ISDP Voices

When India and China embraced each other as brothers in the early 1950s – a truly historic achievement, no one applauded Jawaharlal Nehru and Mao Zedong/Zhou Enlai as smart leaders. But the Nixon-Kissinger and Mao/Zhou duo were hailed for their epoch-changing handshake in the early 1970s; likewise, Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping ended the Chinese-Soviet […]

The India-U.S. bilateral relationship stands at a juncture, hitherto unseen, in terms of compatibility of interest and implementation. A broad positive arc guides the trajectory of the relationship amidst the shifting balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and the world at large. The upcoming state visit of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United […]

During the Second World War, when the U.S. planned the bombardment of Japan, it sought the help of a Chinese architect from Tsinghua University, as to which were the areas that should be protected and spared destruction. The architect was none other than Liang Sicheng, ‘the father of modern Chinese architecture’ and the son of […]

Indonesia had been among the ASEAN member-states that advocated a firm position on diplomacy with Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the plotter and leader of the February 2021 coup that overthrew the civilian government in Myanmar. It was resolute in early meetings in April of that year, where member-states gathered in Jakarta to conceive of the […]

In recent years, much attention has been paid to whether NATO will extend its reach into the Asia-Pacific (Indo-Pacific) region. I ventured the assessment that NATO would inevitably play a more active role in the Asia-Pacific region in my book titled “Towards a New Cold War: Rising China, The United States, and NATO,” published in […]

United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKOs) represent the most visible and tangible symbol of the UN’s core prerogative in maintaining international peace and security. However, like its authorizing body – the UN Security Council (UNSC) – the UN peacekeeping enterprise has, in recent years, come under sharp criticism associated with its failure to bring lasting peace […]

A recent, widely commented upon essay in Foreign Affairs by Ashley Tellis, an acclaimed strategic analyst on India-U.S. relations, argues that Washington’s more than two-decade long bet on India as a key strategic partner that would come to U.S.’ help in its contest with China, has been a bad one. The article, which is “meant […]

The content of the Hiroshima G7 summit (May 19-23) of leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized countries has attracted much global media attention for its main focus which requires Beijing to abide by the “international rules-based order” and stop “use of economic coercion” around the world. China, on the other hand, as was expected […]

“A journey in search of the Malwatu Oya is a journey to the heart of an ancient civilization” in Sri Lanka, says Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, who discovered the historical context and brought out the beauty of Malwatu Oya in his documentary. Unfortunately, in the present day, her beauty and its surrounding environment will all be destroyed. […]

This past week has seen Canada’s Conference of Defence Associations Institute publish a letter signed by more than 60 former top security officials, including the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, two Deputy Prime Ministers, five former Liberal and five former Conservative Defence Ministers, and nine former Chiefs of Defence Staff, calling on the […]