ISDP Voices

On July 20, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave a speech in front of representatives of the UN member-states at the UN headquarters in New York. Guterres stated that the United Nations has been faced with new threats and challenges, such as violations of international law, inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and violations of human […]

China’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Wang Yi made his first official visit to Turkey (hereafter Turkiye) in the last week of July 2023 as part of his African tour, which included countries like Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya following the BRICS meeting in Johannesburg. During the official visit to Ankara, many topics were discussed, ranging […]

As the great power rivalry of the 21st century is engulfing the South Pacific, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the region from July 24-29, 2023. His visit covered three important destinations – New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea – that carry a symbolic salience along with strategic significance for France, a resident power in […]

Predictions of a foreign policy reset following the upset of Thailand’s long-dominant conservative establishment in the May 2023 election have proved to be premature. The junta-appointed Senate, permitted by the Kingdom’s 2017 Constitution, has stonewalled Pita Limjaroenrat, the Move Forward Party’s candidate for Prime Minister. Pita, a businessman, and leading progressive reformer, had suggested a […]

The U.S. has been warning that a crisis on Taiwan is nearby. In 2021, the then-Chief of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, Philip Davidson, said that China may try to attack Taiwan by 2027. And in 2022, the Central Intelligence Agency Deputy Director, David Cohen, stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping wants the People’s Liberation […]

Bangladesh recently announced its Indo-Pacific outlook with a firm commitment to the vision of a free, open, peaceful, secure and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. This outlook, according to the foreign minister of Bangladesh, emphasizes three P’s: peace, partnership and prosperity. Bangladesh has four guiding principles behind this outlook: Bangabandhu’s foreign policy ‘friendship to all, malice to […]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States ended with much fanfare and optics. However, the visit was high on substance and deliverables as well. More than any other sector, the emerging landscape of technology became a fulcrum of the growing bonhomie between the two countries. Just a cursory examination of the detailed […]

Since its inception in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been a cornerstone of worldwide security. Its progression, characterized by flexibility and durability, has been primarily shaped by the ever-changing geopolitical landscape and the strategic goals of its most influential member, the United States. The development of NATO can be largely divided into […]

The month of May saw India’s participation in the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME 2023) that was held on May 2-8, 2023 in the South China Sea waters. Two indigenous-built ships, INS Satpura and INS Delhi, from the Eastern Naval Command participated in the two-phased exercises. The harbor phase was held in Changi Naval Base, […]

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 […]