Strategic Issues
The deeper politics of deep sea ports
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a development strategy of the Chinese government aimed at enhancing regional connectivity and cooperation among the Eurasian countries—primarily the People’s Republic of China and the countries that spread along the historically famous land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
Pakistan decides
A tsunami, but what sort?
The circus of democracy
The darker side
Redefining 'global commons'
Understanding Myanmar's democratic opening
MYANMAR is in the midst of momentous political change, which has seen the country emerge from decades of repressive military rule and international isolation to be lauded by Western leaders as a model of political development.
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Dictator turns democrat
PAKISTAN'S former president General Musharraf may be trying to take a different route into power politics this time around. But it isn't easy to forget the way he entered it in the first place. His remarks to the media before he returned to Pakistan were revealing; the former dictator implied he thinks the military should have a formal role in governance. It wasn't clear exactly what he meant or whether he would limit that role to security matters, but his promise in 1999 to save the country...
Powers seek influence in Burma's conflict
MORE than one battle is underway in Burma, with policy contortions little understood by the outside world. There is the government's ongoing struggle with an abundance of ethnic resistance armies and then the larger struggle between the West and China for influence.
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Pipeline economics
CONTRARY to most expectations, and after a delay of years, Pakistan and Iran have finally made significant headway in the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project. Despite strong and consistent opposition from the US, Pakistan has cited the so-called peace pipeline as vital to its energy security and needs, and is committed to seeing gas flow from Iran by December 2014.
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From Look East to Indo-Pacific
INDIA has been looking towards the east since the 1990s. Now, there is a renewed emphasis on this in India owing to recent developments in Southeast Asia along with growing international interest in the Asia Pacific. In the changing context, how far should India look east? Should it look only towards Southeast Asia, or extend up to East Asia and Australia as well? Does the renewed international interest in this region demand an Indian pivot towards Southeast Asia and East Asia? Should India redefine this region as Indo-Pacific and pursue its interests accordingly?
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