Promise Of A New Beginning

The ostensibly secular President Hosni Mubarak took 18 years to come to secular India to receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for International Understanding; he had visited China more than once during that time. The avowedly Muslim Brotherhood member President Mohamed Morsi is visiting India within two years of assuming office. The conclusion suggests itself. Mr. […]

Rate this:

For America, Decline is a Choice

A decline in America’s leadership role and the emergence of a highly unstable world is a serious possibility. In reality, decline is not a foregone conclusion but a deliberate political choice that builds from a failure to define what matters most to the nation. It is imperative for the United States to articulate principles to […]

Rate this:

Costly Diplomacy

When a friend behaves badly, it’s easy to take a time out. Stop taking their phones calls, pretend to be out when they come to apologise. But responsible nations don’t have the luxury of ignoring each other. That is why diplomacy can be a messy business, as India and Italy are learning this week. Read Here […]

Rate this:

An Italian Job

Nations that want to be taken seriously must match their actions with that aspiration. The refusal to send back Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone — the Marines aboard the merchant ship Enrica Lexie accused of shooting and killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast after mistaking them for pirates — may win the new Italian government brownie […]

Rate this:

China’s New Foreign-Policy Team

While the new appointments won’t be formally announced by the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, until mid-March, two senior party sources in Beijing have confirmed promotions for veteran diplomats Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi, and Cui Tiankai. Together, the appointments suggest that China wants to improve the optics of its relationship with the United States, if […]

Rate this:

Much Ado About Absence Of Trust

The prime purpose of diplomacy is to explore a congruence of diverse interests. But diplomacy is stultified if there is no acceptance of the reality of an interest other than our own. That has even been the besetting sin of Indian foreign policy from Jawaharlal Nehru to this day. We share the American disdain for […]

Rate this: