence in the East and Southeast Asian regions? Second, has Beijing adopted a more aggressive approach for the post-pandemic period? Third, would the recent spike in activities impact the regional order?Read more

This article was originally published in The Diplomat.

Howdy Modi and Trump showcase Indian lobby in US. But double loyalties can’t go far

Trump’s presence at Howdy Modi certainly highlights the strength and the comfort of the India-US relationship. The event’s organisers claim that it is the largest-ever turnout for a foreign elected leader on US soil. Apparently, only the Pope attracted a bigger crowd. In the amoral world of international relations, it is par for the course for states to influence the politics and policies of other countries.  A lot depends on how the prevalent nationalist “America First” political sentiment in the United States perceives the Howdy Modi rally.Read more